|
Here's a letter I just had printed in Robin Synder's the Comics. I
didn't have time to check what the correct newspaper was at the time.
Steve Ditko's writings in the Avenging Mind are very valuable to
people working in creative fields. They are valuable for artists who
work in collaboration with editors or writers. The book discusses
Ethics in regard to proper credit. If your supervisor or collaborator
is also editor and art director and also the person who decides if
you will be given more work to do, is this an acceptable situation?
Is it fair to require that an artist provide plot ideas in order
to be seen as a good collaborator? What if he is not being paid for
these extra ideas? Suppose he is not getting credit? Suppose the
artist may not be able to work in the medium he loves because he
wants to be treated fairly? Will other employers believe that the
artist has additional creative value if his past work is not credited
correctly? Suppose you are the artist and plotter of a comic and your
scripter/editor/art director wants you to change your plot or art. If
you are the plotter, shouldn't the dialog serve your plot?
If you ask or demand plotting credit as Ditko and Dick Ayers did
how should you be treated? Stan Lee no longer spoke to Ditko. Lee
also criticized Ditko in a newspaper at the time. "Now that he plots
the book Ditko thinks he knows everything," was the gist of the
quote. What does Lee hope to gain? Is he showing resentment or is he
trying to intimidate a collaborator to not ask for credit or money of
creative work provided? In Dick Ayers' Graphic Novel autobiography he
writes that when he asked Lee for credit for plots, Lee said, "So
you're getting an ego now?" Does having the desire for payment for
work provided make one a bad collaborator?
It's written in Joe and Jim Simon's Comic Book Masters that
Spiderman is one of the presentations Simon and Jack Oleck developed
and that Kirby pitched the idea to Lee. If the Lee/Kirby "Spiderman"
had the magic ring that changed a boy to a superhero in the origin
then what was Lee's contribution to this version of Spiderman? It
appears that Lee accepted elements of Kirby's presentation, that is
elements that came from Simon, Oleck, and Beck's Silver Spider
samples, or the Simon/Kirby Fly comic without editing them at all.
What did Lee's Spider-man synopsis given to Ditko contain? Did
it describe the opening splash page with the wallflower Peter Parker?
Or was this graphic depiction Ditko's invention? Ditko has told us
that Lee wanted the spiderlike poses redrawn. (Did these poses have a
monetary value? Did they cause readers to want to buy the books?) Did
Lee describe any of the actions Spider-man was to do? Did he mention
that Spider-man had a web, or a webgun? Since the webshooters were
Ditko's invention, Did Lee have anything to do with later story
inventions like the Web Cartriges? Did the synopsis describe the
wrestling match, the television appearance and what powers or tricks
Spider-man used at both? Did the synopsis contain events like
Spider-man refusing to catch the burgler, and the concept of "with
great power come great responsibility?"
Kirby has said in interviews that he brought in ideas for
characters in order to make the company successful. Therefore he
would have more assignments and could securely support his family.
Kirby could have started his own company. Is this reasonable to
expect? He had done this before with Joe Simon and had to give up.
Shouldn't he be able to collaborate and receive fair credit or pay
for his ideas. Or should he be expected to provide them as a
condition of his employment?
It would seem that the original Spiderman idea was brought in by
Kirby to show Lee, because of similarity to the plot of the Fly. If
Lee was upset that Kirby brought in a concept that was similar to
another published character, and changed the character to an
unpopular high school student who gains powers and makes a tragic
decision, then this part of the creation is Lee's contribution if he
in fact did it completely alone. Since he used the name and
spiderlike powers from Kirby's presentation, and the storytelling
ideas, costume, equipment, and whatever else Ditko provided, then
obviously the final work is collaborative.
Some fans prefer to believe Lee's stories of having the original
ideas for the Marvel characters as detailed in Origins of Marvel
Comics. They don't believe that the artists could have brought the
ideas in.
Did Kirby present ideas for the Fantastic Four, Thor, Iron Man
or the Xmen? We may never know for certain. Was the cover of Tales of
Suspense #39 Kirby's presentation as Will Murray has theorized? We do
know now that Ditko presented Dr. Strange on his own.
Should Ditko be given credit as Lee's editor, since he persuaded
Lee to drop story ideas for Spiderwoman, the Mystical Green Goblin,
or Peter Parker as a full time photographer at the Daily Bugle? In
the case of the Green Goblin having a mystical origin, did the
synopsis for this comic still contain the story of the movie with the
Enforcers, and the Hulk in the cave?
I assume any story points relating to the Goblin taking his mask
off or riding a mechanical broomstick were Ditko's story ideas?
Ditko's essays in the Avenging Mind well illustrate some of the
problems that result if a clear agreement is not made for the value
of creative contributions in a collaboration.. Ditko deserves proper
credit for all of his work.
|
