Steve Ditko

Steve Ditko is one of the greatest comic book artists, illustrating some of the best and most influential publications of the '50s and '60s. Most significantly, with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby he was the creator of Spider-Man, and with Lee co-founder of Marvel Comics.

Although he did not create the actual Spider-Man costume, Steve gave the definitive look for the cast of characters, such as Peter Parker, Aunt May, Jonah Jameson, Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus and the Vulture. He co-created Doctor Strange in Strange Tales [again, a collaboration with Stan Lee]. In 1960, he created Captain Atom for Charlton. In 1989, Steve created Speedball for Marvel.
(Source: Alex G. Malloy (editor), Comic Book Artists, Wallace-Homestead, 1983, p.119.)

Although his glory days are (apparently) past, Ditko remains active. The most recent evidence of his activity is Dark Dominion, published by Defiant Comics.

Mr. A

One of the characters Ditko created was Mr. A, the uncorruptable central character of an eponymously titled book of the same name.
The image below is ® and © Steve Ditko, and was scanned from Malloy's Comic Book Artists.

appears in:

• "New Broom" (found on The Lure of Salvage, now part of the Explode Together compilation)

further reading:

• Other comic references in XTC songs are dealt with in separate glossary entries (listed in chronological order of their appearance in XTC songs): Sgt. Rock, Justice League Of America, and Superman.
• Visit the Ditko portal
• A biography of Steve Ditko can be found as part of the Comic Art & Graphix Gallery.
• To find out about Spiderman, visit The Comic Character Database.