Let me start by saying I have no axe to grind with Steve Ditko. I consider him one of the most creative and influential artists in comic history. His design of Spiderman's costume is one of the most iconic ever created and I've generally found his art style unique and appealing. I also don't disagree with ALL the values Ditko expresses, for example I'm right there with him when he supports reason and logic. In fact I agree with a lot of things he says but as I will show in my journals Ditko takes his views to an absurd extreme.

The first story I will discuss was published in 2009 in "...Steve Ditko continued..." That's literally the name of the comic book. It's a black and white comic with zero ads published by Robin Snyder who had been his former editor at Charlton, Archie Comics and Renegade Press. Everything in this 32 page comic is done by Ditko, cover to cover.

The story (if one could call it a story) doesn't feature Mr. A but is a nice way to dip your feet into the world of Steve Ditko. It's called 'The Grey Negotiator' and has a 2008 date on it. The first thing one might note is how badly Ditko's artistic skills have diminished. In 2008 Steve Ditko would have been around 81 or 82 so it's not surprising but it's still painful to see. It looks like a high school students drawing if he or she was trying to emulate Steve Ditko. However, the ideas expressed here are pretty much the same as those he's expressed since at least the 1960's so if his ideas seem "out there" it can't be blamed on senility.

The very name of the main character is a double whammy against him. Ditko believes that the world is literally black and white, good and evil, right and wrong so if someone is grey they are a fool. Likewise Ditko is against negotiations and sees compromise and pragmatism as appeasers to evil. We open with two dark colored brutes named Violence and Force kicking a prone white woman (and by white I mean stark white including clothing) who is shouting, "HELP! STOP! ...my PROPERTY I have RIGHTS. OWWW" To drive the point home the woman is holding a piece of paper with a dollar sign on it. In comes the ridiculous Grey Negotiator with his center part, gap tooth smile, rotund belly and overall stupid costume. For the super dense, Ditko nicely added the word Compromise across his belly and a barely visible G and N on his torso. Another G and N are on his boots. He's also holding an olive branch and white flag lest the audience still not get it.

The Grey Negotiator urges Violence and Force to "Reduce your extremes" This is another thing to note about Steve Ditko, if he creates a character who is evil or a fool and that characters advocates something you can guarantee Ditko is against it. If the Grey Negotiator is against extremism then you can guarantee Ditko is for extremism and Ditko makes no secret of this. We also get a glimpse at Ditko's bizarre dialogue which may be a symptom of his age. Violence says, "Well, not an absolute. to negotiate, a maybe, perhaps, suppose, it's for the good of all" To which I would replay, "Say what???"

The Grey Negotiator convinces Violence and Force to allow the woman to live and she can keep SOME of her money. The Grey Negotiator then castigates the battered and bruised woman blaming her for everything before walking away crying at a job well done.

Here's the main problem for me. Ditko's black and white world does not allow for any negotiation, compromising or quite frankly any evolution of thought. Obviously negotiating with thieves physically assaulting a woman and taking her property is absurd but Ditko sees the scenario as a morality tale for life in general. Ditko's uncompromising principles are likely the reason he left Marvel and why most of his later work was so unmarketable. An inflexible uncompromising view is disastrous from the Federal government right down to marriage and all points in between. If Ditko truly lived the uncompromising life he advocated it's probably not surprising that he never married or had children.

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