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Steve Ditko Sign letter Worth??

Started by pc1009,

45 posts in this topic

Bosco685

Bosco685

Posted
Posted
There have been turndown responses from Steven Ditko's address that have been posted online. But like Comicwiz noted already, you don't know who is responding as the signatures differ.

 

steve-ditko-letter-february-2012.jpg

 

steve-ditko-letter-thanks-for-the-invitation.jpg

 

steve-ditko-sean-howe-letter-history-of-marvel-book.jpg

 

Those all look from the same hand to me. The individual strokes of the individual letters are all the same, or I should say, within the same narrow field.

 

If you look over the "S" use especially, somtimes it is an "S" with a swirl, and then there are some with no swirl. Then there is a -script "S". So I would say the "S" is one tell where there is either a difference in who is writing the letter, or what stage of his life he is at where he will not spend as much time writing consistently.

 

The "D" use in the letters seem to match often though. At least my quick review of those letters.

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MedicAR

MedicAR

Posted
Posted
Didn't someone have a letter from Ditko where he wrote back he wasn't going to take the time to write them a letter and signed it, with the closing being "Signed, Steve Ditko"?

 

There was some crazy letter like that posted a few years back that brought a laugh. At least, I think it was real.

 

I've got that! I wrote asking him to sign my Marvel Masterworks and he hand wrote a full page letter explaining that he didn't have the time. I thought it was odd, but he was still very nice about it.

 

I have written him several times since and always get a reply. The only cold response I received was when I mentioned the intro to "Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko" by Stan Lee that mentioned that Mr. Ditko was the co-creator of Spider-Man with no qualifiers of any kind. I read it as a 50/50 contribution in the book and wanted Mr. Ditko to know about it. He response involved circling words and crossing out others with a big "HA!" and his initials at the end.

 

I really wish he would open up about his days at Marvel, but I think that is a lost cause. I just enjoy reading what he has to say in general.

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Bosco685

Bosco685

Posted
Posted
Didn't someone have a letter from Ditko where he wrote back he wasn't going to take the time to write them a letter and signed it, with the closing being "Signed, Steve Ditko"?

 

There was some crazy letter like that posted a few years back that brought a laugh. At least, I think it was real.

 

I've got that! I wrote asking him to sign my Marvel Masterworks and he hand wrote a full page letter explaining that he didn't have the time. I thought it was odd, but he was still very nice about it.

 

I have written him several times since and always get a reply. The only cold response I received was when I mentioned the intro to "Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko" by Stan Lee that mentioned that Mr. Ditko was the co-creator of Spider-Man with no qualifiers of any kind. I read it as a 50/50 contribution in the book and wanted Mr. Ditko to know about it. He response involved circling words and crossing out others with a big "HA!" and his initials at the end.

 

I really wish he would open up about his days at Marvel, but I think that is a lost cause. I just enjoy reading what he has to say in general.

 

I knew someone brought this up, as it was funny to hear of receiving a letter about how you are not going to get a letter - with signature. I would have framed what you sent him and what he sent back. A fantastic story to tell for years!

 

:applause:

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Ogami

Ogami

Posted
Posted
There have been turndown responses from Steven Ditko's address that have been posted online. But like Comicwiz noted already, you don't know who is responding as the signatures differ.

 

steve-ditko-letter-february-2012.jpg

 

steve-ditko-letter-thanks-for-the-invitation.jpg

 

steve-ditko-sean-howe-letter-history-of-marvel-book.jpg

 

Those all look from the same hand to me. The individual strokes of the individual letters are all the same, or I should say, within the same narrow field.

 

If you look over the "S" use especially, somtimes it is an "S" with a swirl, and then there are some with no swirl. Then there is a -script "S". So I would say the "S" is one tell where there is either a difference in who is writing the letter, or what stage of his life he is at where he will not spend as much time writing consistently.

 

The "D" use in the letters seem to match often though. At least my quick review of those letters.

 

I know a little something about handwriting, and I'm telling you, the a, e, m, t, c, n, p all look like they came from the same hand.

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MedicAR

MedicAR

Posted
Posted

They all look legit to me. I've noticed he signs in a variety of ways, though. He uses "Steve," "S. Ditko," "S.D." and even just "S" on one of them, as I recall. The hand writing of the letter itself always looks consistent, though. Also, I seriously doubt he has the money to keep a secretary, much less a staff of any kind. Tragically, he doesn't have the fan base or loyal following that many from his generation with his level of contribution probably should. But then again, he claims he is happy doing what he does.

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vaillant

vaillant

Posted
Posted

Ogami is right.

while the overall mpression is important, you need to have familiarity with written forms (I am a graphic and typeface designer and I have quite a visual training on letterforms).

 

There are strong common traits, and letterforms, in the examples posted. They have just been written at different time intervals.

 

What amazed me about Ditko’s handwriting the first time I saw it, was that his handwriting does look very "modern" (not the signature, of course, but the casual, not connected, handwriting). It could be the handwriting of a modern day teenager.

I love the signature anyway. :)

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Bosco685

Bosco685

Posted
Posted
I know a little something about handwriting, and I'm telling you, the a, e, m, t, c, n, p all look like they came from the same hand.

 

I'll trust your judgment on this. Just some of the letters seem to differ. But I can see what you mean about the letters mentioned. His lower-case "a" seems to be consistent in most cases, leaning to the left and up.

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fastballspecial

fastballspecial

Posted
Posted

I remember years ago reading an interview in Wizard about him.

 

The writer of the article couldn't believe that he was using original discarded cover and artwork to spider-man as back board for his dartboard from memory.

 

Its been years since I read the article, but that stuck with me as I am sure it did with the writer as well.

 

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Unca Ben

Unca Ben

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Posted
I remember years ago reading an interview in Wizard about him.

 

The writer of the article couldn't believe that he was using original discarded cover and artwork to spider-man as back board for his dartboard from memory.

 

Its been years since I read the article, but that stuck with me as I am sure it did with the writer as well.

Judging by the amount of Ditko Spidey OA that's been on the market, I get the feeling Mr. Ditko didn't get much of it back.

I've often wondered how he felt about that, and whether that played into his disdain of fandom.

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Cosmic Boy

Cosmic Boy

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Posted

Steve's always been known to put the time and effort into writing back if your letter is something that interests him and he wants to respond to it.

 

But he's not going to give you an interview about himself or join your boy band.

 

He wrote me a very thoughtful and interesting handwritten two page response to some questions I had about Ayn Rand and objectivism.

 

ys0e.jpg

 

I blacked out his address out of respect for his privacy, though as others have suggested, his address isn't particularly hard to find.

 

I have no idea if it has any value other than sentimental value to me... and I will NEVER sell it.

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