When IN SEARCH OF STEVE DITKO was about to be broadcast on Sunday night, my first thought was, hey Mark, y'know who you should ask to review it? Self-confessed Ditko super-fan and British comics leg end Brendan McCarthy. So I did. And here it is:
Hallo Mark,
Well, I eventually saw the Ditko documentary, which I
enjoyed. It's quite bizarre that the UK's main chat
show host should be a closet Ditko fanatic!
Given that we shouldn't expect anything on Steve Ditko
at all, I think Mr Ross did a great job. Even the
uninvited visit to Mr Ditko's office in New York from
our resident British "cheeky-chappie" (with that other
black-clad goth writer who tagged along) was great, in
that Steve Ditko still had absolutely no interest in
being interviewed.
My only slight irritation was with Alan Moore (and the goth
dude once more) getting away with calling Ditko "mad".
This from a guy who (by his own
admission) is a practising "magician" (not sadly,
from the school of Tommy Cooper) and who apparently
really and truly summons up demonic serpent entities
at will! Or at least with the help of "The Hoary Hosts
of Hoggoth!"
Now, I've nothing against Alan messing about with
all that 'magickal malarkey', but just
because Ditko has a (valid) political philosophy that
was at odds with 60's liberalism (another valid
position), he is dismissed as another right wing kook.
I haven't seen any other major comic book creator lay
out through their work, their own political position
like Ditko has. Far from being "mad", I think Ditko's
only crime is to have been judged "un-Hip".
Stan Lee was also a high point of the show, and
although I disagree with his position on the credits,
that doesn't make him "mad" either!
But, nothing can diminish the pre-psychedelic
magnificence of the "wondrous worlds of Dr Strange"
and the beautiful ballet of Spider-Man in web-slinging
action.
Well done, Mr Ross!
Brendan McCarthy