We have reached the mid-point of Steve Ditko’s time on Spider-Man and in this episode Kurtis and Franck take a look at the transformation that Ditko undergoes as he takes a more active role on the title and improves in all aspects of his art and storytelling! Plus, more great villains are introduced, like Scorpion and Molten Man!
Issues discussed: Amazing Spider-Man #18-28
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You are completely correct in your assessment of Ditko plotting stories on his own sometime after # 21. One clue is the lack of guest-stars, which he hated using. Ditko noted in essays that he felt the use of guest-stars and villains from other strips took away from the concentration on Peter and his cast of characters. He also felt that a hero needed to deal with problems on his own and not have help. That’s why you see Torch and Spidey getting in each others way and the police saving the day. Ditko explained that he was fully plotting Spider-Man before # 25, when he began getting the plotting credit he asked for. My guess is that he was solely plotting from # 22 on.