PETER BAGGE
Exclusive to DITKO LOOKED UP by Peter Bagge, May '02.
Comments and artwork ©2002 Peter Bagge. Spider-Man ©2002 Marvel Comics.


Peter Bagge, creator of the legendary independent comic HATE, wrote & drew the April release of THE MEGALOMANIACAL SPIDER-MAN for Marvel Comics. It features Peter's take on the whole Spider-Man mythos. It has received massive critical acclaim and basically follows Bagge's idea of a Peter Parker who turns into Steve Ditko. I'm not sure how Steve will feel about it, but it too has a "created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko" credit on the splash, & a "Tip O' The Pen To Steve Ditko" nod from Peter in the very end. Peter generously shared these thoughts with us on the issue...

Blake,

I wasn't trying to say anything in particular about either Steve Ditko or Ayn Rand in that Spider-Man story. What I know of both Stan Lee AND Ditko (I've never met or spoke to either of them) seemed to be reflected in Peter Parker's personality when I read the early Spidey stories they did together -- which may explain why Parker comes off as such a tortured and complex character in them, seeing what diverse personatities his creators had.

So I used this notion to fuel my story, by making Parker first become a "Lee" type before evolving (devolving?) into a "Ditko"... The fact that Ditko himself is so heavily influenced by Ayn Rand made me wonder what kind of an effect her books would have on Peter Parker himself, so I used her as reference to illustrate the changes Parker goes through in the story. Critics of Rand claim that she preaches "selfishness" and greed, and that aspect of her philosophy is reflected in Parker's "Lee" phase of the story; while an equally important aspect of her philosophy -- that of being true to yourself; don't bow to societal pressures; to live and let live etc, etc -- is somewhat illustrated in the final part of the story.

- PETER BAGGE

Thanks to Peter for sharing with us his comments. You can check out his website at www.peterbagge.com.

DITKO LOOKED UP