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Neil Gaiman And Others Mourn The Loss Of "Spider-Man" Co-Creator Steve Ditko

The legendary writer and illustrator of comics like Spider-Man and Doctor Strange was found dead at 90 in his apartment on June 29.

Comic book industry legend Steve Ditko has died at age 90.

Marvel Comics

While the cause of death has not been released, New York City police said Friday that officers found the dead writer and illustrator while doing a welfare check at his apartment on June 29. He is estimated to have died two days before that.

Ditko most famously co-created Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with Stan Lee, former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief, before leaving the company under mysterious circumstances in 1966.

Marvel Comics

Ditko would go on to work at Charlton Comics and then DC Comics, eventually returning to Marvel in 1979 as a freelancer and retiring from mainstream comics in 1998. But he still continued to publish work into the present day through his former editor, Robin Snyder.

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Many comics industry heavyweights like Neil Gaiman mourned the influential writer and illustrator. Gaiman said, "Ditko was true to his own ideals. He saw things his own way, and he gave us ways of seeing that were unique."

Via Twitter: @neilhimself

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Filmmakers, including Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson, also said goodbye to Ditko on Twitter.

Via Twitter: @scottderrickson

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Ditko never gave any significant interviews about why he had tensions with Lee and Marvel in the 60s, and became known as the J.D. Salinger of the comic world. He has no known survivors.

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