New York July 7 (IANS) Artist Steve Ditko who co-created Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with Stan Lee has died. He was 90.
The New York Police Department has confirmed his death reports hollywoodreporter.com.
No cause of death was announced. Ditko was found dead in his apartment on June 29 and it is believed he died about two days earlier.
In 1961 Ditko and Lee created Spider-Man. Lee the editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics gave Ditko the assignment after he wasn t satisfied with Jack Kirby s take on the idea of a teen superhero with spider powers.
The look of Spider-Man -- the costume the web-shooters the red and blue design -- all came from Ditko. Spider-Man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy No. 15. The comic was an unexpected hit and the character was spun off into The Amazing Spider-Man.
Ditko helped create such classic Spider-Man characters as Doctor Octopus Sandman the Lizard and Green Goblin.
In 1963 Ditko created the surreal and psychedelic hero Doctor Strange. The character debuted in Strange Tales No. 110 and Ditko continued on the comic through issue No. 146 cover dated July 1966.
After that Ditko left Marvel Comics over a fight with Lee the causes of which have always remained murky.
The pair had not been on speaking terms for several years. Ditko never explained his side and Lee claimed not to really know what motivated Ditko s exit.
Ditko went on to work for Charlton DC Comics and other small independent publishers. He returned to Marvel in 1979 where he worked on Machine Man and the Micronauts and he continued working for them as a freelancer in the 1990s. Among his last creations was Squirrel Girl in 1992 who has become a cult favourite in recent years reports hollywoodreporter.com.
Ditko maintained a Manhattan studio until his death where he continued to write and draw though how much and what unpublished material remains is unknown. Ditko has no known survivors. He is believed never to have married.

--IANS sug/vm