10 Weirdest Controversies Surrounding Comics

Earlier in this list, we explored Jack Kirby's deep dislike for his former partner, Stan Lee. As it turns out, he was not the only one who felt this way about him. Steve Ditko also eventually refused tonwork with Lee, even after they had created one of the most successful superheroes of all time together: Spider-Man.

...Or did they??

For years, Stan Lee was credited as Spider-Man's sole creator. He loved to regale fans and interviewers with the story of how he invented the crime-fighting teen. Meanwhile, Ditko was famously a recluse, who refused to talk about his work or even have his photograph taken. This led to many people not realising that Ditko not only came up with all of Spider-Man's storylines and villains, he also designed the hero's iconic costume and superpowers.

...Or did he??

Despite the official Marvel history claiming that Jack Kirby was in no way involved with Spider-Man's genesis, the man himself tells a different story:

I created Spider-Man. We decided to give it to Steve Ditko. I drew the first Spider-Man cover. I created the character. I created the costume. I created all those books, but I couldn’t do them all. We decided to give the book to Steve Ditko who was the right man for the job.

There's also the fact that Spider-Man was not even the first web-slinging, wall-crawling hero out there, with characters like Spider Queen and the Fly being published years before his debut.

Fittingly, the truth behind Spider-Man's origin really is a tangled web.