This was the first comic book that ignited my love for everything about the creative process. From the artwork to the origin story of my favorite superhero of all time, I was instantly obsessed with everything about this entire world.

This comic also introduced me to Steve Ditko, the lead penciler and inker for this comic book and the original Spider-Man character. I loved his work, so I wanted to try to learn as much as possible about him and his process. 

He is responsible for the basics that we now see in numerous superhero designs. From the mask style to the large eyes on the character masks, it was all Steve.  Looking through his old work, it was pretty amazing to see his style not change much throughout his career. His style was very simplistic but truly resonated with me, now and even back when I was younger, reading it for the first time (though now I probably have a bit more appreciation for the time and effort that goes into creating something like this). Through his art, he was able to showcase emotion through body language, and for a character who wears a mask most of the time, that was incredibly valuable. His artwork is truly unique and compelling.

I always find myself thinking back to Ditko's impact on the industry and aiming to have some impact, maybe not to his level or significance, but some sort of impact where people view my work with admiration and respect.