Marvel Comics pauses to reflect upon the passing of the legendary Stephen J. Ditko and his amazing accomplishments as both an artist and creator. Steve was one of the original architects of the Marvel Universe, and his creations reflected his unique vision and philosophy. He lived to be 90 years old.

Hailing from Pennsylvania, young Steve’s love for comic strips expanded to comic books through characters like Batman and Will Eisner’s The Spirit. During his U.S. Army service in postwar Germany, he began his art career by drawing comics for the Army newsletter and, after his discharge, found his way into the tutelage of one of his idols, Batman artist Jerry Robinson. By the early 1950s, Steve’s first work appeared in print: a short romance tale in DARING LOVE #1 from Gilmore Magazines and a science-fiction story in FANTASTIC FEARS #6 from Farrell.

Steve found further mentoring in the celebrated circle of the prolific Joe Simon and Jack Kirby team, and he began gravitating toward more macabre and atmospheric types of stories, which would soon become his specialty. Working alongside one of his idols, artist Mort Meskin, Steve produced more published work, including a 1953 story he penciled and inked for Simon and Kirby’s BLACK MAGIC.

Steve found a home at Charlton Comics beginning in 1954, the start of a long association with the company. There, he created the character of Captain Atom with writer Joe Gill. Shortly thereafter, Steve made his way to Atlas Comics, the precursor of Marvel, where he would make history.

Steve’s first work at Atlas/Marvel appeared in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #33, and from there he would make his mark on classic sci-fi, horror and mystery titles such as STRANGE TALES, AMAZING ADVENTURES, STRANGE WORLDS, TALES OF SUSPENSE and TALES TO ASTONISH. Later, Stan Lee rechristened AMAZING ADVENTURES as AMAZING ADULT FANTASY (later AMAZING FANTASY) in order to showcase Steve’s talents on these short fantasy tales. In 1962, that collaboration led to one of the most popular comic book characters of all time.

The introduction of Spider-Man in AMAZING FANTASY #15 stands as one of the landmarks of both Steve’s career and Marvel history. Steve and Stan breathed life into the character of Peter Parker, giving him myriad personal traits and visual cues that would cement themselves in readers’ minds around the globe.

Steve’s design for Spider-Man’s costume was innovative and unique. The character is identifiable even when seeing any small part of his figure, and since he was covered from head to toe, broader audiences could personally identify with the character because Spider-Man could really be anyone underneath that costume.

Spidey Sense by Steve Ditko

More Marvel work followed for Steve, and while Spider-Man was the main focus of his efforts, he also lent his talents to other characters at the House of Ideas. Steve redesigned Iron Man’s armor into the red-and-gold design the character still dons to this day. In the Hulk comics, he codified Bruce Banner’s transformations into the Hulk to be a function of his anger—before that, the transformation happened in a variety of ways.

It is perhaps with Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts, that Steve truly expressed his visionary impulses in work that predated and influenced the burgeoning world of psychedelic art. The early Doctor Strange stories in STRANGE TALES could only have come from the mind of Steve Ditko.

Steve also designed the first Marvel trade dress and corner box.

After more than four years on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and other Marvel titles, Steve left to pursue work at Charlton and then DC in the mid- to late 1960s. He created and drew a bevy of characters during the period, including the Question, Blue Beetle, the Creeper and Hawk and Dove. Steve also became a devotee of objectivist philosophy, which would become a very important touchstone in his life and work. Inspired by these concepts, Steve applied them to a new character, Mr. A, who appeared in Wally Wood’s witzend magazine.

Returning to Marvel in 1979, Steve worked on books such as MACHINE MAN, ROM and THE MICRONAUTS. In the 1990s, Steve helped create new characters for Marvel, including Speedball and Squirrel Girl.

Eschewing interviews or publicity, Steve continued to work on his own personal projects. Though he had been the recipient of numerous awards over the years, he had refused many of them on the grounds that his work should speak for itself.

Steve was one of the greatest talents in comic book history and an artist-writer whose unparalleled vision produced some of the most legendary works of all time. The comic book industry was forever changed by his imagination and ideas.

If you aren't familiar with one-bagging, it's the practice of packing so light

In a heart-wrenching post, a Microsoft software engineer opened up about her personal immigration story. Sri Ponnada shared on Facebook that she must leave the United States in six months because of the nation's current immigration issues that have forced her and her family to wait years for green cards, despite proper documentation. Her post is starting conversations about how the system is also impacting children who came to this country, and those who are now adults still navigating a complex green card process.   SEE ALSO: 5 books about immigrant and refugee experiences that you'll want to read with your kids On a page dedicated to support for her case, Ponnada, who is currently residing in Washington, offered a detailed account of her experiences as a child who immigrated to the country with her parents when she was 14 from Jamaica, though she is originally from India. In the post, she discusses the opportunities she seized while a student at University of Iowa, and the contributions she and her family have made — such as her mother's work as "a doctor in an underserved community in Iowa." Ponnada also shared that she has worked with non-profits, encouraging girls to join STEM fields and is involved in social service projects with the city of Seattle outside of her work at Microsoft.  "I have had great opportunities in this country so far, but I still face the same anxiety I’ve had since childhood about my visa status," she explains. "Even though I have lived here practically my whole life and work at Microsoft, I had to apply for a H1B visa — which is a LOTTERY — just to be able to stay in the country because there is no way for kids like me to stay here with our parents who become lawful permanent residents through the green card process." The immigration status of Ponnada's parents is unclear, but we've reached out for additional information.  H-1B visas are temporary visas filed by employers. Due to the amount of people seeking the visa, petitions are chosen via lottery. Those who are selected are granted three years of work within the United States. According to the New York Times, many (though not all) visas are granted to software engineers and those working in tech, like, Ponnada.  "I haven’t been selected for a H1B in the lottery - so when my STEM OPT expires next February, I’ll have to leave my family, my friends, and my home in the United States — the only country I’ve known since I became a teenager," she explains on Facebook. STEM OPT is a program facilitated by the Department of Homeland Security for those who have graduated from a STEM program at an accredited U.S. college or university.  "Where should I go? Jamaica - where I came from? Or to India where I was born but haven’t lived in since I was 3 years old?," she continued. Ponnada explains that while she is currently  working and residing in the country on a STEM OPT extension, she initially came on a dependent children's visa. "Due to the huge green card backlog for individuals from India, I lost my dependent visa status at the age of 21 as I was no longer a minor," she recounted. This meant she had to convert her initial dependent children's visa to a student visa in order to complete her education.  When her extension runs out in six months, she will have to "self-deport" because she was unable to obtain a visa, despite having a permanent job. "That makes no sense to me," she wrote. "And I hope it doesn’t make sense to you either."  In another post, Ponnada shared the ways in which people can support her efforts to stay within the country. Many action items, like calling Congress or sharing personal stories, are similar things one can do if seeking ways to help immigrant children and undocumented youth throughout the country.   Within Microsoft, the company's Assistant General Counsel Jack Chen offered his support for Ponnada, along with U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, (R-Kansas) who met with her in June.  I'm proud to call Sri a Microsoft colleague. Thank you @RepKevinYoder for taking the time to hear our employees stories, and for your commitment to eliminating #percountry limits. #HR392 https://t.co/FlFWbwzGI6 — Jack Chen (@jakchen) June 21, 2018 You can read Ponnada's full post here.  WATCH: 'We're being used': Rapper Vic Mensa pleads for gun control legislation.