RIP John Romita Senior

 

JOHN ROMITA Sr. (1930-2023)

For as long as I have read comics, for as long as I have collected them, I have always had the utmost respect for the artists who were there in the early years of the MARVEL COMICS Renaissance of the 1960s. Big names such as JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, NEAL ADAMS and JOHN BUSCEMA, all of these have left so much to their fans to enjoy. But all of the above have also already left this world.

It is with the greatest of sadness that I have to say now that my personal favorite of these big artists, JOHN ROMITA Sr, the father of John Romita Jr. has passed away. John Romita Sr. was the second major artist to be involved in SPIDER-MAN and he took over the title THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN when Steve Ditko left Marvel entirely. Romita was first tried out by Stan Lee on DAREDEVIL and when Stan saw how well Romita also drew Spider-Man, guest appearing in the DAREDEVIL comic, it was clear to him who would follow up on Steve Ditko.

John Romita took on the title and made Peter Parker from the geeky nerd that Ditko had brought us, into a young Elvis. Romita also glamourized the comic as his women were all gorgeous and Aunt May also seemed to get a little younger all of a sudden. (Ha ha ha !) He had worked previously for DC for their Romance Comics, which gave him ample training to make his women look good. 

For me personally, even though I loved Steve Ditko's take on Spider-Man, I felt Romita was the right guy to take on the comic. For me, Romita Senior was the best artist that Marvel had in those days. Oh yes, Kirby, Ditko, Adams and Buscema were all phenomenally good but something just really clicked with me on Romita's beautiful art.

John Romita with Jim Mooney who inked a lot of John's work on ASM

John Romita had already been drawing for some time in the business. He had also worked for Stan Lee previously in the 1950s on the revival comics of CAPTAIN AMERICA ( which was not a success at that time ) but for DC he worked on nothing else but the Romance Comics for 8 years. Romita has said this was really very boring and so he had to work hard to keep it interesting. And as a bonus he learned to draw really beautiful women. (At least in my opinion. I always thought his Gwen Stacy was the most beautiful girl in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man. I have always felt it was a great shame that Gwen was considered boring and had to die in that most dreadful of comics, The Amazing Spider-Man 121. But his portrayal of Mary Jane was also nothing short of spectacular. )

 

 In the 1990s, John Romita visited a comic book convention in the Netherlands. I had the opportunity there to talk briefly with him and to have him sign an AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Brief as this moment was, I am extremely happy that I now have had that moment with him, even though for him, I was just probably one of many.

John Romita Sr and John Romita Jr, father and son.

I also found it a shame that John Romita became the Art Director instead of just keeping on drawing for the best comics. But in this position he was also the guy who designed characters like LUKE CAGE, POWER MAN and WOLVERINE. And when he had the opportunity to work together with his son, John Jr, you may be sure to get the best artwork ever.

Yes, for me John Romita was the best artist ever on Spidey but he was also phenomenal on other characters. And over the years he has even done some work for DC again, even together with John Jr.

Thank you so much, John, for your wonderful art. And thank you for having done so much for Marvel and for Comics in general. You were the Best. 

You will be missed.

John Romita and Stan Lee in the 1970s

All artwork copyright Marvel Comics. All photographs copyrighted.