John Romita Sr, Marvel Comics artist, dies at 93

Marvel Comics artist John Romita Sr, primarily recognized for his work on The Wonderful Spider-Man, has died, his son mentioned Tuesday. He was 93 years of age.

Romita Sr, born in Brooklyn in 1930, spent many years drawing the eponymous superhero of The Wonderful Spider-Man comedian e-book sequence for U.S. writer Marvel, in the course of the medium’s so-called Silver Age.

“My father, John Romita passed away peacefully in his sleep this Monday morning,” his son, John Romita Jr, additionally a comic book e-book artist, wrote on Instagram.

“He is a legend in the art world and it would be my honor to follow in his footsteps… He was the greatest man I ever met.”

British comedian artist Sean Phillips — recognized for Ed Brubaker collaborations reminiscent of The Fade Out and Fatale — wrote on Twitter that Romita was “the best Spider-Man artist”.

Romita Sr labored with late Marvel supremo Stan Lee, co-creator of a number of characters together with Spider-Man, who grew to become one of many world’s best-loved fictional heroes. He additionally drew for titles starring Daredevil, one other Lee creation.

Each Lee and fellow Spider-Man creator Stephen Ditko died in 2018, aged 95 and 90 respectively.

Talking in 2002, Romita mentioned he meshed nicely into the artistic processes at Marvel. “I don’t consider myself a creator,” Romita mentioned in an interview with The Comics Reporter. “I’ve created a lot of stuff. But I don’t consider myself a real creator in a [Captain America co-creator] Jack Kirby sense. But I’ve always had the ability to improve on other people’s stories, other people’s characters. And I think that’s what’s made me a living for 50 years.”

Like his father, Romita Jr, 66, has additionally labored on The Wonderful Spider-Man and Daredevil. James Gunn, director of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy sequence, posted a tribute on Twitter. “Sorry to hear about the great comic book artist John Romita Sr passing at the age of 93,” he wrote.

Present Spider-Man author Dan Slott additionally paid homage. “I grew up with John Romita’s Spider-Man as my Spider-Man. He was already one of my heroes before I’d ever set foot in Marvel,” he posted. “When I was an intern [at Marvel] in the ’90s, it was surreal to me that he worked on staff, and I was in awe seeing him walk through the halls.”

Romita Sr additionally labored for rival superhero behemoth DC, within the early years of his profession. Superheroes first entered the broader public consciousness in 1938 with the arrival of Superman in Motion Comics #1. The next 12 months, he was joined by the Caped Crusader, Batman, earlier than different heroes reminiscent of Captain America entered the fray.

The style misplaced reputation within the post-war interval however rebounded within the late Fifties and early Nineteen Sixties — notably because of Lee, who created The Incredible 4 in 1961 for Marvel Comics. In fast succession, The Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, the X-Males and Black Panther adopted. Over the previous 15 years a lot of these characters, together with Iron Man, have coalesced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a multimedia franchise that has conquered cinema screens globally. They account for 4 of the highest 10 highest-grossing movies of all time, together with 2021’s Spider-Man: No Manner Residence.

Spider-Man: Throughout the Spider-Verse, the latest chapter in Sony’s separate webslinger sequence, dominated field places of work final weekend.