As most of you will be aware John Romita Senior sadly passed away on Monday (12 June) at the age of 93. Romita was without doubt one of Marvels, and comics most influential artist working on various titles including Spider-Man, Daredevil, Captain America and the Fantastic Four amongst many others. Of course “Jazzy John” , as he was affectionately known did not restrict his artist endeavours to super-heroes, he also drew horror, war, and romance titles for Marvel and other publishers including DC where he worked from 1958 until the mid-1960’s. In 1965 Romita returned to Marvel inking Don Heck’s pencils on Avengers issue 23. In 1966 he drew Daredevil issue 12 to 19, a series that included a two-part guest appearance from Spider-Man (issues 16-17). Stan Lee was so impressed by Romita’s art on Spider-Man that he appointed him as Steve Ditko’s successor on the Amazing Spider-Man title with issue 39 a series he worked on from 1966 until 1973. The rest is of course the stuff of comic book legend.
My own introduction to John Romita’s wonderful work was on “Captain America and the Falcon” issue 144 (cover above) cover dated December 1971. My dad purchased this comic for me on a weekend family trip to Ayr around March 1972. The comic absolutely fascinated me featuring the Femme Force, Nick Fury (the coolest guy ever) , S.H.I.E.L.D , Hydra the Falcon and of course Captain America himself. Many of these characters I had been aware of before this, but it was Romita's art that "blew me away" it was action packed on every page, not a single panel was wasted. I loved this comic as an 11 year old, and even today it remains one of my most cherished comics. Just take a look at some of the stunning action packed pages from this issue:
It wouldn’t be until September 1973 when I would see my next John Romita artwork in the pages of “Spider-Man Comics Weekly” issue 33 which reprinted “Amazing Spider-Man” issue 39, “Jazzy Johns” first US issue of Spider-Man. In the coming years I would read so much of his work, every issue as good as the last. Mr Romita not only drew characters with aplomb he also helped create some of Marvels most important characters including Mary Jane Watson, the Kingpin, Punisher, Shocker, Hobgoblin, Luke Cage, Nova, and Wolverine.
I was probably about seven years old when I walked into my local newsagents in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) with my pocket money firmly he...
Following on from my last post featuring some of my favourite Marvel comic book covers from 1973, I thought I would show some of DC's ...
Nearly a half-century on I still consider 1973 to be the year that cemented my destiny in becoming a lifetime comic book fan. It was a yea...
Romita's run on Cap is an outstanding one. I wish he'd stayed longer, but Stan always seemed to need him on something else. My first Romita was Amazing Spider-Man # 63 which featured his take on the Vultures. Later I got to see his DD issues with Ka-Zar and really began to see what he was capable of.
ReplyDeleteI remember that issue of ASM 63 when it was reprinted in Spider-Man Comics Weekly. Like all of Mr Romita's covers it was a classic. I agree his run of Cap was indeed outstanding.
DeleteYes, a huge talent who probably contributed more to the Marvel "look" than anyone other than Kirby, taking over Spidey after Ditko and totally redefining the book for the audience, and setting the template for the character followed by future artists. More than that, he brought a consistency across all of the Marvel titles in his role as Art Director.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how much his art influenced other artists, but I cannot think of any other artist who influenced the direction of Marvel more in the 1960s.
And by all accounts a genuinely nice fellow.
I seem to recall reading that Jack Kirby said that John Romita "saved" Spider-Man, not because sales faltered but because Ditko was (rightly) considered such a hard act to follow on the character. Of course Romita took Spidey to be Marvels best seller overtaking the FF. More importantly he was by all accounts a nice man.
DeleteNot 100% sure, but I think my first exposure to Romita's art was the S-M issue in which Spidey meets Quicksilver. Then it would've been Spidey reprints in TV21. A nice, clean artist, whose art always told the story in unambiguous terms. Another legend departed, alas.
ReplyDeleteI still have that issue of Spider-Man Comics Weekly where the Quicksilver story was reprinted. I think Sal Buscema may be the last of that golden age of artists and writers reaffirmation with us.
ReplyDeleteI first saw John Romita's artwork in Spider-Man Comics Weekly #103 in January 1975 and like everyone else I was a big fan. Unfortunately SMCW #103 was very near the end of Romita's run on Spider-Man before being replaced by Gil Kane (I think SMCW #116 was the final Romita issue) so I'm glad I was just in time to experience Jazzy John's Spidey work before his departure.
ReplyDeleteI think that issue was the start of the Kingpin\ Schemer storyline (from Amazing Spider-Man issue 85) with Jim Mooney inking Romita's pencils. A pretty good one for your first Romita comic Colin.
ReplyDeleteYes, Paul - SMCW #103 was indeed the first issue of the Kingpin vs Schemer storyline and it remains one of my favourite Spidey stories with a great twist ending too.
ReplyDelete