Remembering John Romita Senior 1930-2023

Legendary artist John Romita has passed away at age 93. His son, a legend in his own right, posted the news on his twitter.

I like to think of Romita as Spider-Man’s third co-creator. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created the character, but I feel without Romita’s contribution Spider-Man would not have reached the heights of popularity he now holds. Romita’s pencils were masterful and his contributions can’t be overlooked. He brought us the look of Mary Jane, the Kingpin, the Rhino to name a few. He did the cover for the wedding issue, he penciled the newspaper strip, he also designed the art for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Spidey balloon. You couldn’t buy a Spider-Man toy or t-shirt off the shelves in the 70s and 80s without having his version of Spider-Man on it. When I think of Spider-Man, Romita’s art is the default image that I think of in my head. Specifically these two images.

Romita never really left Spider-Man. He drew him from the 1960s all the way up to the 2000s. This issue of Amazing Spider-Man #600 comes to mind as one of his last. I talked to him briefly on e-mail back and forth over the years. I tried to get him on the podcast, but it never really worked out. He was in his 80s then and I feel talking to a guy from Missouri on something called a podcast just didn’t sound fun to him. He was retired and I respected him too much to push it.

Here are some of my favorite John Romita pieces of art over the years. May the legend rest in peace and know that he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. Feel free to share your favorite memories of John Romita in the comment section.

Also check out this awesome video of Stan Lee interviewing both father and son.

This Friday we will be live discussing our thoughts on the legend. I hope you can join us.