John Romita Senior passed away at the age of 93. His son John Romita Junior has now heartfully announced this. His father passed away peacefully. The death is a great loss for the Marvel comic world.
What is John Romita Senior known for? When it comes to the Marvel universe, most of you probably immediately think of Stan Lee. But Lee is only involved as a writer of the comics. John Romita Senior was the artist of “The Amazing Spider-Man” comics for several years. He replaced Steve Ditko as the artist in 1966, shortly after which he was hired as an art director at Marvel.
We owe it to him that Spider-Man was given his distinctive drawing style. Romita had his first contact with a superhero in 1954 when he illustrated the reissue of Captain America.
Now his son, who is also an artist, hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps. You can read his touching words in the original English here:
The first comic strips of Spider-Man were even drawn together by the father-son duo. The first comic strips were published in 1970. At that time, Romita Junior was 14 years old.
In the meantime, Romita Senior was even employed by the competition. In 1957 he left Marvel and drew stories for girls at DC Comics. However, the series was canceled in 1965 and the artist returned to Marvel, where he created his greatest success.
Did he still draw comics at the age of 93? No, he stopped doing that decades ago. John Romita Senior left the “The Amazing Spider-Man” comic in the 1970s when he became art director at Marvel. There he created a new series with “Spidey Super Stories” aimed at children.
Currently, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is exciting moviegoers. Check out the trailer for the film here:
How are fans reacting? On Twitter, the account spideymemoir shares an image from the Spider-Man comic. It shows how the suit is left behind in the trash. Rain is pouring down and darkening the mood:
Another user has found a comparison image showing the scene depicted in the comic as a movie adaptation:
Also in the Reddit forum, fans are mourning. They thank the artist for his wonderful work and are very affected by his death.
The general mood in the comments is sorrowful but grateful:
- Pure_Internet: An absolutely heartbreaking message. His influence on Marvel in general (and Spider-Man in particular) cannot be overstated.
- Capt_Trippz: Damn. Rest in peace, and thank you for your contribution to a childhood full of wonderful memories.
- nyse125: RIP. We have lost another legend.
What is the Spider-Man universe doing these days? Besides the current movie that even dethroned The Dark Knight as the best superhero movie, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is in development. We have already seen a first trailer a few weeks ago for the gameplay.
But currently, some video game adaptations are eclipsing the once-mighty movie giant Marvel: Video games are overtaking Marvel as the eternal star on the big screen
