John Romita Senior

He redefined the wall-crawler's look and brought romance to the web.

John Victor Romita (January 24, 1930 – June 12, 2023) was an American comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man and for co-creating characters including Mary Jane Watson, the Punisher, Kingpin, Wolverine, and Luke Cage. Romita was the father of John Romita Jr., also a comic book artist, and the husband of Virginia Romita, who was for many years Marvel's traffic manager. His first comics work was in 1949 as a ghost artist for Timely Comics, the precursor to Marvel, through which Romita met editor-in-chief Stan Lee.

In 1966, when Spider-Man artist and co-creator Steve Ditko left Marvel, Romita was chosen by writer Lee as the new artist for Amazing Spider-Man. Within a year of Romita becoming the Spider-Man artist, The Amazing Spider-Man rose from Marvel's second-best-selling title to the company's top-seller. Romita brought a new romance style to Spider-Man comics that soon became the new design for the character.

Quick Facts

Role: Artist
Affiliation: Marvel Comics
First major work: The Amazing Spider-Man
Notable creation: Mary Jane Watson

Lore & Background

Romita joined Marvel in 1965, initially drawing Daredevil comics. In June 1973, Romita was promoted to Marvel's art director and heavily influenced the look of Marvel comics throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Romita was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2002. He worked exclusively for DC Comics from 1958 to 1965 and was the artist for many of their romance comics, further developing his ability to draw beautiful women.

Reader's Guide

Romita's first identified published comic-book work is as penciler and inker of the six-page story 'The Bradshaw Boys' in Atlas' Western Outlaws #1 (February 1951). He went on to draw horror, war, and romance comics for Atlas, including the short-lived 1950s revival of Captain America in Young Men #24–28 (December 1953 – July 1954) and Captain America #76–78 (May–September 1954). Romita worked exclusively for DC Comics from 1958 to 1965, primarily on romance titles such as Secret Hearts, Heart Throbs, Falling in Love, Girls' Love Stories, Girls' Romances, and Young Love. He returned to Marvel in 1965, drawing Daredevil before taking over Amazing Spider-Man in 1966.