John Romita Sr has passed away at 93 1 1

[Brian Peck]

Vert sad news

 

https://comicbook.com/comics/news/john-romita-sr-marvel-comics-artist-wolverine-co-creator-dead-93-obituary/

 

[grapeape]

I knew this was coming. It broke my heart but I kept my word not to say anything. I loved this guy as much as you could love someone who is not your own blood. Great artist yes. A much better human being.

My condolences to his family. You have so much to be proud of. May God bless you and help you get through this difficult time. R.I.P. John.

[John E.]

😢💔

[AnkurJ]

Long live the king of Spider-Man!

[pemart1966]

There was a lot of worry amongst young comic book fans in 1966 when the artist changed on Spider-man.  Would the title crash and burn?  Who is this new guy John Romita anyway?

Well, those worries were allayed the minute we laid eyes on the cover to issue 39.  John took the ball and ran it into the end zone and kept doing so for his tenure on the title.

He will be missed.  RIP John and condolences to the family.

Edited June 14, 2023 by pemart1966

[Carlo M]

One of the greatest.  The adjective that comest to my mind when I look at his art is "classy".  RIP

[otherworldsj331]

I had dinner with him and his son and their wives in 1998 at a San Diego comic con. He was so pleasant, such a beautiful soul.

[NelsonAI]

My condolences to all his family and friends.

I have fond memories of meeting him and his wife Virginia over the years.  

I was fortunate to see them in 2017 at his tribute exhibition at the Society of Illustrators Museum in NYC.  The Spider-Man art exhibited was from Mike Burkey's private collection.  That may have been one of his last public appearances as he wasn't attending conventions at that point.

Although, it was a long day and into the evening, John Romita Sr graciously signed all program books from the event for everyone.

An Amazing artist and a Spectacular person.  

[Spider-Variant]

I met John and his wife at the 2006 NY Comic Con.  I was moved nearly to tears while having  John do a sketch in one of his art books.  His wife was so nice and kind.

I started collecting Amazing Spider-Man with issue 153, so I missed John's work off the stands, but as I collected all the back issues, I came to love his work.

RIP John

 

[trimpehulk]

John Romita Sr, what talent and an extremely special career. From his taking over the Amazing Spider-Man title to his art Director duties, defining the Marvel promotional material and mentoring new artist’s incredible man. My earliest memories are Amazing Spider-Man 118 and Marvel Team up11. When he stopped most of his interiors on Amazing Spider-Man he continued to define the character with covers and the newspaper strip. The man is a true legend one word though I can use to describe him is is AMAZING. My condolences to the entire Romita family, he is back now with Stan and Jack.

[Rick2you2]

Sorry, I never him, but he seems like a good man and was a great artist. There is actually an obituary for him in today’s Wall Street Journal.

[BLUECHIPCOLLECTIBLES]

A great talent and a very pleasant guy who seemed totally content with his place in the world.

[The Voord]

Sad news indeed, by all accounts John was one of the nicest guys in the business . . . and I always admired him as an artist.  He was top-notch.

For the sake of full transparency, I would say that I definitely lean more heavily towards Steve Ditko's run on Spidey, but do remember being blown-away by John's debut on ASM, especially his cover art for ASM #39, which was beautifully illustrated and had tremendous impact (it remains one of my all-time-favorite ASM covers . . . simply stunning).  As a replacement for Ditko, I can't fault Stan Lee's choice.  John's run on the title, as artist, was outstanding . . . up there with the best of Marvel.

Interesting to read John's thoughts on Spidey in the linked piece Brian posted, in particular the following quote:

For about a year, Ditko and Stan were absolutely disagreeing on plotting. Ditko was plotting, and they weren't even talking. It already had probably gotten a little bit confusing to readers for about a year. 

I know I'm nit-picking here, but this is interesting to me as a point of discussion, and would say that the only confusion I'm getting is that if Ditko and Lee weren't even talking at the time (which is well documented), I can't see how they would be, "absolutely disagreeing on plotting" (unless Lee was complaining separately to others)?  Also, as a (then) reader of the book, I was never confused by the plotting of Ditko's final year on Spidey . . . and it was that final year that gave us the much-loved Master Planner trilogy . . . along with # 37 that laid the groundwork for Norman Osborne's villainy that would soon lead to the big reveal of his Green Goblin alter ego.  The wrap-up to the Green Goblin saga had been much-awaited.  That John was handed that two-parter gave him the best possible start on the title.  No-one was going to miss THAT storyline!

Rest in peace, John.  You will be sadly missed.

Edited June 16, 2023 by The Voord

[Peter G]

On 6/16/2023 at 4:31 AM, The Voord said:

 

Rest in peace, John.  You will be sadly missed.

Amen 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[ngh81]

A true legend.  Very sad to hear….

I wish the best for his family.

[Spider-Variant]

Here is the sketch John did for me back in 2006.  Classic.

[grapeape]

On 6/13/2023 at 9:28 PM, Brian Peck said:

Vert sad news

 

https://comicbook.com/comics/news/john-romita-sr-marvel-comics-artist-wolverine-co-creator-dead-93-obituary/

 

I wonder, is this how some folks out there intend to remember the great John Romita? This one sold for $101 after a weeklong listing by nolalostboy on eBay. I guess the 3 art gallery stamps on the back did not have the FOMO effect a seller might hope for.

A different seller listed the Spider-Man with four characters. He says there is a written notation from John on the back but he's not taking it out of the frame and doesn't remember what it was. Are you sure it's original and not a print? His response was " life is full of risks you have to take a chance to find out." I wish he had the balls to put that quote in his listing that guarantees it's 100% original. Also the ask is approximately $10k. And he mentioned he cut a larger sized board to fit it in the frame? Any relation to the Brothers MarkUpAndCutUpAlot ?

 

[KirbyCollector]

On 7/13/2023 at 1:31 PM, grapeape said:

I wonder, is this how some folks out there intend to remember the great John Romita? This one sold for $101 after a weeklong listing by nolalostboy on eBay. I guess the 3 art gallery stamps on the back did not have the FOMO effect a seller might hope for.

A different seller listed the Spider-Man with four characters. He says there is a written notation from John on the back but he's not taking it out of the frame and doesn't remember what it was. Are you sure it's original and not a print? His response was " life is full of risks you have to take a chance to find out." I wish he had the balls to put that quote in his listing that guarantees it's 100% original. Also the ask is approximately $10k. And he mentioned he cut a larger sized board to fit it in the frame? Any relation to the Brothers MarkUpAndCutUpAlot ?

 

The seller of the 2nd piece is a self described New Yorker... what else do you need to know?