What does John Romita think . . .

[bluechip]

Just got a report from a psychic who tapped into romita's mind to see what he thinks and got this...

 

"ummmm. jelly filled."

 

 

She said she'd try again when he wasn't having breakfast.

[HighVoltage]

Back to the original question - of what Romita thinks when he sees his original art selling for so much...

 

I think he's at peace with it, maybe a little shocked & a little humbled.

 

It's not like John is hurting financially at this point in his life. Maybe he'd feel differently if he were in dire straits - hard to say...

 

 

I was with John at the Baltimore Con this year when somebody brought the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #59 to the ACTOR (now The Hero Initiative) booth for John to sign.

 

John sat back & eyed the cover for a few moments before signing & was genuinely filled with joy to sign the piece.

 

After he signed the cover, I asked him what it was like seeing the cover again. He said it was great - like looking at an old friend & that he hadn't seen that cover in a long, long time.

 

Would John's art sell for less if he had not drawn Spidey? Almost certainly. But as much as Ditko & Lee made Spidey work - John made the book work, too. Would Spidey have been as popular without Romita? Hard to say, but I don't think so.

 

It's fun to play 'what if' with a scenario like this. What if Romita had stayed on Daredevil? Would Gene Colan have drawn Spidey? What about John Buscema on Spidey? Romita on Avengers? How much better would the book have sold & would Buscema have ever come aboard the title?

[Jeffro.]

Romita is laughing his *spoon* off right now. 90k+ for his art? Romita is not that great of an artist. If he drew Avengers instead of Spidey, nobody would care about him. If Don Heck drew Spidey, his covers would go for 90k+ too.

 

Please tell me you're not trying to compare Don Hack to Romita.

 

Romita's style was beautiful in its simplicity. Modern artists could learn a lot from him. As for my opinion of Heck? I spelled his name "hack" for a reason.

 

Take away Romita. He go bye-bye. He never #1 artist on Spidey. Put Heck in his place. Heck becomes #1 artist on Spidey. Heck Spidey covers go for lots of money. Everyone laugh at Romita art. Understand? Good boy!!!!

 

I guess we'll never know but I completely disagree. Romita was hands down a superior artist to Heck. I hear what you're saying about the significance of being the number 1 Spidey artist but I still don't think that would result in Heck being held in as high regard as Romita.

[tth2]

Perhaps if Don Heck had become the main artist on Spidey, Spidey would never have become Marvel`s most popular character.

[bluechip]

Would John's art sell for less if he had not drawn Spidey? Almost certainly. But as much as Ditko & Lee made Spidey work - John made the book work, too. Would Spidey have been as popular without Romita? Hard to say, but I don't think so.

 

 

Would have to agree and not just because he was the illustrator. The marvel style of writing and drawing forced Romita into the role of writer as well as illustrator, and he turned out to be a rare find in that department.

 

Not that he wrote any dialogue I know of. But writing is about much more than that. It was left to romita to lay out the stories, to weave the soapish romantic and personal stories in wit the action, and to convey the emotions in each scene. His approach and previous experience (hereoes and lots of romance books) made him far more prepared to do the job than I think even he expected. Maybe Stan did, but he always had and still has a great sense of it and knew it when he saw it. Ditko was the perfect artist for a high school spider-man, but it was romita who very successfully turned him into a yuong adult

[bluechip]

FYI, the Spider-man 59 cover is one that was worked on not just by Romita but also by Don Heck. and inked by esposito. a group effort. So give Heck his due, too. (his art and story layour were perfect for the more brooding soap styles of Iron Man, avengers. And for a while he even did a good job on some early thor stories,

[glenbru]

FYI, the Spider-man 59 cover is one that was worked on not just by Romita but also by Don Heck. and inked by esposito. a group effort. So give Heck his due, too. (his art and story layour were perfect for the more brooding soap styles of Iron Man, avengers. And for a while he even did a good job on some early thor stories,

 

 

This is not true. I have no stake in the ASM 59 but it is all by Romita. I held the cover in my hands at SD this year and the inks are pure Romita. And, Don Heck never helped out on any pencil chores with regard to covers on the regular Spider-Man run.

[bluechip]

FYI, the Spider-man 59 cover is one that was worked on not just by Romita but also by Don Heck. and inked by esposito. a group effort. So give Heck his due, too. (his art and story layour were perfect for the more brooding soap styles of Iron Man, avengers. And for a while he even did a good job on some early thor stories,

 

 

This is not true. I have no stake in the ASM 59 but it is all by Romita. I held the cover in my hands at SD this year and the inks are pure Romita. And, Don Heck never helped out on any pencil chores with regard to covers on the regular Spider-Man run.

 

 

Since the person who told me so had less personal knowledge and experience than you I will defer to you and stand corrected.

 

BTW never thought it would diminish the cover or romita's work on that or any other cover. But it's interesting to know.

 

thanks

[mica]

Perhaps if Don Heck had become the main artist on Spidey, Spidey would never have become Marvel`s most popular character.

WRONG.

This anti-spiderman crusade is not necessary.

[jjeanius]

Perhaps if Don Heck had become the main artist on Spidey, Spidey would never have become Marvel`s most popular character.

WRONG.

This anti-spiderman crusade is not necessary.

 

I don't see how this is anti-Spiderman. The reason Spidey has become the icon that he is is based wholly on the quality of the early issues that allowed it to develop into such a landmark series. The ONLY reason Spidey is so big today is 'cause the first 100 to 130 issues or so were so great. This was due in no smally way to the artistic contributions of Ditko and Romita.

 

This comment is only a criticism of Don Heck's artwork...and really has nothing to do with Spider-Man.

[bluechip]

An artist can increase or diminish the popularity of a character, especially one written unde the Marvel style of the 60s, when the best artists, like romita, did so much more than just draw. they laid out the story.

 

That said, heck is a helluva artist in his own right

[tth2]

Perhaps if Don Heck had become the main artist on Spidey, Spidey would never have become Marvel`s most popular character.

WRONG.

This anti-spiderman crusade is not necessary.

It's not an anti-spiderman crusade, it's an anti-Heck crusade.

[Jeffro.]

Perhaps if Don Heck had become the main artist on Spidey, Spidey would never have become Marvel`s most popular character.

WRONG.

This anti-spiderman crusade is not necessary.

It's not an anti-spiderman crusade, it's an anti-Heck crusade.

\

 

 

[mica]

Perhaps if Don Heck had become the main artist on Spidey, Spidey would never have become Marvel`s most popular character.

WRONG.

This anti-spiderman crusade is not necessary.

It's not an anti-spiderman crusade, it's an anti-Heck crusade.

You've made cracks about Spidey before. This seemed like piling on.

Sell me your cheapest Duck book so I can save one of them from Heritage.

[mica]

Perhaps if Don Heck had become the main artist on Spidey, Spidey would never have become Marvel`s most popular character.

WRONG.

This anti-spiderman crusade is not necessary.

 

I don't see how this is anti-Spiderman.

Sort of inside social commentary on my part. In fact it's so "inside" Tim probably didn't see it coming.

[tth2]

You've made cracks about Spidey before. This seemed like piling on.

Busted!

 

But I AM also anti-Heck.

 

Sell me your cheapest Duck book so I can save one of them from Heritage.

I bet the Donald Duck #87 won't bust $100.