Who was John Romita Sr.? Legendary Marvel Artist Dead at 93

John Romita Sr. was a legendary Marvel artist who started his career as a DC artist. He drew his first superhero work, a 1950s revival of Captain America. He started working exclusively for DC Comics from 1958 to 1965 and was the artist for many of their romance comics.

He joined Marvel in 1965 and started drawing Daredevil comics. When Spider-Man artist and co-creator, Steve Ditko left Marvel in 1966, Romita was chosen by Stan Lee as the new artist for The Amazing Spider-Man title.

As the Spider-Man artist, he helped The Amazing Spider-Man rise 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 house style for the character. In June 1973, he was promoted to Marvel’s Art Director and heavily influenced the look of Marvel Comics throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Romita was reported dead by his son, John Romita Jr., who shared that he died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at age 93.

“I say this with a heavy heart. My father is a legend in the art world and it would be my honor to follow in his footsteps. Please keep your thoughts and condolences here out of respect for my family. He was the greatest man I ever met,” John Romita Jr. wrote in a Twitter post.