American comic book artist, John Romita Sr. has been reported dead by his son, John Romita Jr. According to him, the longtime Marvel comic artist died of natural causes in his sleep.
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“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.
Born on January 24, 1930, John Romita Sr.’s first comics work was in 1949 as a ghost artist for Timely Comics, the precursor of Marvel, through which Romita met editor-in-chief, Stan Lee.
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He began drawing horror war, and romance comics for Atlas Comics in 1951, and he also 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.
During his time there, he developed his ability to draw beautiful women, which he later became well-known for. In 1965, he joined Marvel 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.
Within a year of him 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 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. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2002. He was also inducted into the Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame in 2020.
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