The Amazing Spider-Man #50. Cover art by Romita and Mike Esposito.

John Romita, Sr. (better known as simply John Romita) (born January 24, 1930) is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man. January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Entertainment, Inc. ... Cover to The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Volume 1), March 1963, by Steve Ditko. ...

Biography

Early life and career

John Romita graduated from the School of Industrial Art in 1947. He broke into comics on the seminal series Famous Funnies. "Steven Douglas up there was a benefactor to all young artists", Romita recalled. "The first story he gave me was a love story. It was terrible. All the women looked like emaciated men and he bought it, never criticized, and told me to keep working. He paid me two hundred dollars for it and never published it — and rightfully so" [1]. High School of Art and Design is a vocational high school in New York City that offers a traditional education, augmented with advanced courses in art and commercial design. ...

Captain America #78 (Sept. 1954). Cover art by Romita.

Romita was working at New York City company called Forbes Lithograph in 1949, earing $30 a week, when a friend from art school whom he ran into on a subway train offered him $20 a page to pencil a 10-page story for him as uncredited ghost artist. "I thought, this is ridiculous! In two pages I can make more money than I usually make all week! So I ghosted it and then kept on ghosting for him", Romita recalled [2]. The friend worked for Marvel's 1940s forerunner, Timely Comics, which helped give Romita an opportunity to meet editor-in-chief and art director Stan Lee. Image File history File links CaptainAmerica(Atlas)78. ... Image File history File links CaptainAmerica(Atlas)78. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Big Apple, The Capital of the World[1], Gotham [2], Metropolis Location Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,214. ... High School of Art and Design is a vocational high school in New York City that offers a traditional education, augmented with advanced courses in art and commercial design. ... In producing a comic book, the penciller (or penciler) draws the comic based on the script created by the writer. ... This article is about a ghostwriter, the type of writer. ... Timely Comics is the 1940s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. ... Stan Lee and his most famous co-creation, Spider-Man. ...

Romita's first known credited comic-book art is as penciler and inker on the six-page story "The Bradshaw Boys" in Western Outlaws #1 (Feb. 1951) for Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics. He went on to draw a wide variety of horror, war, romance and other comics for Atlas. His most notable work for the company was the short-lived, 1950s revival of Timely's hit character Captain America. The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book, or graphic novel. ... Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. ... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle or horrify the reader. ... This article refers to the wide variety of writing called romantic. For literature from the European Romantic movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, see Romanticism: Art and Literature. ... Captain America, the alter ego of Steve Rogers (in some accounts Steven Grant Rogers), is a fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. ... Captain America, the alter ego of Steve Rogers (in some accounts Steven Grant Rogers), is a fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. ...

Spider-Man

At Marvel, Romita returned to superhero penciling after a decade working exclusively as a romance-comic artist for DC. He felt at the time that he no longer wanted to pencil, in favor of being solely an inker: This article refers to the wide variety of writing called romantic. For literature from the European Romantic movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, see Romanticism: Art and Literature. ... DC Comics (originally called Detective Comics, Inc. ... In producing a comic book, the penciller (or penciler) draws the comic based on the script created by the writer. ... The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book, or graphic novel. ...

"I had inked an Avengers job for Stan, and I told him I just wanted to ink. I felt like I was burned out as a penciler after eight years of romance work. I didn't want to pencil any more; in fact, I couldn't work at home any more — I couldn't discipline myself to do it. He said, 'Okay,' but the first chance he had he shows me this Daredevil story somebody had started and he didn't like it, and he wanted somebody else to do it". [3] "[He] showed me Dick Ayers' splash page for a Daredevil [and] asked me, 'What would you do with this page?' I showed him on a tracing paper what I would do, and then he asked me to do a drawing of Daredevil the way I would do it. I did a big drawing of Daredevil ... just a big, tracing-paper drawing of Daredevil swinging. And Stan loved it". [4] Cover to Avengers #65. ... For people who perform risky stunts as a profession, see stunt performer. ... Richard Dick Ayers is a comic book artist and cartoonist, born April 28th, 1924, in Ossining, New York. ...

Romita began a brief stint on Daredevil beginning with issue #12, initially penciling over Jack Kirby 's dynamic layouts as a means of learning Marvel's storytelling house style. It proved to be a stepping-stone for his famed, years-long pencilling run on The Amazing Spider-Man. "What Stan Lee wanted was for me to do a two-part Daredevil story [#16-17, May-June 1966] with Spider-Man as a guest star, to see how I handled the character". [5]. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Cover to The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Volume 1), March 1963, by Steve Ditko. ...

Coming to The Amazing Spider-Man as successor of Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko, initially attempted to mimic Ditko's style, but brought his own clean, soap operatic style of illustration to the book, and made the character his own. Spider-Man swinging around his hometown, New York City. ... The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964): Cover art by Ditko. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Marvel Comics art director

When editor-in-chief and art director Stan Lee assumed the position of publisher, he promoted Romita to the latter position. In that capacity, Romita played a major role in defining the look of Marvel Comics and in designing new characters. Among the characters he helped design are the Punisher, Wolverine, and Brother Voodoo. Stan Lee and his most famous co-creation, Spider-Man. ... The Punisher (Frank Castle) is a Marvel Comics anti-hero. ... Wolverine, born James Howlett and often simply called Logan, is a Marvel Comics superhero and a member of the X-Men. ... Brother Voodoo is a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. ...

Later career

He collaborated with one of his two sons, John Romita, Jr., on The Amazing Spider-Man #500, drawing the last few pages of the issue. In the mid-2000s, Romita sat on the board of directors of the charity A Commitment To Our Roots. Cover for Black Panther by John Romita Jr. ... A Commitment To Our Roots A Commitment To Our Roots, commonly known as ACTOR, is the first federally recognized not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping comic book creators, writers, and artists in need. ...

Awards

TK

References

• Comic Book Artist #6 (Fall 1999): Interview with Romita
• Alter Ego #9 (July 2001): Interview with Romita
• Keefe Studios: Interview with Romita
• The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators