As an artist he defined decades of storytelling at Marvel and helped bring to life characters like Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Wolverine and Kingpin.
John Romita Sr., the influential comic book artist who illustrated Spider-Man in the superhero’s early years and helped create some of Marvel’s most beloved characters, including Mary Jane Watson and Wolverine, has died. He was 93.
His death was announced by his son John Romita Jr., who is also a comic book artist and who said his father died in his sleep on Monday.
“He is a legend in the art world and it would be my honor to follow in his footsteps,” Mr. Romita Jr. said on Instagram.
“Millions came to know Marvel through his art, and millions more came to know Peter Parker through the unmistakable bold brushwork Romita brought to his pages,” Marvel said in a statement.
John V. Romita was born on Jan. 24, 1930, in Brooklyn, the oldest of five children. Mr. Romita’s interest in drawing was encouraged at home and in school, according to a 2007 biography by Sue L. Hamilton. In 1938, he purchased two copies of the first Superman comic, keeping one safely in a bag while using the other as a drawing guide.
After graduating from high school in 1947, Mr. Romita began working as a commercial artist. But a chance meeting with a friend and former high school classmate, who worked for Stan Lee, the comic book revolutionary, led to his first big break. Mr. Romita began secretly sketching comics in pencil for his friend, who would later go over them with ink and pass them off as his own work.
Mr. Romita took his career into his own hands in the 1950s and revealed the arrangement to Mr. Lee, who in turn gave him the opportunity to work, Mr. Romita said in an interview with The Comics Reporter in 2002.
Mr. Romita’s career as a comic book artist was spun forward in 1966, when he began drawing “The Amazing Spider-Man,” which he took over from Steve Ditko, who cocreated the character in 1962 with Mr. Lee. It would become some of Mr. Romita’s most celebrated work.
Arlen Schumer, the author of “The Silver Age of Comic Book Art,” told The New York Times in 2017 that Mr. Romita was a worthy successor to Mr. Ditko, adding that his “distinctive hand” as art director “could be seen on everything from covers to interior panels and pages, effectively supplanting the Marvel style once dominated by Jack Kirby in the ’60s.”
Mr. Romita said in a 2017 interview with Syfy that he was most proud of his work on two issues in the early 1970s, when he began to distinguish his artistic vision of Spider-Man from that of Mr. Ditko.
“I always felt like a visitor on Spider-Man,” Mr. Romita said. “Like I was always doing Ditko somehow. I was trying to keep the characters consistent.” He said that by the time issues 108 and 109 arrived on his desk, he was a different person and approached the work from a new angle. “You’ll see more blacks and slashing clothing lines than ever I did in Spider-Man, and there are scenes in there that I’m very proud of.”
Mr. Romita was also known for creating the look and attitude of Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man’s love interest. Mr. Romita said that he based the character partially on Ann-Margret, the actress and singer. “We were trying to make a girl that was very with it and very modern, “ Mr. Romita said.
Under his helm at Marvel, a number of other memorable characters were introduced, including Kingpin, Luke Cage and Wolverine.
Mr. Romita retired in 1996, but carried on working on certain projects for both Marvel and DC.
Mr. Romita told The Comics Reporter in 2002 that he regretted not being in the first generation of professional cartoonists and that he thought of himself as following the lead of others.
“No matter what success I’ve had, I’ve always considered myself a guy who can improve on somebody else’s concepts,” Mr. Romita said. “A writer and another artist can create something, and I can make it better.”
A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.
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