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Legendary Marvel artist and comic creator John Romita Sr. has sadly passed away at the age of 93. News of his passing comes from his son, John Romita Jr., who shared that he passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 12. John Romita Sr. is probably best known for his work on The Amazing Spider-Man in the mid-1960s. He is also responsible, however, for the creation of several fan-favorite characters like Wolverine, Mary Jane Watson, and The Punisher.
I say this with a heavy heart, My father passed away peacefully in his sleep. He 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. pic.twitter.com/Pe2K3ywbWX— John Romita JR (@JrRomita) June 14, 2023
Building A Legacy
John Romita Sr. grew up in Brooklyn and got his start in comics in 1949 through Timely Comics. Throughout the 1950’s he worked for DC Comics, before settling in at Marvel in 1965. While he initially worked as an artist on Daredevil, he soon took over for Steve Ditko on The Amazing Spider-Man after his departure in 1966. Although Romita was vocal about his hesitancy to take on the project, he would create some of his longest-lasting work here.
During his time on The Amazing Spider-Man, Romita helped create Mary Jane Watson, a love interest for Peter Parker. Of course, the two have become an iconic couple within Marvel, even making big waves with a recent break-up. While working on the series, Romita would also help introduce other iconic characters like Wolverine, The Punisher, and Kingpin. His work was so well-received that he was promoted to Art Director at Marvel in 1973.
Remembering John Romita Sr.
After news of his passing, many in the industry shared stories of Romita and his impact on them. Filmmaker James Gunn wrote that he was “sorry to hear about the great comic book artist John Romita Sr passing at the age of 93”. He then shared a story about an interaction with the comic legends from his youth:
“My brother & I wrote Mr. Romita when we were young kids & sent him drawings of superheroes we were working on. He wrote us back, telling us what he liked about the drawings! A truly memorable experience in my life, making me feel like the magic of comic books, which seemed so otherworldly, wasn’t actually that far away.”
Other big names in the comics field, like Gail Simone and Scott Snyder, also shared their condolences at the loss of such a big presence in the comics world.