Legendary Marvel Comics Artist John Romita, Sr., Who Brought 'Spider-Man', 'Wolverine', and 'Black Widow' To Life, Dies At 93

Marvel

Jun 29

Just a handful of years after Marvel Creator Stan Lee passed away, he is now being followed by one of Marvel’s most well-known artists has passed away. John Romita Sr., who served as Art Director for the legendary comic book company from 1973 until the mid-90s, has also passed on. He was 93.

Growing up in New York, he broke into comics in the late ’40s; he eventually introduced himself to Stan Lee and helped relaunch Captain America in 1953. After briefly working for DC, where he gained a reputation as a great romance comic book artist, he came back to work for Stan Lee and Marvel, creating art for Daredevil and the huge comic book hit Amazing Spider-Man. There, he designed the characters of Gwen Stacey and Mary Jane. He also redesigned Peter himself, creating a visual look that remains relevant to this day. Some of his most famous panels include the famous panel introducing Mary Jane, where she says to Peter, “Face it, tiger, you hit the jackpot!” as well as the iconic “Spider-Man no more” panel. After the 70s, his work on the panels themselves started to become less frequent as he decided to focus more on his Art Director role.