John Romita Jr. returns to Amazing Spider-Man
Posted by dailypop on August 29, 2007
Fan favorite artist John Romita Jr. recently confirmed that he will be returning to Amazing Spider-Man, where his trademark style will re-establish Marvel Comics’ flagship character. I’ve been a huge fan of Romita Jr. ever since his stint on Daredevil in the 90’s. I got to meet the artist at a Convention and awkwardly praise him on his work, comparing his line work to that of the great Frank Miller. He seemed touched, which was very polite of him, but I have to admit that I was distracted by the fact that his girlfriend at the time was the model for Typhoid Mary.
As a teenage boy, I never should have seen that a drawing can be real.
John Romita Jr. of course follows in the footsteps of his father who made the all-important transition from Steve Ditko’s distinctive art on Spider-Man as the first new artist on the title since its inception.
John Romita Senior’s son is no slouch in that department and has brought new life to Uncanny X-Men, Iron Man, Black Panther and The Hulk to name just a few.
While I enjoy J. Michael Straczynski’s writing, I started reading Amazing Spider-Man just to see Romita Jr.’s artwork. Their collaboration was groundbreaking and brought a strong following to the comic book series during an anniversary year with the impressive and touching ‘Happy Birthday’ story.
John can capture both action and emotion with a master’s touch, as was made evident in the special 9/11 issue featuring the reactions of the Marvel Universe characters to the attack on the World Trade Center. It was a truly difficult assignment that John threw himself into body and soul and one that he looked back on long afterwards with a mixture of pride and sorrow.
Today fans are clamoring over his work in World War Hulk where the weight of Romita Jr.’s line is inherent in every panel. While he has the appeal and energy level of a young hot artist, John Romita Jr. has been at this game for quite some time. I was stunned to discover that his first work was actually published in 1977 when he was 21.
Added to this announcement is that fan favorite writer Dan Slott will be joining John Romita Jr. on the Amazing Spider-Man as its writer. Many comic book readers have been following Slott’s successes on She-Hulk, The Thing and more recently the excellent (but rarely read) Avengers Initiative series. A fun writer with a fan following, Slott has been plagued with second or even third tier books until this point. I’m very happy for him that he has finally landed the job that will give him the exposure he deserves.
If you are a fan of Spider-Man, but wary to jump in for fear that you’d be lost in sub-plots, this would be a great time to pick up the series.
The duo will premiere their first issue some time next year.
Suggested Reading:
Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1: Coming Home
Wolverine: Enemy of the State
Eternals
Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle
Essential X-Men, Vol. 6 (Marvel Essentials)
Thor: The Dark Gods
Incredible Hulk Volume 1 HC
She-Hulk Vol. 1: Single Green Female
The Thing: Idol of Millions (Fantastic Four)
JRjr said
Ouch….The Typhoid Mary reference was accurate but that was the “EX”…Thank God! That character was an apt depiction of that lady and I am lucky to be an “ex” of her….I’m also lucky to have found the present and wonderful lady I’m married to now…No characters based on her….
JRjr
dailypop said
Corrected to remove the painful mistake, John.
Glad to see you back on the web head!
mike said
JR needs to teach me how to draw. I actually prefer his artwork in 1996 amazing spider-man. Thats the best spider-man i can remember.