According to The Hollywood Reporter, comic book artist John Romita Sr. has died at the age of 93.
What’s Happening:
- John Romita Sr. was a comic book artist who co-created Marvel characters such as Wolverine, the Punisher and Mary Jane Watson.
- He died at the age of 93.
- His son John Romita Jr. announced his death on Twitter Tuesday night. “I say this with a heavy heart, my father passed away peacefully in his sleep,” he wrote. “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.”
- He graduated from the Manhattan School of Industrial Art in 1947, and served in the U.S. Army.
- By the age of 19, he was getting published in Eastern Color’s Famous Funnies.
- He spent a decade and a half working between companies that eventually would become Marvel and DC.
- Then began a five year run in 1966, working with Stan Lee on The Amazing Spider-Man.
- He then took over for artist Steve Ditko, who created the webslinger with Stan Lee in 1961.
- He became Marvel's unofficial director in 1972 and contributed to the designs of characters, including Luke Cage, the Punisher and Wolverine.
- He served as Marvel's director for more than two decades and completed many titles, including the cover of 1987’s The Amazing Spider-Man Annual No. 21.
- He is survived by his wife, Virginia, and sons John and Victor.
- “No matter what success I’ve had, I’ve always considered myself a guy who can improve on somebody else’s concepts,” he said in 2002. “A writer and another artist can create something, and I can make it better.”