John Romita, Jr.
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John Salvatore Romita, Jr. (August 17, 1956, New York City) is an American comic book artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2000s. He is often referred to as JRJR (abbreviation of John Romita, Jr.)
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[edit] Career
John Romita is the son of John Romita, Sr., the co-creator of several notable Spider-Man stories in the 1960s and 1970s. He began his career at Marvel UK, doing sketches for covers of reprints. His American debut was with a six page story entitled Chaos at the Coffee Bean! in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #11 (1977).
Romita's early popularity was based on his run on Iron Man with writer David Michelinie and artist Bob Layton which began in 1978. In the early 1980s, he had his first regular run on the Amazing Spider-Man series and also was the artist for the launch of the Dazzler series. Working with writer Roger Stern on Spider-Man he co created the character Hobgoblin and he drew an issue in which Spider-Man would encounter the Juggernaut where the villain would end up trapped in cement foundations. From 1983 to 1986 he had a run on Uncanny X-Men with Dan Green and author Chris Claremont which brought him immense popularity, as the X-Men had become a huge industry phenomenon by that time. He would return for a second very successful run on Uncanny X-Men in 1993.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Romita enjoyed an acclaimed stint on Daredevil with writer Ann Nocenti and Eisner Award-winning inker Al Williamson, noted for its creation of long-running Daredevil nemesis Typhoid Mary. Working on Daredevil, Romita defined his style and left behind every uncertainty which was still present in the X-Men pages.
Romita later collaborated with Frank Miller on a Daredevil origin story entitled Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, considered to be a companion of sorts to Miller's Batman: Year One tale. Romita worked on a host of Marvel titles during the 1990s, including The Punisher War Zone, the Cable mini-series, The Mighty Thor, a return to Iron Man for the second Armor War written by John Byrne, and the Punisher/Batman cross-over.
In the 2000s, Romita again came to prominence for his second run illustrating The Amazing Spider-Man for writer J. Michael Straczynski. He drew Marvel's Wolverine with author Mark Millar as part of the character's thirtieth-anniversary celebration. In 2004, Romita's creator-owned project The Grey Area was published by Image Comics. Romita's art has since appeared in Black Panther, The Sentry and Ultimate Vision, a back up story featured in the Ultimate line, written by author Mark Millar.
As of 2006, Romita is currently collaborating with writer Neil Gaiman on the reinterpretation of Jack Kirby's The Eternals. Upon completion of The Eternals, Romita will be working on Marvel's 2007 crossover event, World War Hulk.
[edit] Selected works
[edit] Comic books
- The Invincible Iron Man #115-117, 119-121, 123-128, 141-153 (1978-1981)
- Contest of Champions #1-3 (1982). The first Marvel mini-series, featuring most of the Marvel superheroes of the time.
- Amazing Spider-Man #204, 208, 210-218, 223-227, 229-236, 238-250 (1980-1984)
- Dazzler #1-3 (1981)
- Uncanny X-Men #175-197, 199-200, 202-203, 206-211 (1983-1986)
- Star Brand #1-7 (1986-87)
- Amazing Spider-Man #290-291 (1987)
- Daredevil #250-257, 259-263, 265-276, 278-282 (1988-1990)
- The Invincible Iron Man #256, 258-266 (1990-1991)
- Uncanny X-Men #287 (1992)
- Cable: Blood and Metal #1-2 (1992). 2-issue mini-series.
- The Punisher War Zone #1-8 (1992)
- Uncanny X-Men #300-302, 304, 306-311 (1993-1994)
- Daredevil: Man Without Fear #1-5 (1993-94). 5-issue mini-series with writer Frank Miller.
- Punisher/Batman (Marvel/DC, 1994)
- Spider-Man: The Lost Years #1-3 & 0 (1995). 3-issue miniseries, plus a #0 issue.
- Amazing Spider-Man #400, 432 (1995, 1998)
- Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol.2 #75-76, 78-84, 86-92, 94-95, 97-98 & Vol.3 #1-3, 6-12, 14-17, 19 (1996-2000). Please note: After Vol.2 #98 (end of "The Final chapter" storyline) the series was renumbered and relaunched, and the next issue published as Peter Parker Spider-man Vol.3 #1.
- Thorion of the New Asgods #1 (1997). Part of the second wave of the "Amalgam" comics published jointly by Marvel & DC, featuring mixed characters of both universes. Thorion was a mix of Thor and Orion.
- Thor Vol.2 #1-8, 10-13, 16-18, 22-25 (1998-2000)
- Amazing Spider-Man Vol.2 #22-28, 30-58 & Vol.1 #500-508 (2000-2004). Please note: After issue Vol.2 #58, the series was renumbered, and the next issue was published as Amazing Spider-man Vol.1 #500.
- Hulk Vol.2 #24-25, 27-28, 34-39 (2001-2002). With writers Paul Jenkins (#24-25, 27-28) and Bruce Jones (#34-39).
- The Grey Area #1-3 (Image Comics, 2004). Creator-owned 3-issue miniseries with writer Glen Brunswick.
- Wolverine Vol.2 #20-31 (2004-2005). With writer Mark Millar.
- Ultimate Vision (2005) 6-part story with writer Mark Millar, running as a 4-page backup flip-book feature in the three Ultimate titles of november and december.
- Black Panther Vol.3 #1-6 (2005). 6-issue story arc "Who is the Black Panther".
- Sentry Vol.2 #1-8 (2005-2006). 8-issue miniseries with writer Paul Jenkins.
- Eternals #1-7 (2006). With writer Neil Gaiman.
- World War Hulk(announced for 2007).With writer Greg Pak.
Note: All the comic-books published by Marvel Comics, except The Gray Area (by Image Comics), Thorion of the new Asgods (by the Amalgam Comics imprint, co-published by Marvel and DC) and Batman / Punisher (co-published by Marvel and DC).
[edit] Trade Paperbacks
[edit] Marvel Comics
- Marvel Visionaries: John Romita Jr. (Hardcover)
- Wolverine: Enemy of the State (Volume 1) (Hardcover)
- Wolverine: Enemy of the State (Volume 2) (Hardcover)
- Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther? (Hardcover)
- Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle (Reprints Iron Man #120-128)
- Iron Man and Doctor Doom
- Daredevil: The Man Without Fear
- Punisher vs. Daredevil
- Hulk: Return of the Monster
- Thor: The Dark Gods (Reprints Thor #9-13)
- Spider-Man: The Origin of the Hobgoblin
- Spider-Man: The Lost Years
- Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1: Coming Home (Reprints #30-35)
- Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2: Revelations (Reprints #36-39)
- Amazing Spider-Man Volume 3: Until the Stars Turn Cold (Reprints #40-45)
- Amazing Spider-Man Volume 4: The Life and Death of Spiders (Reprints #46-50)
- Amazing Spider-Man Volume 5: Unintended Consequences (Reprints #51-56)
- Amazing Spider-Man Volume 6: Happy Birthday (Reprints #57-58,500-502)
- Amazing Spider-Man Volume 7: The Book of Ezekiel (Reprints #503-508)
- Sentry: Reborn
[edit] Image Comics
- Grey Area: All Of This Can Be Yours
| Preceded by Keith Pollard |
Amazing Spider-Man artist 1980–1984 |
Succeeded by Ron Frenz |
| Preceded by Paul Smith |
Uncanny X-Men artist 1983–1986 |
Succeeded by Marc Silvestri |
| Preceded by Brandon Peterson |
Uncanny X-Men artist 1993–1994 |
Succeeded by Joe Madureira |
| Preceded by John Byrne |
Amazing Spider-Man artist 2000–2004 |
Succeeded by Mike Deodato, Jr. |
| Preceded by Darick Robertson |
Wolverine artist 2004–2005 |
Succeeded by Kaare Andrews |
[edit] External links
- The incomplete John Romita Jr. checklist. A detailed checklist of the published works of JRJR.
- September 2006 short interview with Romita Jr. about his future work.
- October 2006 short interview Outhouse with Romita Jr. about his current work and future plans.
- John Romita Jr. on marvel.com
