INSIDER PROFILE
John Romita Jr.

JOHN ROMITA JR. started his pencilling career in 1977 and never looked back. Training under his father, John Romita Sr., offered him the best comics training probably of anyone in the business. His father, a great influence on John both as an artist and as a human being, is one of the fathers of modern superhero comics. John Jr. grew up with someone who had already mastered the field, and as such, learned early on how to tell a story. His runs on Daredevil, The Uncanny X-Men and The Amazing Spider-Man mark high points for all three titles, and he remains a hardworking, disciplined penciller at the top of his field. He also created The Gray Area with writer Glen Brunswick and allowed me to print much of that art in this book.

OCCUPATION: Cartoonist/penciller

DATE OF BIRTH: August 17, 1956

FIRST PUBLISHED WORK: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #11, “Chaos at the Coffee Bean” (1977)

INFLUENCES: In the comics industry, my father, John Buscema and Jack Kirby. From outside of comics, there’s a whole book of illustrators.

LONGEST RUN ON A BOOK: The Amazing Spider-Man

BEST KNOWN FOR: Spider-Man

FAVORITE CHARACTER WORKED ON: My favorite character, overall, would be Spider-Man. But my favorite character to draw is probably Daredevil.

DREAM PROJECT: Let’s see, I worked on Spider-Man with my father. If I was to start the business again I’d say that’s a dream project. From this point, if I have to choose a dream project, I think it would be to work with Frank Miller on Daredevil again.

MOST PERSONAL WORK: The 9/11 Spider-Man issue, The Amazing Spider-Man #36.

ART TRAINING: Degree in advertising illustration from SUNY Farm-ingdale. That training was fantastic. It covered everything from advertising to classic illustration to anatomy to fine arts. On the job training I worked as a production assistant at Marvel in the late 1970s.

BEST ADVICE RECEIVED WHEN STARTING OUT: My father gave me the best career advice. He said, “There’s always somebody bigger, stronger, smarter and faster, so keep your feet on the ground.” I think that’s why I’ve been able to at least pay the mortgage this long without struggling. I get to a point where I think I’ve done a good job, and then it still isn’t good enough, ’cause there’s always somebody doing a better job somewhere.