John Romita, Jr.

Comic book artist John Romita Jr.
Birth name	John Salvatore Romita Jr.
Born	August 17, 1956 (age 52) New York City, New York(1956-08-17)
Nationality	American
Pseudonym(s)	JRJR

John Salvatore Romita, Jr. (born August 17, 1956) 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.)

Career

John Romita was born in New York City, the son of John Romita, Sr., co-creator of several notable Spider-ManMarvel 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 stories in the 1960s and 1970s. He began his career at #11 (1977).

Romita’s early popularity was based on his run on Iron Man with writer David Michelinie and artist Bob LaytonAmazing Spider-Man series and also was the artist for the launch of the Dazzler series. Working with writer Roger Stern on Amazing 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.

Iron Man by John Romita, Jr.

From 1983 to 1986 he had a run on Uncanny X-Men with Dan Green and author Chris Claremont which brought him large 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.

Cover art for The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2, #43 (April 2003), by John Romita, Jr. and Scott Hanna.

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 all uncertainties which were still present in the X-Men pages.

Daredevil by John Romita, Jr.

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.

The Punisher War Zone by John Romita, Jr.

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.

The Sentry by John Romita, Jr.

In 2006, Romita collaborated with writer Neil Gaiman on the reinterpretation of Jack Kirby‘s The Eternals in the form of a seven issue miniseries. Romita worked with Greg Pak on the five issue main comic of Marvel’s 2007 crossover event, World War Hulk.

In 2008, Romita is returned to Amazing Spider-Man. He is also collaborating once more with Mark Millar, for a creator-owned series, Kick-Ass, published by Marvel’s Icon imprint. The Filming of the Movie: Kick-Ass, will being September of 2008. Romita will get his directorial debut by directing an animated flashback sequence in the film.

Kick-Ass

Selected works

Comic books

• The Invincible Iron Man #115-117, 119-121, 123-128, 141-153 (1978–1981), #256, 258-266 (1990–1991)
• Contest of Champions #1-3 (1982). The first Marvel mini-series, featuring most of the Marvel superheroes of the time.
• Amazing Spider-Man #208, 210-218, 223-227, 229-236, 238-250 (1980–1984), #290-291 (1987), #400, 432 (1995, 1998), Vol.2 #22-28, 30-58 & Vol.1 #500-508,(2000–2004) #568-present (2008). Please note: After issue Vol.2 #58, the series was renumbered, and the next issue was published as Amazing Spider-man Vol.1 #500.
• Dazzler #1-3 (1981)
• Uncanny X-Men #175-197, 199-200, 202-203, 206-211 (1983–1986), #287 (1992), #300-302, 304, 306-311 (1993–1994)
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• Star Brand #1-7 (1986-87)
• Daredevil #250-257, 259-263, 265-276, 278-282 (1988–1990)
• Cable: Blood and Metal #1-2 (1992). 2-issue mini-series.
• The Punisher War Zone #1-8 (1992)
• 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.
• Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol.1 #57, 70-76, 78-84, 86-92, 94-95, 97-98 & Vol.2 #1-3, 6-12, 14-17, 19 (1996–2000). Please note: After Vol.1 #98 (end of “The Final chapter” storyline) the series was renumbered and relaunched, and the next issue published as Peter Parker Spider-man Vol.2 #1.

Thanos and Mangog storms Asgard, on the cover to Thor vol. 2 #21. Art by John Romita, Jr.

• Thor Vol.2 #1-8, 10-13, 16-18, 22-25 (1998–2000)
• 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 Gray 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 (2006) 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” with writer Reginald Hudlin.
• 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 (2007). With writer Greg Pak.
• The Last Fantastic Four Story (2007). With writer Stan Lee. (Drawn before World War Hulk).
• Kick-Ass #1-present (2008-present). With writer Mark Millar.

Note: All the comic-books are 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).

Trade Paperbacks

The Eternals: Neil Gaiman & John Romita Jr.

Marvel Comics

• The Eternals: Neil Gaiman & John Romita Jr. (Softcover, Reprint’s The Eternals #1-7 Miniseries)
• 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
• The Essential Dazzler Volume 1

Image Comics

• Gray Area: All Of This Can Be Yours

Preceded by Keith Pollard	Amazing Spider-Man artist 1980–1984	Succeeded by Ron Frenz
Preceded by John Byrne	Amazing Spider-Man artist 2000–2004	Succeeded by Mike Deodato, Jr.
Preceded by None	Dazzler artist 1981	Succeeded by Frank Springer
Preceded by Paul Smith	Uncanny X-Men artist 1983–1986	Succeeded by Marc Silvestri
Preceded by Rick Leonardi	Daredevil artist 1987–1988	Succeeded by Mark Bagley (one issue), Lee Weeks
Preceded by Brandon Peterson	Uncanny X-Men artist 1993–1994	Succeeded by Joe Madureira
Preceded by Darick Robertson	Wolverine artist 2004–2005	Succeeded by Kaare Andrews

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
• NB per tradurre in italiano usa Google Translate