One of the preeminent artists from the so-called “Silver Age of Comics” passed away this week. John Romita Sr. was 93 years old and he was a New Yorker, born and raised – just like Spider-Man, the Punisher, and so many of the other characters he created and worked on over his decades at Marvel Comics and other publishers.
His son, John Romita Jr., is also a major comics artist. He joined All Things Considered host Sean Carlson to remember his father and his many contributions to the art form and American pop culture. This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Sean Carlson: Hey, John, thanks so much for being here. And from everybody at WNYC, our condolences to you and your family.
John Romita Jr.: Thank you for saying that. It’s my pleasure to be here to talk about him. He was a great man, the greatest man I’ve met.
To many of our listeners, your dad was an artist who created and designed characters at both Marvel and DC. He’s best known for drawing Spider-Man in the ’60s and ’70s. He had a hand in creating Wolverine, the Punisher and Luke Cage, among others. But who was he to you?
He’s the guy who taught me how to hit a curve ball, and that was almost as [important] to me as learning how to draw Spider-Man’s eyes properly. It was so much more than just the art. I was talking to my brother about the fact that when it rained on the weekends in the summertime, we would watch old movies together and he would tell us what was about to happen. And the scenes in “On the Waterfront” have stuck with me forever since. That’s the part I remember, is how much time he spent with us.
And then he taught us so many things. It was more than just the art mentor to me – and yet he never forced anything on me, as far as art went. He told me, “I’m not gonna tell you what to do. You come to me and ask me a question. If you do something wrong, I’ll proactively act that way.” So the man just did everything right with my brother and me. It was fantastic.
Like I…
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