Saturday, October 15, 2005
Comic Art
As we continue our look at the Honorable Mentions, this week we are going to take up John Romita, Sr. -- Not to be confused with his equally talented and active, and to be discussed later son, John Romtita, Jr.Romita, Sr. is one of those guys that did a little of everything at Marvel and really helped define the "Marvel Age." He drew everybody at some point and drew many of the definitional images for some of the characters.
Kirby and Ditko started the Marvel Age, but it was Buscema (who we looked at some weeks back) and Romita that brought that age to maturity (With the help of some others.)
Here is a bad guy image Romita Sr. did for Daredevil. Most people think of Spidey when they think of Romita, Sr. but his importance to DD cannot be underestimated. To give you an idea, the Daredevil movie of a few years back featured a shot of the arena where Matt Murdock's father fought -- he was a prize fighter. The Marquee on that arena featured the name "John Romita, Sr." just a bit of an homage to the man that shapped the image of the hero.Romita, Sr.'s time on DD was a lighter time for that character and featured lots of baddies like the Gladiator here, and another fave of mine - Stilt-man. A little weak in the character development department, these stories were visual feasts.
But as I said, it is Spidey that one most associates with Romita, Sr. Say hello to Mary Jane Watson, the pivotal character in all of Spidey's life. This is her introduction, drawn by Romita, Sr. and to barely adolescent young men like myself there was never a pretty woman drawn in comics.Peter's other love interest at the time - Gwen Stacy, just sorta of faded to the backgound when MJ hit the panel -- and Gwen wasn't exactly ugly! The success of MJ to the entire legend lies very much in this image.
Recognize this? You should! -- It was duplicated almost exactly in the second Spidey flick. Once again the product of the pencil of John Romita, Sr. This is another one of those defining images most artists wish they could draw, and here is a guy that has drawn two of them.
