John Romita Jr.

John Romita Jr.
Comic book artist John Romita Jr.
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-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 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. 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.

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.

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. Currently Romita is working with Greg Pak on the five issue main comic of Marvel's 2007 crossover event, World War Hulk.

In 2008, Romita will return to Amazing Spider-Man. He will also reunite with Mark Millar for a creator-owned series, KICK-ASS, published by Marvel's Icon imprint.

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). 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)
• 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 #75-76, 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.

File:Thanosandmangog2.png

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 (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" 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).

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).

Trade Paperbacks

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
• The Essential Dazzler Volume 1

Image Comics

• Gray Area: All Of This Can Be Yours

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