NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The iconic comic artist John Romita Sr is dead at the age of 93. Romita who is known for his work in superhero comics is a Marvel icon who once worked on the 'Amazing Spider-Man' comics and helped create the character of Wolverine. He is also renowned for co-creating enduring characters such as Mary Jane Watson and The Punisher.

Romita was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1930 and graduated from Manhattan's School of Industrial Art in 1947. He stumbled into a job as a ghost artist at Timely Comics, the precursor to Marvel Comics, and continued to work at Timely and its other pre-Marvel successor, Atlas Comics. It might come as a surprise for many that Romita also did some uncredited work for DC comics in the 1950s then worked full-time with DC until he returned to Marvel in 1966. Romita’s death was confirmed by his son, John Romita Jr, in a post on Twitter who informed the followers that his father died peacefully in his sleep. He is survived by his wife Virginia, and sons Romita Jr and Victor.

'Passed away peacefully in his sleep'

John took to Twitter to announce the news of his father’s demise. In his heartfelt post, he said, “I say this with a heavy heart, my father passed away peacefully in his sleep. He is a legend in the art world and it would be my honor to follow in his footsteps. Please keep your thoughts and condolences here out of respect for my family. He was the greatest man I ever met.”

His death is being seen as a huge loss in the comic book community who have grown up reading the comics that Romita helped create. For his invaluable contribution to the world of comics, Romita was inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Inkwell Awards Hall of Fame in 2020. Spider-Man and Wolverine remain his biggest co-creations for Marvel but the comic artist helped create innumerable characters that are now watched and adored by millions who are fans of the MCU films.

What other characters did John Romita Sr help create?

Romita Sr helped create many other ‘Spider-Man’ characters such as the high-flying villain Vulture, the mobster Hammerhead, the sonic-powered Shocker, the Hobgoblin, journalist Robbie Robertson and Gwen Stacy’s father George Stacy. He also contributed to creating the tragic story of ‘The Night Gwen Stacy Died,’ which to date is considered to be one of the best ‘Spider-Man stories ever told. He was also instrumental in the creation of Luke Cage, the Daredevil villain, Bullseye, and Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin.