Customer Reviews

John Romita, And All That Jazz (softcover)

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This book was a recommendation to me as not only an interesting history of the comic industry and one of the better artists, but also as a well written book using the technique of the interview to let the subject of the book describe his life.

Lavishly illustrated, great antecdotal tales. Both Mr. Amash and Mr. Thomas had known Mr. Romita for many years, according to the book and they treated their subject with care and respect.

I was amazed by how much one person in that industry was a fan of another and how each affected the others craft.

A very good read. I can happily recommend it.

(Romita book blurb)


After a tour of duty as an editor of comics books, I left to eventually join Grumbacher Art Materials Company as their public relations director. This job took me into the area of easel painting, which an art sophisticate indicated moved me into an expanse of "rarefied air." I never bought that description, and as I continued to work with fine artists in the field of fine arts, I was sure that the air was a far cry from the way it was described to me.

I have just received the book, John Romita...And All That Jazz, co-written by Roy Thomas and Jim Amash. Every glossy page is adorned with the most magnificent comic art I have seen in ages, and the Q&A text is fascinating and highly informative as only Jim Amash can make it. I have to say here that Jim is a master interviewer because his knowledge of comic books, past and present, is so outstanding that this makes him comfortable with asking leading questions that he implements to jog his subject's memory about long-forgotten names, dates and incidents.

John Romita...And All That Jazz is an incredibly beautiful book, one that truly resides in the splendor of air that's "rarefied."

Herb Rogoff, Editor, Ziff-Davis, 1950-1958

His was the art that transformed many comics from pedestrian to great performances. Under his tutelage, many aspiring professionals learned their craft to become career comic book creators. John Romita's career spanned almost 50 years in the industry, starting at Timely in the late 40's ghosting under Les Zakarin, he broke into comics with the revival of Captain America and has never looked back.

Roy Thomas and Jim Amash, both associated with Alter Ego, have produced a book that takes more than one sit down to fully appreciate. While packed with artwork from his career (and other artists), the interview format does not work fully. The interviews transcribed, took place over a period of time, and as Roy said' `An embarassment of riches' lay before them.

With such a wealth of material to draw on, this format is the most effective way to present the life and art of John Romita. I am certain that a full length biography would include this information and much more.

Don't get me wrong though. I enjoyed the book and appreciated the insight into his co-workers. Some of the goings on behind the scenes at Marvel, you would never have expected.

Artwise, I looked for more of his western and early Timely pieces. The Black Knight on page 22 would have made a great full page. Gotta love the many, many Captain America pages too!

Thanks for a lifetime of artistic excellence John.

Tim Lasiuta

I bought this book wanting to get a little more insider knowledge and history of the comicbook industry (from one of the classic creators), and ended up getting that and then some. I learned so much more than I expected! Seeing all the old artists, their artwork, and hearing about John Romita Sr. tell all the old stories was very entertaining and insightful. To tell you the truth, it made me feel like buying some of the other comicbook artists' (my favorites) books by the same publisher they listed in the back... definitely a good read... oh for some reason, I was expecting full-color, but the book is entirely b/w (which is okay for me as I do enjoy seeing the pencils and inking work)...

my only problem was that, as this was soft-cover (and sized pretty wide), when I took it out of the box, it already had a large permanent crease in the back cover... no doubt from when the packer picked it up and the soft cover just buckled under the weight of the pages, making the permanent damage :/...