Customer Reviews

Spider-Man Visionaries: John Romita, Sr.

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Among true Marvel Zombies, the name John Romita is synonymous with clean, attractive art and great storytelling. He's contributed to just about every character Marvel has, and his run on Spider-Man (Filling the spot vacated by Spidey co-creator Steve Ditko! Not exactly a cushy assignment; Talk about having tough shoes to fill!) is the stuff of legends. For fans who haven't been reading comics since they were in diapers, this is a great collection- It presents Romita's first four issues (Where the identity of The Green Goblin is at last revealed, The Rhino is introduced, and Spidey butts heads with the pumped-up son of his eternal nemesis, J. Jonah Jameson, and we finally get a look at the future Mrs. Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson.), along with a selection of five other issues, including the classic "Spider-Man No More!", a two-part Kingpin story, and Romita's favorite Spider-Man story, the two-part Flash Thompson Vietnam story co-starring Dr. Strange.

For old fogeys like me, though, the book is just OK. I've seen these stories a million times before; That's ok, since they're classics, but I was expecting interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits from Mr. Romita, and aside from a few small blurbs that introduce the stories, there's really nothing new here. The stories are newly re-colored, but aside from a STUNNING looking color job by Digital Chameleon in the last chapter, they stay a little too close to the original limited-palette, and end up looking bland by comparison. (The color job in that last chapter makes Romita's already gorgeous art look simply staggering!)

All told, this is a feast for fans of Spider-Man and John Romita, as well as fans of the immortal prose of Stan Lee. Just as an aside, I'd like to thank Mr. Romita for the years of enjoyment I've derived from his exquisite art. It's been a great ride, and I hope there's more to come!

"Spider-Man Visionaries: John Romita Sr" provides nine examples of the artist work on "The Amazing Spider-Man" drawing the stories written by Stan Lee. Included are the first four issues drawn by Romita, which includes the classic two-parter where the Green Goblin discovers Spider-Man is really Peter Parker, who learns his arch foe is Norman Osborn, father of his best friend Harry: #39 "How Green Was My Goblin!" and #40 "The End of the Green Goblin!" There was certainly no time for fans of the webhead to complain about Steve Ditko being replaced as the comic's artist when the first illustration we see from Romita is the classic cover of #39 with the Goblin carting away the unmasked Spider-Man. This pivotal story is followed by 41 "The Horns of the Rhino!" and #42 "The Birth of a Super-Hero!" where John Jameson is turned into a superhero type by his father's meglomania. Then we have another one of Romita's best covers and stories in #50 "Spider-Man No More!" This is followed by #68 "Crisis on the Campus!" and #69 "Mission: Crush the Kingpin!" the second encounter with the round ball of muscle destined to become the crime boss of New York City. Finally, we have #108 "Vengeance from Vietnam!" and #109 "Enter: Dr. Strange!" has Spidey trying to help Flash Thompson, who is wrongly blammed for the shelling of a temple in Vietnam and the death of the Holy One. Dr. Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts, comes along to provide, uh, spiritual guidance. So, on the one hand we have the top three issues drawn by Romita you would want (#39, #40 & #50), but the rest of these are fairly pedestrian. What you will discover is that while Romita might not have the superb compositional skills of Ditko, nobody ever drew Gwen Stacy any better. I have a slight preference for the art of Gene Colan when it comes to drawing females, but Romita is a close second and his drawings of both Spider-Man and Peter Parker have become the standards by which all succeeding Spider-Man artists have been judged (even Jr.).