Today is the birthday of industry GOAT John Romita, Jr., born August 17, 1956. Let’s celebrate!
Honorable mentions: Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions #1-3 (the first Marvel miniseries), World War Hulk #1-5 (2007-2008), and Captain America Vol. 7 #s 1-10 (2013).
10. Punisher: War Zone #1-8 (1992)
After being cancelled for over two years, Punisher returns with a book that showed him to be more than a one-note character, and one who could support long-form, ultra-violent, adult-oriented stories. Written by Chuck Dixon.
9. Incredible Hulk Vol. 3 #s 34-39 (2002)
John Romita Jr. and Bruce Jones run on Hulk is often criticized, and is clearly experimental, but it’s one of my personal favorites. Like the earliest issues of Hulk, it merged horror with super-heroics.
8. Wolverine #20-31 (2005)
The Enemy of the State story by Mark Millar that really, really needs to be turned into a Wolverine movie.
7. Amazing Spider-Man #471-508 (2001-2005)
At a time when the entire comic book industry, as well as Marvel specifically, was suffering greatly–and the publisher’s flagship title was in a monumentally bad creative slump, Romita Jr. and J. Michael Straczynski revived The Amazing Spider-Man with some of the most revolutionary and novel stories ever told about the 40-year old character. Yes, lots of it was controversial with fans, but it also won an Eisner Award.
6. Kick-Ass volumes 1-3 (2008-2014)
In his fourth decade of comic book illustration, when most creators become irrelevant, Romita helped create one of the most popular indie comics of all time.
5. Daredevil #250-282 (1988-1990)
JR Jr. drew one of Daredevil’s most controversial and offbeat runs, written by Ann Nocenti, which introduced Typhoid Mary and Blackheart, the son of Mephisto.
4. The Invincible Iron Man #115-128, 141-156 (1978-1982).
Alongside David Michelinie and Bob Layton, JR Jr. cocreated the classic Demon in the Bottle storyline and sent the titular hero back in time with Doctor Doom. He helped transform a D-list hero into a must-read star.
3. Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #1-5 (1993)
Frank Miller and Romita rework Daredevil’s origin in a work that showed tremendous depth and range. One of the best Daredevil stories ever.
2. The Uncanny X-Men #175-211 (1980-1986)
So many legends worked with Chris Claremont during his 3-decade run on X-Men. John Byrne. Paul Smith. Barry Windsor-Smith. Dave Cockrum. It’s bold to say that John Romita Jr.’s run on the title can compete with all of them. But it can
1. The Amazing Spider-Man #224-250 (1982-1984)
With Roger Stern as writer, this run includes one of the greatest Spider-Man stories of all time (#229-230, where Spidey takes on Juggernaut) and produced one of the greatest Spidey villains of all time (Hobgoblin). It also brought back his underarm webbing!
Finally. Someone is actually saying good things about John’s art. I really cannot understand why people says his art sucks. What a greatcway to honour him.
Thanks!
All of these runs were great! I remember being drawn to the X-Men and Daredevil stuff as a kid and now more so.