Remembering John Romita: His First Interview

Note: With the recent passing of John Romita I thought it appropriate to pay homage with a piece I did on his first fanzine interview, originally published on March 28th, 2015.  It has been modified and updated for this presentation. 

The Web-Spinner was an early fanzine that focused attention on the monthly comic book offerings published by Marvel, a company that revitalized the field with its nascent superhero line in the 1960s. While the vast majority of enthusiasts were satisfied with spending their twelve cents (that's what they cost in the mid-1960s!) and being swept away into a world of fantasy and adventure, another segment took their fervor to a deeper level. Those fans chose to write, draw and produce their own amateur pamphlets, mailing them out to other like-minded individuals. Akin to teenagers who formed garage bands, an unbridled rawness exuded from the hastily-printed, purple-colored pages (substitute guitars and drums for typewriters and spirit duplicators). Encouraged by material aimed directly for their consumption - and, in fact, welcomed by many editors, including Stan Lee and Julius Schwartz - the response, both resourceful and creative, seems like a given. It was almost certainly fueled by a need for their voices to be heard in a medium they felt compelled to champion. Edited by Mike Appel, The Web-Spinner was noticed by the Marvel staff and included letters of approval from corresponding secretary Flo Steinberg and new editorial assistant Roy Thomas. Their fifth issue (undated; likely spring 1966) featured an interesting article on John Romita, very likely the first time his ruminations on the subject of comics were recorded in the fan press.

                Romita's splash page to The Western Kid # 8, February 1956.

Romita was one of the top romance artists at DC before moving to Marvel in 1965. Cover to Girls' Love Stories # 85, March 1962. Ira Schnapp lettering.  

Romita first worked for Marvel from 1951 to 1957, drawing war, western, crime and horror genre stories, along with such features as Captain America, Western Kid, "Greg Knight" and "Jungle Boy". He was laid off in 1957, when publisher Martin Goodman drastically cut his comics division - a result of the distributor going out of business (commonly referred to by aficionados as "The Atlas Implosion"). Romita found work at National/DC, drawing stories exclusively for the romance line. In 1965 Romita returned to Marvel, at first inking, but soon taking over the art on Daredevil from the departing Wally Wood. At the time of the Web Spinner article Romita was working at Marvel for less than a year and only recently assigned the reigns of Amazing Spider-Man when Steve Ditko quit (judging by Romita's comments he was likely working on ASM # 41 at the time). While hardly comprehensive, this uninhibited, behind-the-scenes peek into Marvel's creative process by a teenage fan (through Romita's narrative) reveals a few surprises, which I'll discuss at length below.

 

On page one of Bob Sheridan's article, "Rambling with Romita" the artist makes a revelation that I believe has heretofore been unknown. Bill Ward apparently penciled a few pages of Amazing Spider-Man to help out Romita on a deadline. This was not an unusual occurrence in comics; assistants (or ghost artists) often did uncredited work in both comic books and comic strips.

Bill Ward began drawing comics in the early 1940s, working at Fawcett, ACG, Feature Comics and Quality, with his run on Blackhawk being a standout. Ward is also noted for creating Torchy, a comic strip featuring a blonde bombshell, produced while he served at the Fort Hamilton Army base in Brooklyn, New York during World War II. The strip was soon syndicated to newspapers throughout the world, distributed solely to the armed forces. Torchy later became a feature at Quality comics and received her own title for a period during the late 1940s. By the 1950s Ward focused on illustrating sexy women (his specialty) for Abe Goodman at Magazine Management (the parent company of Timely/Atlas/Marvel); these single panel gag cartoons were prepared for digest mags such as Humorama. His other major account was at Cracked magazine, where he spent several decades on humor features.

Bill Ward's statuesque Torchy blended sex and humor, as seen on this splash page from Torchy # 4, May 1950. Image from http://comicbookplus.com/. 

Since Ward continued to work on Goodman's digest mags in the 1960s (including an episode of Pussycat, a Little Annie Fannie styled strip that appeared in Male Annual and Stag Annual and later reprinted in a one-shot magazine in 1968), it's possible that he might have been free to assist Romita. From what I gather by Romita's comments Ward worked on Amazing Spider-Man # 41, dated October 1966. After closely examining the art I suspect Ward contributed to the five-page fight sequence with the Rhino (pages 13-17). As Romita noted, he touched up some of Ward's art (and may have provided breakdowns). Below are examples of a few pages from that sequence, all with inking by Mike Esposito.

           

Page 13 is the start of the Rhino sequence, and possibly where Ward began assisting Romita. In panels 1 and 6 Spider-Man and the Rhino are awkwardly positioned and lack Romita's dramatic flair, although the other panels show hints of his pencils.  

Page 15 opens with a large panel that captures a sense of Jack Kirby-inspired dynamics typical of Romita. The depiction of the Rhino in panels 2-3 and Spider-Man in panel 3 are stiff in comparison.

The last three panels on page 16 employ cartoony figures, ala the "Jack Davis style" Romita refers to in the article. 

In my estimation, page 17 is a clear indication of a different artist at the helm. While Romita may have provided Ward with rough breakdowns, the choreography of the fight and positioning of the protagonists, particularly in panels one and two, lack Romita's commanding illustrative presence.   

Page two of the article is worth a close examination, as Romita speaks with great candor, and in a way that surely would have been edited or closely supervised in later years, on the often contentious relationship between editor-writer Stan Lee and co-plotter (later solo plotter) and artist Steve Ditko on Spider-Man. It's important to note that his observations about Ditko are second-hand; based on conversations with either office staff (Sol Brodsky; Marie Severin; Roy Thomas) or from Lee himself, who, like many that collaborate in creative fields, often view their situations in a Roshomon-like prism. What I find most revealing is Romita's statement that it was Ditko's idea to make Norman Osborn the Green Goblin, explaining that he "drew the mags so that Osborn HAD to be the Goblin." This corresponds with Ditko's later accounts that appeared in issues of Robin Snyder's newsletter:

 “I even used an earlier, planted character associated with J. Jonah Jameson, he became the Green Goblin.” Steve Ditko, the Green Goblin, Robin Snyder’s the Comics, July 2001.

Stan Lee's account differed greatly: 

“The ultimate bone of contention was a recurring villain called the Green Goblin, whose identity had always been hidden. When it became time for the long awaited unmasking Lee recalls that Ditko said ‘it should be somebody they’ve never seen before, just some person’. Lee, on the other hand, felt that a startling revelation had been promised. ‘Every reader in America is going to think we’re crazy. They’ll be angry. It’s got to be somebody, Lee said. Ditko left without drawing the story.” Les Daniels, Marvel, Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics, Abrams, 1991.    

In numerous interviews over the years Lee's declaration about an "argument" with Ditko over the Goblin prevailed, but its possible his memory scrambled together other disagreements with Ditko (the artist had earlier villains, such as Electro, turn out to be "somebody they've never seen before".) In fairness, there is always the possibility that Lee had an initial discussion with Ditko on the character's identity, but no solid evidence leads to that conclusion. Lee's penchant was to embellish accounts with a melodramatic flair, which has often been reported as official comic book history.

   

                                           Amazing Spider-Man # 37, June 1966.

Ditko's penultimate issue of Amazing Spider-Man pointed suspicion directly to a man who had been appearing as a background character in Jameson's men's club for many issues, often in stories that also featured the Goblin, who Lee named Norman Osborn. His son Harry, a fellow student at Peter Parker's college, is seen in panel two.    

"I planted the GG’s son (same distinctive hair) in the college issues for more dramatic involvement and story line consequences" Steve Ditko, The Ever Unwilling, Robin Snyder’s the Comics, Mar 2009.

    

The importance of Romita's quote from 1966 is that it corroborates Ditko's later pronouncement that he had plotted the stories from the beginning with a specific individual in mind, using the ongoing mystery as a motif that would eventually come to a crescendo. Ditko left before he completed those plans, leaving Lee to unmask the Goblin and devise a backstory in Romita's first two issues (Amazing Spider-Man #'s 39-40). While the character's identity would have been the same under Ditko, the plotline would have undoubtedly been different. It's also a refutation of Lee's narrative. 

In later years, Romita often parroted Lee’s statements; understandable given that he was not directly involved in the situation and had likely long forgotten the original circumstances. But in the pages of an obscure fanzine produced by young, enthusiastic fans we are privy to an off the cuff, unassuming and revealing conversation at a time when creators were still taken aback that anyone cared. As comic book conventions grew in the mid-1960s and beyond that all changed; by 1975 Marvel ran their own cons, and interviews may have been more reserved and tempered by company PR pronouncements. Whatever the case the Web Spinner article is a look into an unpretentious and historically important period of comic book history.     

For a more detailed account read my article "The Urban Myth of Lee, Ditko and the Green Goblin" in Ditkomania # 82, Oct 2010, an exemplary fanzine devoted to the work of Mr. Ditko which can be purchased through publisher Rob Imes: https://www.facebook.com/ditkomania.  

  

On the last two pages Romita discusses many topics, including the upcoming Marvel Super-Heroes cartoon, the Batman TV show (which he could finally watch in color - a big event in that period. You'll note in the piece that author Bob Sheridan helped Romita move his old set from the living room), his former employers, National/DC and Jack Kirby. His admiration for Kirby is obvious, as is his disgust for editors who didn't appreciate his monumental talent.

 The above ad heralding the Marvel Super-Heroes cartoon appeared in Amazing Spider-Man # 43 along with other Marvel titles dated December, 1966 (but actually on newsstands three months earlier) corresponding to the show's debut. I recall it being shown in the early evenings on Channel 9 in New York, Monday to Friday, starring a different hero every day and hosted by a costumed chap named Captain Universe. Pencils by Jack Kirby, Gene Colan and Marie Severin; inks by Chic Stone, Vince Colletta, Jack Abel and Don Heck. Lettering by Sam Rosen.    

 

The Marvel Super-Heroes cartoon Romita discusses arrived on television screens in September 1966. The animation was minimal, but much of the stories (simplified and truncated) and artwork were taken directly from the comics pages, bringing the visual stylings of Kirby, Ditko, Heck and Colan to a larger audience. I still have a soft spot for the series, perhaps because I was at just the right age to be enthralled by these characters coming to life in my living room each night.    

As a boy John Romita was inspired by Jack Kirby's artistry. In the 1950s he drew Kirby's co-creation, Captain America, molding together two of his greatest influences; the lush brushwork of master cartoonist Milton Caniff with Kirby's powerful imagery. In 1965 Romita had the opportunity to work with the master on a number of occasions. The splash page above has Romita crafting the finished art over Kirby layouts on a Hulk story. The work speaks for itself. Tales To Astonish # 77, March 1966. 

John Romita worked at Marvel for decades, as artist, art director and "go-to" guy. His clean, distinctive line, superb sense of storytelling and exceptional, poster-like cover art drew readers in and sold comics month after month. On a personal level Mr. Romita was a true gentleman who loved talking about the business and celebrating the accomplishments of his peers. I've no doubt that Romita's work will continue to be studied, respected and, most importantly - enjoyed.   

At the 1975 Marvel Comics Convention Romita drew this Daredevil sketch for me; fast-forward several decades later at another New York Convention. Romita was on a panel and when it ended fans flocked to him to chat or get autographs. Instead of handing him the one thousandth issue of Amazing Spider-Man to sign, I preferred to find more obscure work. In this instance I gave him a copy of Jungle Action, a short-lived late 50s Atlas comic, of which Jungle Boy was one of the features he drew. I don't recall his exact reaction but he was either amused or flabbergasted!      

         

       John Romita passed away on June 12, 2023 at the age of 93.  

Special thanks to Fearless Frank Mastropaolo for his insight - and for keeping me on my toes!