John Romita Jr.

John Salvatore Romita, born in New York City in 1956, wanted to be an artist like his father, the legendary 'Spider-Man' artist John Romita Sr. He began his career at Marvel UK, doing sketches for covers of reprints. Romita Jr's first published comic was a six-page backup, that appeared in a late 1970s Spider-Man Annual #4. He became a Marvel mainstay and had his professional breakthrough with a three-and-a-half year run on 'Iron Man', starting in 1976. He is one of the most prominent artist of the 'Amazing Spider-Man' title since the 1980s. His first run on the title lasted three years, and after that, he took over 'The Uncanny X-Men'. He worked on 'Star Brand' on the New Universe imprint, before he began a longtime run on the 'Daredevil' comic. He then came back to 'Iron Man', and contributed to several other titles, including 'Punisher War Zone', the 'Cable' mini-series, the 'Punisher/Batman' crossover and the 'Spider-Man: The Lost Years' limited series. After working on the regular 'Spider-Man' title as well as 'Peter Parker: Spider-Man' in the 1990s, he returned to 'Amazing Spider-Man' in 2000. Together with famous TV writer J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, etc.), he restyled the comic for the new millennium by introducing mystical elements, new characters and major plot developments. At the same time, he has worked on 'The Incredible Hulk' with writer Bruce Jones and on 'Wolverine' with Mark Millar. In 2008, Romita and Millar started the creator-owned comic book series 'Kick-Ass' under Marvel's Icon imprint. It was adapted into a movie in 2010.