JOHN ROMITA – The 2006-2007 Interview One Of Comics’ Major Talents Talks About His Years At Marvel, DC, & Elsewhere Conducted by Jim Amash
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his third and final interview took place over the course of several phone calls in late 2006 and early 2007. Because it was originally scheduled to appear in an issue of Alter Ego magazine, Jim made a conscious effort to avoid covering ground that had been walked in the two Romita interviews he and I had done earlier… and to talk with John not only about his own work, and to a certain extent about that of his wife Virginia and his son John, Jr., but also about the many artists, writers, editors, letterers, and others he has known in the course of a career which spans well over half a century. —Roy.
Transcribed by Brian K. Morris Wonderful Women John Romita by John Romita—flanked by two of his fabulous females. What? You say JR never penciled Wonder Woman? Well, maybe not for DC Comics, but he drew her for WW collector extraordinary Joel Thingvall—only giving her Mary Jane’s face and hair! Below is a drawing of earlier ladyfriend Gwen Stacy, with Spider-Man on her arm. Spidey and portrait pencils courtesy of Aaron Sultan. [Portrait ©2007 John Romita; Wonder Woman TM & ©2007 DC Comics; Gwen & Spider-Man TM & ©2007 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
“I Felt Like I Couldn’t Pencil Any More” JIM AMASH: Why did you decide to work on staff at Marvel, rather than freelance? JOHN ROMITA: After fifteen years in the business—the last eight years between ’58 and the middle of ’65 when I worked at DC—I felt like I couldn’t pencil any more. I was burned out and figured there was no way I could make a living if I had to struggle to pull pencil work out of me every day. So I decided that I was going to ink only. On top of that, when I talked to Stan in ’65, I told him I was getting out of comics due to burn-out. I had a terrible couple of months; I actually couldn’t produce. There were days when I produced not a single panel, and I wasn’t making any money; and I was practically in tears a couple of times, because I was figuring I couldn’t make a living any more. So I told Stan that I was going to work in an advertising agency from 9-to5. What he did to keep me in the business was to say, “Suppose I pay you a salary and you come into the office?
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