Marvel icon and Wolverine co-creator John Romita Sr. has died at 93

John Romita Sr., the legendary comic book artist who co-created many of Marvel’s greatest characters, including Wolverine and the Punisher, has died at the age of 93.

As The Hollywood Reporter writes, the news was announced overnight by Romita’s son, John Romita Jr., who described his father as “the greatest man I ever met”.

“I say this with a heavy heart, my father passed away peacefully in his sleep,” Romita Jr. wrote on social media. “He is a legend in the art world, and it would be my honour to follow in his footsteps. Please keep your thoughts and condolences here out of respect for my family. He was the greatest man I ever met.”

In 1966, Romita Sr. was chosen by Stan Lee to become the artist for The Amazing Spider-Man after Steve Ditko left Marvel. During his time working on Spider-Man, Romita co-created Mary Jane Watson, and villains Kingpin and Rhino were also introduced, truly shaping the Spidey universe we know today. His impact on the webslinging hero's reputation at the time was also undeniable, as it was in the time he worked on it that The Amazing Spider-Man became Marvel's best-selling comic, overtaking The Fantastic Four.

Others have been paying tribute to Romita online, including DC Studios’ co-chairman and co-CEO James Gunn. Gunn tweeted: “Sorry to hear about the great comic book artist John Romita Sr passing at the age of 93. My brother and I wrote Mr. Romita when we were young kids and sent him drawings of superheroes we were working on. He wrote us back, telling us what he liked about the drawings! A truly memorable experience in my life, making me feel like the magic of comic books, which seemed so otherworldly, wasn’t actually that far away. My thoughts and condolences are with his family and loved ones.”

Here at GAMINGbible, our thoughts go out to Romita’s family and friends at this difficult time. May he rest in peace.