Iconic Marvel artist John Romita Sr dies and tributes pour in

Born in 1930 in Brooklyn, Romita Sr began his professional comic career early on, working at Timely Comics, which would later become Marvel Comics, in the 1940s.

After a brief stint in the US army, Romita Sr returned to comics in the 1950s, splitting his time between Marvel and its rival company, DC Comics.

In 1966, he took over from artist Steve Ditko on The Amazing Spider-Man series, working alongside Marvel editor-in-chief Stan Lee in a role that would last five years.

Romita Sr's Spider-Man tenure introduced several iconic characters, including Peter Parker’s love interest, Mary Jane Watson, as well as the shadowy crime boss Kingpin, now a fan favourite character (portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio) after joining the MCU in Netflix's Daredevil and appearing in Disney Plus's Hawkeye.

The legendary artist was also involved in creating the tragic, seminal storyline The Night Gwen Stacy Died, which features the death of Peter Parker's girlfriend.

In 1972, he became the unofficial art director of Marvel and was formally awarded the title a year later.

He served in the role for two decades, during which time he helped contribute to the design of classic characters Wolverine, The Punisher, Luke Cage, and many more.

The artist's death comes the week after Sony’s Spider-Man sequel Across the Spider-Verse was released in cinemas and dominated the box office.

He was inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Inkwell Awards Hall of Fame in 2020.

Tributes have been flooding in on social media for Romita Sr following the sad news of his passing, with broadcaster and comedian Jonathan Ross writing: "A sad, sad day for those of us who grew up adoring and obsessing over Marvel comics. The great John Romita Sr has died."

He continued: "A wonderful artist and a truly beautiful, kind, generous, compassionate and thoughtful man. He was the rock that provided a gloriously rendered foundation to Marvel in those years when it grew and prospered and became the powerhouse of ideas it is today. Thank you John for sharing your magnificent genius."

Co-CEO of DC Studios James Gunn wrote: "Sorry to hear about the great comic book artist John Romita Sr passing at the age of 93. My brother & I wrote Mr. Romita when we were young kids & 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 & condolences are with his family & loved ones."

Romita Sr is survived by his wife, Virginia, and sons Romita Jr and Victor.