John Romita, Jr. 30th Anniversary Special (Story 1)

Background

This magazine is a tribute to John Romita, Jr. on the occasion of his 30th Anniversary of work with Marvel. Of course, John got a head start in his artistic career with the support of his father. JR JR even got a mention in Amazing Spider-Man for suggesting the Prowler, long before he actually earned an art credit for Marvel.

Story Details

This title offers a swag of JR JR stuff. Specifically:

• A glowing (but deserved intro) from his dad.
• A tribute comic strip "Romita - Space Knight" by Neil Gaiman and friends.
• A reprint of his first debut work in "Chaos at the Coffee Bean!"
• A timeline of his career to date.
• Comments by many of his peers.
• An extensive interview.
• A list of TPB's to buy, and of course...
• A ton of JRJR sketches and finished art.

This comic definitely feels like it's part of the Marvel Spotlight (Promo One-Shots) publications.

Even the interview is marked as being conducted by "SPOTLIGHT". But for some reason the editors decided not to brand this as a Spotlight title. Maybe because they went with a thicker card cover instead of paper, and decided to feature more art and less Marvel branding on the cover.

General Comments

I'm not a huge fan of JR JR's later work. I just don't like his style - little things like the way he puts rings about arms and legs, and the sketchy blocky style he uses sometimes. I prefer his earlier stuff, where he worked more like his dad, and the earlier pencilers that I adore.

But regardless of my personal nitpicks, there's no doubt that JR JR has a huge fan base, a great track record, and an awesome professional reputation. This comic is a well-deserved tribute. Sure, Marvel's blowing their own trumpet a bit too - JR JR is one of their big names. But it's all nicely done here, and the result is a product that any serious JR JR fan should own.

Overall Rating

A nice offering for the fans. Four webs.