We
are unsure as top the origins of Romita Drive.
This could be a homeage to John Romita of Marvel
Comics.
John
Salvatore Romita, Jr. (August 17, 1956, New
York City) is an American comic book artist
best known for his extensive work for Marvel
Comics from the 1970s to the 2000s. He is often
referred to as JRJR (abbreviation of John Romita,
Jr.). John Romita is the son of John Romita,
Sr., the co-creator of several notable Spider-Man
stories in the 1960s and 1970s. He began his
career at Marvel UK, doing sketches for covers
of reprints: his debut was with a six pages
story in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #11 (1977).
Romita's
early popularity was based on his run on Iron
Man with writer David Michelinie and artist
Bob Layton, began in 1978. In the early-1980s,
he had his first regular run on the Amazing
Spider-Man series and also was the architect
behind the Dazzler series' and character's appearance.
Working with writer Roger Stern on Spider-Man
he co created the character Hobgoblin and he
drew an issue in which Spider-Man would encounter
the Juggernaut where the villain would end up
trapped in cement foundations. From 1983 to
1986 he had a run on Uncanny X-Men with Dan
Green and author Chris Claremont which brought
him immense popularity, as the X-Men had become
a huge industry phenomenon by that time. During
this time, he is notable for the creation of
future New Warrior and Avenger Firestar. He
would return for a second very successful run
on Uncanny X-Men in 1993.
Cover for Black Panther (Marvel Knights regular
series) #1, by John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson.In
the late 1980s and early 1990s, Romita enjoyed
an acclaimed stint on Daredevil with writer
Ann Nocenti and Eisner Award-winning inker Al
Williamson, noted for its creation of long-running
Daredevil nemesis Typhoid Mary. Working for
Daredevil, Romita defined his style and left
definitively behind every uncertainty which
was still present in the X-Men pages.
Romita
later collaborated with Frank Miller on a Daredevil
origin story entitled Man Without Fear, considered
to be a companion of sorts to Miller's Batman:
Year One tale. Romita worked on a host of Marvel
titles during the 1990s, including The Punisher
War Zone, the Cable mini-series, The Mighty
Thor, a return to Iron Man for the second Armor
War written by John Byrne, and the Punisher/Batman
cross-over.
In
the 2000s, Romita again came to prominence for
his second run illustrating The Amazing Spider-Man
for writer J. Michael Straczynski. He drew Marvel's
Wolverine with author Mark Millar as part of
the character's thirtieth-anniversary celebration.
As of 2006, Romita's art is currently on display
in Black Panther, The Sentry as well as Ultimate
Vision, a back up story featured in the Ultimate
line, written by author Mark Millar.
In
June 2006, Romita Jr. will be collaborating
with writer Neil Gaiman on the reinterpretation
of Jack Kirby's The Eternals.
