Gray Area, Schmuggy and Bimbo up next for John Romita Jr.
With the success of “Kick-Ass,” Romita has seen demand surge for other creator-owned properties.
“The Gray Area”: A brutal police officer is killed and finds himself an agent of an afterlife police force. The series was created by Glenn Brunswick and Romita. Originally published by Image Comics, “The Gray Area” will be republished by Marvel later this year. Stephen L’Heureux is attached to the film adaptation as a producer, and Mark Kratter is set as the screenwriter.
“Schmuggy and Bimbo”: Writer Howard Chaykin is working with Romita on this creator-owned series. “It’s based on two leg-breakers that grew up with my parents in Brooklyn back in the ’40s,” Romita said. “There’s some international intrigue and some spy stuff involved in this.”
“Jack the Cop”: Romita says he plans to write this screenplay on his own. “If I can go without sleep for six months,” he adds.
He also has at least one Marvel character he’d still like a crack at: Dr. Strange.
“I’d like to try a series with a guy like … Neil Gaiman, or any other really wild and visual writer. There’s something about that character that just brings out the best in me. And I have a couple of ideas. But again, it’s never been an A-list character, so it would be an interesting attempt.”
— Matthew Price
John Romita Jr. brought gritty, New York style to “Kick-Ass”
John Romita Jr., left, with Mark Millar
Known for his gritty, street-level artistic characterizations of Marvel Comics characters such as Daredevil, John Romita Jr. brings the same touch — grounded in a real-world sensibility — to “Kick-Ass,” a comic book series featuring a teen with no superpowers who decides to put on a suit and combat crime.
The comic-book series was adapted to a film by Matthew Vaughn (“Stardust”), which is out on DVD this week. Romita drew the comic-book series, which was written by Mark Millar (“Civil War,” “Wanted”). The pair previously worked together on “Wolverine,” on a storyline called “Enemy of the State.” The way Romita tells a story is what led Millar to choose to create this particular story with him, Romita said in an interview with The Oklahoman.
John Romita Jr.
“(Millar) calls me ‘Martin Scorsese of comics,’” Romita said. “It’s a true compliment because he thinks I have a gritty nature to my storytelling. … He knew that this series was going to be based in New York, and immediately that’s where one of the connections came from.”
Romita said having one of his creations turned into a film is a great testament to the hard work it took to bring the project to life. And while he finds it very gratifying on a personal level for his creator-owned project to have seen such success, he also still enjoys working on the classic Marvel Comics characters. Romita has worked primarily for Marvel since breaking into the industry in the late 1970s, and his father, John Romita Sr., was one of the architects of the Marvel Universe in the 1960s.
“I’m of a generation where I worked with Stan Lee, occasionally, and I did work while Jack Kirby’s work was being published, and my father’s work, and John Buscema,” Romita said. “So, to work on characters that Stan Lee did with my father and Jack Kirby, I still get a thrill out of doing characters that were created by those guys.”
Presently, Romita is the artist for Marvel Comics’ “The Avengers,” featuring Thor, Captain America and Iron Man. And he’s also working on “Kick-Ass 2.” Despite the success of the first series, Romita said he didn’t feel any particular pressure when beginning work on the sequel, which he said likely will be adapted into a sequel film, as well.
“The only scary part of this is to make it a better quality story,” Romita said.
“Whereas people would be intimidated by doing a second arc where people are going to be paying attention to you, I embrace the extra scrutiny; I really do. So, I’m looking forward to it.”
- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
John Romita Jr. on Kick-Ass 2 on Planet 46 Comics Podcast
John Romita Jr. talks to the Planet 46 Comics Podcast about Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2, as well as his love for Dr. Strange. The film adaptation of “Kick-Ass” is out on DVD this week. Matt and Kyle review Captain America 608, Superman: Last Family of Krypton 1, Magnus Robot Fighter 1 and Shadowland 2. Meanwhile, Smallville adds new DC Universe characters, and the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game gets a sequel, “Arkham City.”
Kick-Ass goes digital
Marvel has made single issues of “Kick-Ass,” by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., available for download on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch via the Comixology, Iverse and Panefly applications. PSP users can download directly to their device.
“I have an ancient cell phone given to me by a relative that’s so old it can’t take pictures so this tech is so far away from me it might as well be science fiction,” said Kick-Ass writer and co-creator Mark Millar in a news release. “But I read about it on Comic Book Resources and Marvel.com– the guys seemed excited so consider me excited by osmosis. More readers and new readers is always a good thing.”
John Romita Jr, artist and co-creator of Kick-Ass, said in a release: “I’m excited about these advances in technology that I have been hearing about for, what seems like ten years. Now it has arrived, and all I can think of is that it advances the state of ‘comic books’ in that it will direct people to the source material. I believe this will cement the tangible material, the comics themselves, into the hands and minds of future ‘young’ generations! It always comes down to the quality of writing and the sequential art. Holding a comic and turning the page for more will forever be a novelty, even with advanced technology as an option.”
The “Kick-Ass” film, based on the comics, will open in theaters on Friday.
- Matt Price
