Let's Talk About the John Romita, Jr. Amazing Spider-Man #1000 Cover Drama

How Marvel insulted one of its most legendary creators.

When it comes to living legends in the comic book industry, few are as iconic as John Romita, Jr. The artist has been a mainstay of comics for decades, carving out his own legacy alongside his superstar father John Romita, Sr., whose work on Spider-Man remains influential to this day. JR, Jr. is similarly known for his impact working on the old webhead, so it wasn't all that surprising when Marvel announced he would be the cover artist for the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man #1000. Here's the cover:

The art is a combination of Romita's pencils and artist Paolo Rivera's paints, but despite two superstars contributing to the piece, some fans were not all that complimentary online. So much so that Marvel backpedaled on the cover and replaced it with one by artist Pepe Larraz following a series of Tik Tok videos criticizing Romita's work. Here's the Larraz cover, for comparison:

After Marvel pulled the Romita/Rivera cover, making the Larraz art the official standard cover for the comic, opposing forces within comic book fandom and the comic book industry rallied to compel Marvel to undo its decision and bring the Romita cover back. And according to ComicBookMovie.com, Marvel has done exactly that:

UPDATE: We've heard back from Marvel Comics, and the publisher has confirmed that John Romita Jr.'s Amazing Spider-Man #1000 cover will be released as planned, with Peper [sic] Larraz's piece serving as a second main cover.

It's a significant move for a couple of reasons. First of all, while JR, Jr. isn't to everyone's liking, and while his recent work on ASM hasn't been his greatest work, the man is a legend who has earned the respect of his peers within the industry. Nearly constant output for years on virtually every notable character from the Marvel and DC universes. Countless interior pages and covers. A style that is big, bold, and mesmerizing, able to convey action and emotion with ease. As an artist growing up, Romita had an enormous impact on me; his work with JMS on Amazing Spider-Man is among my favorite runs on the character, ever, but I also loved his days working on Peter Parker: Spider-Man, as well.

Looking objectively at his ASM #1000 cover, I can understand why some criticized the pose for looking like Spidey is shrugging. However, given the angle of the shot, I don't really see how else the character's shoulders should be positioned. If anything, I would argue that the legs seem a tad small in comparison to his upper body, but maybe that's just me. Ultimately, the cover might have benefited from a different pose altogether, but to claim that the drawing is so bad that it needed to be removed is utter nonsense.

The fact that Marvel Comics got spooked by some Tik Tok campaign to remove the cover is shameful. It's also emblematic of the continued problem in the comic book industry of giving credence to activist fans that are without question in the minority. These people aren't customers, they're attention seekers who are more interested in stirring up trouble and engagement for themselves than actually buying and reading books. Yet, Marvel and DC editorial, in particular, seem to live in a perpetual state of fear over what some talking head in a Reddit thread has to say about their comic books.

Why would anyone remove a John Romita, Jr. cover from a milestone issue of Amazing Spider-Man because a Tik Tok user told them to? It defies logic. But worse, it's a slap in the face to one of the biggest creators Marvel Comics has ever had. And while it's nice to know that the mistake has been undone, it doesn't erase the fact that for a time, no matter how brief, Marvel spurred a legend to please some accounts on social media. It's also rather fascinating that Marvel is willing to quickly pull the plug on a cover but won't acquiesce to even louder voices online that have called for things like the undoing of One More Day for years. Why is one group quickly catered to while the other is not?

Do better, Marvel.