Thought I’d give a quick mention to John, who passed away aged 93 on June 12th. His death is no tragedy—he had a very long life, well lived—but a sad loss nonetheless, especially as the Silver Age greats of comics are dwindling rapidly now.
John was, of course, the third best Spider-Man artist.
(So, who are the top two, IMHO? Well, let me put it like this: Todd McFarlane isn’t one of them…)
I’ll always have a sharp memory of ASM # 39 mesmerizing me from the comics rack (and a shout out to – I suspect- Stan Goldberg for the gradation sky colors). It was the first issue I recall reading (although it probably ties with Marvel Tales # 4 and my brother John’s earlier issues of ASM). I was hooked. JR had a sharp storytelling approach and he produced an array of distinctive covers. Ditko, of course, will always be THE Spider-Man creative powerhouse, but JR was a talented and versatile artist who made his mark.
It took a while, even though he was the artist at the time that I was first reading the US issues, but I find it hard not to think of Ross Andru when I see Spider-Man. Though I’ll qualify that by saying that Ditko is my favourite Spider-Man artist