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 Larraz's piece serving as a second main cover.
When Marvel Comics revealed John Romita Jr. and Paola Rivera's main cover for Amazing Spider-Man #1000, there was something of a mixed response on social media (which is pretty much the case with anything and everything in the current landscape).
There will, of course, be countless variant covers for the issue to choose from, and plenty of readers out there still regard Romita Jr. as one of, if not the, greatest Spider-Man artists of all time.
On Friday, Bleeding Cool ran a story, claiming, "[We've] had it confirmed that the cover has now been pulled by Marvel Comics' editorial, even though it's in the new Marvel catalogue; retailers won't be able to order it. Indeed, John Romita Jr is stepping away from Amazing Spider-Man after #1000 to work on other projects, including those with Mark Millar."
Contrary to that was a June 18 press release from Marvel revealing Pepe Larraz's Amazing Spider-Man #1000 cover. That billed it as "a main cover," not "the" main cover. In fact, in the accompanying solicitation information, Laraz and Romita Jr.'s covers were both listed as main covers for the landmark issue, suggesting the online backlash had prompted the publisher to give fans two options.
However, as the story above started to gain traction, some self-proclaimed comic book fans took to TikTok to celebrate "bullying" the company into cancelling Romita Jr. and Rivera's cover.
An argument could be made that anyone patting themselves on the back for being a bully is all the proof needed that they lack any understanding of Spider-Man as a character. That aside, and it doesn't even touch on the sheer disrespect to one of the character's most influential artists ever; love or hate his style, that's a fact.
Many creators and fans on social media have been pointing out over the past 24 hours, with everyone from Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder to CCXP's co-founder and regular comic book fans chiming in.
The majority have made it clear that Marvel would be in the wrong to pull this cover for Amazing Spider-Man #1000, though at this stage, we do have good reason to believe it will be released as planned.
We've reached out to Marvel Comics for comment, but have yet to hear back.