Writer J. Michael Straczynski, creator of the cult TV series "Babylon 5," was brought in to work with Romita Jr. on Amazing Spider-Man. To refocus the story line, Straczynski had Spidey and his girlfriend separate. Spidey has since discovered that his beloved Aunt May knows his identity. Over the next few issues Mary Jane, who is now living alone in Hollywood, will realize she misses her arachnid superhero, and romance will return.

Spider-Man's humor is also back. In an upcoming issue, a cop tells Spidey his costume smells of detergent: Is he getting ready for prime time? "Yeah, they'll make a movie out of me," says Spidey.

In another scene, a villainess says, "I like you, you're funny." Retorts the cocky New Yorker: "Don't tell me, tell Letterman. I've been trying to get on his show for years."

The big screen will not ruin the Spidey mystique, say the Romitas, especially since Raimi's film looks to stay true to the original image of the superhero. "The character's been around so long," says Romita Jr. "If it hasn't been diluted -- in books, clothing, underwear, you name it -- it won't be diluted now."

Neither of the Romitas worked on the movie, although Marvel Entertainment co-produced it and their drawings were frequent reference points. (Lee and Ditko receive screen credit.) Romita Jr. says he spent two hours chatting with Raimi before production started, but when he named his price for working on the film -- the equivalent, he says, of what he makes at Marvel -- negotiations stopped abruptly. "It would have been a novelty to have seen my tiny name scroll down the screen in the closing credits," he says. "But it was an easier decision to make than most people think."

His father laughs. Hollywood, he says, still looks down on comic books. "They see us as the Munchkins in 'The Wizard of Oz,'" he says. On three occasions, Lee tried to talk Romita Sr. into relocating to California to do storyboarding for Marvel projects. Every time he refused because, he says, he hates the culture of Hollywood.

It must run in the family. J.R. and his wife, Kathy, a blond Californian, will soon return to New York. Suburban San Diego is beautiful, says J.R., but he feels misplaced among so many fair-haired, pale-skinned people: "Out here, I'm the fly shit in the sugar bowl. I just don't fit."

A few days later, the Romitas are star guests at WonderCon, a comics convention in Oakland, Calif. The insider chat and questions are constant and earnest. During a Q&A session, J.R. wonders aloud whether the color of Spidey's hair has been changed for the movie. His son Vinnie, a kindergartener playing with a plastic Godzilla, sits beside him.

Almost in chorus, the audience tells him that, yes, Internet trailers reveal that the webbed crusader's do has changed colors on the big screen. Someone asks how he's going to feel about sitting in a theater and seeing Spidey up there, many times bigger than life.

"I'll love it!" says J.R., who once drew the X-Men and who recalls the adrenaline rush from seeing that film: "Wow, I helped create those characters!"

Web designer Mike Diaz, a slight, shy 45-year-old, is in line nearby to get a sweatshirt signed by Romita Sr. His dad worked nights when he was a kid, he explains, and comics were his escape. His favorite character is actually Superman, not Spidey, because his mother told him that when he was born the nurses said he looked like the Man of Steel.

Next to Romita Sr., who is busy signing and drawing cartoons, is Mike Burkey, who claims to have the world's largest collection of Romita Sr. artwork: thousands of action figures and sketches, recently appraised at $7 million. "The man's crazy, certifiable," interjects Romita Sr. genially.

Burkey, a 37-year-old from Ohio, wishes he could fly to Los Angeles for the world premiere of Raimi's film. He can't, and will simply leave work early on Friday to catch the first screening. A skinny young kid rushes up and interrupts him: Is Stan Lee here? When told no, he says, "Oh, shit," and melts back into the crowd.

Burkey tells Romita Sr. that he's just added a new treasure to his collection: a 20-by-30-foot "Spider-Man" film ad that cost him $850 on eBay. He's hoping to display it at his wedding in June but, in true Peter Parker fashion, hasn't told his fiancée about it yet.

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