Previews of his Superman pages showed off Mr. Romita’s signature thick line work, hulking figures and dynamic action sequences. The first story line involves Ulysses, who is sent to Earth from his doomed world by his parents. The new creative team for the Man of Steel will most likely give the series a sales boost. Last month, Superman was No. 48 on the list of comic book best sellers with just over 40,000 copies sold of Issue 31. Batman was No. 4 with over 107,000 copies. At No. 1 was Original Sin, a mini-series from Marvel that has revealed dark secrets about its well-known heroes, selling over 147,000 copies. As with the Coke and Pepsi rivalry, many fans divide themselves into DC or Marvel camps. Mr. Romita, who is not a complete stranger to DC — in the 1990s he worked on two stories that united DC and Marvel characters — is a bit more agnostic, looking across the industry at the work of compatriots like Mr. Miller, Jim Lee and Adam and Andy Kubert, among others, for inspiration. “Without competition, you’d be nothing,” Mr. Romita said.

Image John Romita Jr.’s Superman: “Staying at Marvel, I would’ve been doing the same stuff, character wise,” he said. Credit... DC Comics

He also said he drew inspiration from films he’s seen and martial arts classes he’s taken with his son to dream up angles or choreography for fight scenes. “My art still isn’t as good as my storytelling,” he said. “But it’s getting better. By the time I’m 75 or 80, I’ll be a good artist.”

You could say that Mr. Romita, 57, is not just leaving Marvel, but also the family shop. His parents both had careers at Marvel: His father is John Romita, a renowned artist who, among other things, designed the look of Mary Jane, Peter Parker’s long-term love interest; and his mother, Virginia, worked as a production manager. The senior Romita has a practical view of his son’s move. “I used to be ceremoniously let go by DC and Marvel,” he recalled. “When you’re in the comic book business, you just go where the work is.”

The younger Mr. Romita found his calling around 1965 when he saw his father inking a Daredevil cover penciled by Jack Kirby. “When he explained to me that Daredevil was blind and a superhero, I was hooked,” Mr. Romita said.