"Our Pal" Sal Buscema passed away last Saturday, just 2 days shy of his 90th birthday. He was the brother of the legendary comics artist John Buscema and got his start inking his brother. He wound up toiling as a penciler and inker at Marvel Comics from 1969 up to 2011. In his time, he worked on just about every major Marvel property, everything from Rom to Spectacular Spider-Man.
While his brother has earned plenty of accolades for his work, Sal hasn't received too many honours for his work (although I note my colleagues at the Inkwell Awards gave him four awards). Sal's most warmly-received run is probably his work on Defenders in the 1970s, but fans dub it "Steve Gerber's Defenders," not "Gerber and Buscema's."
I think Sal Buscema was seen as a "house style" artist - that is, people thought he imitated other artists (like his brother and Jack Kirby) rather than developing his own style. And yet, his style - especially as seen in Spectacular Spider-Man - is undeniably unique. His collaboration with writer Walter Simonson on Thor saw him shift his style to suit Simonson's own art; his long run on Incredible Hulk included a period with moody inks by Gerry Talaoc; and his Spectacular Spider-Man run included a run of stories where he was inked by Bill Sienkiewicz - it's scarcely recognizable as his old "house style."
When Sal Buscema was chosen as the cover artist for the series of Marvel Legacy handbooks we created in 2006 (he wound up drawing the covers to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s books) I was honoured to have his art grace our cover as at the time, he was one of the last surviving 1960s Marvel artists, a genuine link to the past, which is what our books were honouring.
Rest in peace, Mr. Buscema.
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