Sal Buscema, a veteran comics artist and part of the famed Buscema family of Marvel artists, has passed away. He was 89 years old when he died on Friday, and the news broke today, on what would have been his 90th birthday.
Artist Sterling Clark, who previously worked with Buscema on an issue of National Guardians, broke the news (via Comic Book Club). According to Clark, Buscema’s wife Joan told him that the artist had passed away on Friday. Here’s what Clark said in his post:
“Wow. I just received word from Mrs. Joan that Sal Buscema passed away last Friday. He was 89. Today, he would’ve turned 90. When I think back on my childhood and all of the comic books that I read, Sal’s name seems to have appeared in just about all of them. I didn’t just read the books that he illustrated, I studied them.
Every nuance in his pencils and his inks I saw and tried to mimic. He was definitely one of the greats during those years at Marvel, when handling more than three titles a month was not just a requirement but a necessity. Sal’s art had a direct impact on my own, along with his older brother John, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, John Romita Sr and Ron Frenz.
Ron, God bless him, was the person responsible for Sal and I meeting some time ago and for that I’ll be forever grateful. Sal was a very nice, kind and generous person who I am happy to have known and who took note of my skills enough to mentor me. The wonderful conversations we had will always be cherished.
My condolences to his wife Joan, the Buscema family and to all of us fans who grew up with and love his amazing art. I’ll have more posts later. – SC”
Buscema started his comics career as an inker, working with his brother John Buscema at Dell Comics. It would take years for him to come out from under John’s shadow and establish himself as a talent in his own right. He worked primarily at Marvel in from 1968 through the ’70s and ’80s, then moved to DC for a few years in the ’90s before returning “home” to Marvel.
During his time at the Big Two, Buscema worked on a wide variety of titles, from Avengers and Thor to The Uncanny X-Men and The New Mutants to Superman and Batman titles during his brief stint at DC. He is arguably most associated with his run on The Spectacular Spider-Man with writer J.M. DeMatteis, and his work on ROM Spaceknight (although his Hulk is pretty iconic).
Before the news of Buscema’s death broke this afternoon, DeMatteis celebrated his former collaborator’s landmark birthday on BlueSky, writing, “Sal Buscema turns 90 today. There’s hardly a Marvel character Sal hasn’t left his mark on, from Cap to the Hulk, Avengers to Thor. Working with Sal for two years on Spectacular Spider-Man remains a highlight of my career. And the best part? He’s not just a great artist, he’s a truly good guy.”
Buscema married his wife Joan in 1960, and they had three children together, named Joe, Tony, and Mike. After retiring from regular comics work, he continued to connect with fans via commissions, keeping a steady trickle of new Sal Buscema art popping up online over the years.
