Sal Buscema dropped into the Marvel Bullpen at just the right moment. The books were multiplying and Jack Kirby was headed out the door. That left a lot of pages to draw to meet the monthly demands. John Buscema and Don Heck and Gene Colan were all working like crazy to meet the deadlines but more was needed. Steranko was great but too damn slow and Barry Smith was just learning the craft. Werner Roth was good but didn't seem to be striking the chord Stan Lee was looking for. Dick Ayers and Larry Leiber were locking down the war and western genres. Herb Trimpe and Marie Severin and George Tuska were all on board. But it was the arrival of John's little brother Sal, first as an inker over his brother on Silver Surfer and later as a penciler on The Avengers which really marked in my mind the sense they had a crew worthy of the characters created by Stan and Jack and Steve. Sal's style was much like his brother's at first, but with a more delicate appearance. Over time he got into his own thing, more angular and the Sal Buscema who became in many respects the go-to guy of the Bronze Age was up and running. Is there a superhero comic that Sal didn't draw? I cannot think of one that lasted over a year although I'm sure there must be one. Sal had important stints on the Avengers, Sub-Mariner, Captain America, and the Hulk. His Defenders was definitive and Sal "The Pal" was the ultimate sixth-man, the guy in basketball who could easily start, but is more valuable here and there and everywhere. Some guys can't come off the bench, they can't pick up the momentum and do the job in the nick of time. Sal seemed all too ready for the call whenever it came. He kicked off the Kree-Skrull War, he drew the very first Squadron Sinister stories, and later brought both Valkyrie and Nighthawk onto the Non-Team. Years later he'd have a highly respected run on Spider-Man. Sal Buscema was a workhorse, the kind of talent you must have to be a successful comic company.
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One of my very favourite artists, it was always a joy to see his work so full of action and over the top superhero action with bodies flying at you off the page after being punched by the hero etc. My first memory of Sals work was in the Sub Mariner and then on Captain America, but comic that did it for me was Avengers issue 88 which the Hulk appeared and was published in the UK as a Hulk strip, as much as I loved Trimpe Hulk seeing Sals art at this time blew me away it was so fresh. I wasn't a fan of his Spidey it seemed rushed but almost everything else he did I adored.
ReplyDeleteIt always made me ache when folks called Sal and artists of his kind (reliable craftsmen) "hacks". He'd discovered a shorthand to storytelling which is no less than Ditko and Wood who are lauded. I like those guys too (as already demonstrated) but Sal never seemed to get the love I thought he deserved. His early stuff is my favorite, especially when Sam Grainger was inking, but his later style was attractive as well. The Spidey stuff seemed to be in that era (if memory serves) when artists were pushed to be more brash to attempt to capture the Image crowd.
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Sal Buscema is someone I have never really appreciated. But I have never disliked his work. He has just been there like the wallpaper in your house. It's been there so long you don't even notice it...I guess there is something to be said for that though. Reliability is a commendable quality.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how much I disliked his work as a kid, and how long it took to really appreciate him. I love Sal's stuff.
ReplyDeleteNow when Sal took over art duties during Simonson's Thor run, was it just me or did his stuff really reach a new level of quality? I never knew if this was just a Thor thing or if it was permanent.
Sal and Sam Grainger made a terrific combination. As did Sal with Klaus Janson. And early, Sal was a smooth inker with range that could accommodate brother John, Gene Colan and Barry Smith. My favorite Sal art, though, might be his rough & ready work on ROM and THE HULK in the early '80s. His THOR was a progression of this style.
ReplyDeleteROM was a surprise and a good one at that.
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