Some people don't like Rich Buckler -- I'm not one of those. Buckler had an amazing talent for imitating the styles of a number of artists, bringing a John Buscema vibe to his earliest Avengers work, a Jack Kirby echo in his Fantastic Four work and even evoking Neal Adams here and there such as his own creation Deathlok, the character which really showed us the true Buckler at last. Swiping is a practice decried here and there and lots of places, but weirdly while Buckler gets slammed for the practice, Wally Wood gets elevated to nigh diety status for nearly the same thing -- and Wood bragged about it. It was a way make comics people wanted to read in a timely way and if you ask this fanboy, I will take a Rich Buckler comic over anything in the market today. Buckler was the kind of artist you could build a line around and he tried to be that. Buckler always seemed though to want more and he got that chance with the independent magazine Galaxia, and later working for Archie Comics with the Red Circle brand which revived the MLJ superheroes in The Mighty Crusaders and other titles just in time for the outbreak of the Independent marketplace. These projects didn't last long, but the doing of them was no small feat. I got to see Buckler once at a convention, but didn't approach him frankly because he the most sour look on his face, as if he didn't want to be bothered. That's not an interaction I'd have cared to have with an artist who remains one of my favorites.
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I was always happy when I opened a new comic and it had Rich Bucklers art inside. His work was always exciting and had well crafted storytelling. As a Neal Adams fan I loved
ReplyDeleteRich's Adams style (I think its important to say style he didnt swipe). In addition Deathlok was for me one of the most exciting comic characters back in the day, so a great artist strong writer and character creator. He had it all very underrated IMHO.
Agree that he's often overlooked. Something all overlooked artists tend to have in common is that they rarely if ever missed deadlines. It makes others regard them as "hacks'. Buckler was far far from that.
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His art in Deathlok is fantastic. I am a lover of his work too.
ReplyDeleteI got Buckler to sign some issues at a convention in 2004. He wasnt talkative at that point but I went to a panel where he spoke about his career he said that he didn’t stay at one comic for long because he always wanted to try something new. I liked to keep things fresh, he said. “I just had all these characters in my mind and they seemed like real people to me.”
ReplyDeleteBuckler said that his favorite work was with Donald McGregor on the Black Panther (Jungle Action). He said that they were good stories about real issues. He said that McGregor would give him the stories in pieces a page here a page there to keep him is suspense. Another of his favorite experiences was working on Deathlok (Astonishing Tales). He commented that he didn’t think anyone has appreciated the complexities of the Deathlok character since the original run.
That's fascinating stuff on the Panther work. And I'd agree with him on Deathlok, there's a depth and weird charm to those earliest installments which has never been replicated. It's too bad that he was not able to deliver more of those.
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