John Buscema was arguably the definitive superhero comic book artist of the mid 1960’s through to the late 1970s and beyond. Of all the larger-than-life characters he drew his name will always be associated with Conan the Barbarian and the Silver Surfer but he also produced eventful runs on Spider-Man, The Avengers, the Fantastic Four and Thor. As an artist he was so proficient that it is thought that he drew at least one issue of every Marvel comic during his tenure at the company. Sadly “Big John” as he was affectionally known, passed away in 2002 at the age of 74 and was fittingly buried with an artist's pen in his hand. One of my favourite pieces of John Buscema’s art is the above 1969 cover for Silver Surfer issue 4, possibly one of the most striking covers ever created in comics. It would take more space than I have on this blog to show the best of John Buscema’s work but below are some of my favourites of his many wonderful covers:
Avengers issue 51 from 1968 by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott.
Sub Mariner issue 1 from 1968 by John Buscema and Sol Brodsky. Sub Mariner is a bit of a hidden gem in many ways particularly the first 8 issues which were pencilled by John Buscema. Most of the early series is worth picking up for great art alone by Marie Severin, Gene Colan and Sal Buscema. Cover taken from the Grand Comic Database (I had this issue but gave my copy to a pal years ago).
Conan the Barbarian issue 96 from 1979 by John Buscema.
Thor issue 178 from 1970 by John Buscema and Frank Giacoia. Any cover featuring one of my favourite heroes and my favourite monster villain has to be in any top 10.
Savage Tales issue 1 from 1970. With so many amazing Buscema Conan covers available I had to choose another one this time from one of my all-time favourite Marvel magazine. Cover taken from the Grand Comic Database (the cover on my copy is very badly damaged).
Nova issue 1 from 1976. Cover by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott.
Fantastic Four issue 112 from 1971 by John Buscema and Frank Giacoia. This is one of my favourite FF comics drawn by Big John and Joe Sinnott.
Avengers issue 79 from 1970 by John Buscema and Frank Giacoia. There are of course so many wonderfully iconic Buscema Avengers cover that I could have included like issue 57 "Behold...The Vison" and issue 60 "Till death do us part" (the marriage of the Wasp and Hank Pym) but I really like this one.
Shadows & Light issue 3 from 1998 by John Buscema and Claudio Castellini. I think this may have been the very last(at the time) new comic I bought with John Buscema art. Big John also provided a really nice black and white Hulk tale for this issue.
I was probably about seven years old when I walked into my local newsagents in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) with my pocket money firmly he...
Following on from my last post featuring some of my favourite Marvel comic book covers from 1973, I thought I would show some of DC's ...
Nearly a half-century on I still consider 1973 to be the year that cemented my destiny in becoming a lifetime comic book fan. It was a yea...
Every one a belter, McS. Regarding Avengers #79, he's drawn the Grim Reaper with two hands, even though everyone knows one of them should be a scythe. The cover to Sub-Mariner #1 was reversed for the first ish of Tales To Astonish (vol 2) in the '70s. Amazingly, given that a lot of flipped art doesn't look quite right, it still looks great.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that about the Grim Reaper on the cover of issue 79 Kid, so obvious when you really look at it as well. Ditto Subby, but in that case it just looks right.
DeleteJohn Buscema was the master. He combined raw power and drama better than any artist before or since. My favorite Buscema cover is Avengers #74. That short period of time when he was inked by Tom Palmer was the best for both of them.
ReplyDeleteI recently repurchased Avenger issue 74 so I agree that's a great cover as well. Yeah there weren't many artist with Big John's ability back in the day and none today that seem able to churn out great comic storytelling art month after month.
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