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Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Sal Buscema - RIP

Sad news that Sal Buscema passed away on Friday 23 January at the age of 89 years old , just a few days before his 90th birthday. Sal was probably best known for his long runs on Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, the Avengers and the Defenders. Like his late brother John, Sal worked on most titles at some point in his career and covered all genres from sword and sorcery, to romance to horror comics. Some of my earliest Marvel purchases in the late 1960’s contained Sals artwork and he has remained a favourite of mine ever since. I have followed his work from Marvel to DC and many indie publishers over the years. My personal favourite Sal comics were form the early 1970’s, but everything he did was just wonderful.
Above - Our pal Sal at the drwing board - the last of the Marvel legends?

10 comments:

  1. Sad news indeed. "Our Pal" Sal was one of my favorite artists. I started reading comics at just about the same moment he began drawing them, first as an inker over his brother's pencils and then on his own in the Avengers, the Defenders, the Sub-Mariner, Captain America, and then in nearly every title Marvel produced. He was a mighty storyteller, one who delivered the goods on time and with style. He drew the stories of my youth and now both are gone.

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  2. I think the first comic I had with Sals art was an issue of Sub Mariner but it was on Captain America ( around issue 160,) that I became a fan of his work. Those panels he drew where a villain would be sent flying out of the page from a punch from the hero always made his art so exciting

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  3. I'm a lifelong Conan fan and the first Conan story I ever read was "The Lair Of The Beast-Men" drawn by Barry Smith and inked by Sal Buscema in Marvel UK's Savage Sword Of Conan weekly #2.

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  4. Hi Colin, Sals preferred work was as an inker and his Conan work with Barry Smith was always top notch. " Lair of the Beast Men" is a case in point a great tale and comic strip

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  5. He really was Mr Reliable, able to turn his hand to just about anything and a great story-teller.

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  6. The fates are against me. This post was certainly not showing in my blog list (on my blog at least) 19 hours ago. It's a conspiracy. Yeah, great shame about Sal, who must've been the last of the '60s Marvel artists who drew the major characters (that I can think of anyway).

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  7. Jim Steranko was mentioned on another blog (Steve does comics) along with Larry Leiber as being the last of the Marvel greats (Barry Smith may have just made it as well) I can't think of any others.

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    1. Yeah, though Steranko wasn't with Marvel for very long (though he made an impact at the time) and Lieber wasn't really in the same league as Sal as an artist, though he was a good scripter. Smith deserves to be included as Conan was a major title eventually. There might be one or two more.

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  8. I hope there are a few weeks missed from that time but it was so long ago now it's unlikely

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