Comics Legend Sal Buscema Passes Away At Age 89

We’re saddened to report that comics legend Sal Buscema passed away on Friday, January 23rd, at the age of 89.

The news broke on Monday via Facebook post from artist Sterling Clark who said:

Wow.

I just received word today from Mrs. Joanna Buscema 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.

Buscema began work in comics inking his brother, fellow comics legend John Buscema, before making a mark on his own as a penciller. He worked on the entire stable of Marvel’s characters from the 1970s through the early 2000s. He was best known for his work on The Incredible Hulk, ROM Spaceknight and Spider-Man. Fans would probably remember him best for his work on Spectacular Spider-Man with writer J.M. Dematteis. Though the duo collaborated for years together, their run was best known for chronicling Harry Osborn’s descent into madness and eventual death.

I personally was introduced to Buscema the way many kids of the 1980s and ’90s were — via the magazine rack at 7-11. I forget whether my first issue was the second chapter of the ‘Eye of the Puma’ storyline from Spectacular #191-193, or the first chapter of the legendary ‘The Child Within’ from Spectacular #178-183, but it was one of the earliest stories I remember from my growing love of Spider-Man. Throughout the ’90s, I found myself picking up Spectacular Spider-Man whenever I was getting a random issue of Spider-Man off the rack, in large part thanks to Buscema’s art.

Thank you Sal for all the great memories.