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John Buscema
Buscema in 1975 Marvel publicity photo
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Penciler; Inker
Notable works	Conan the Barbarian The Avengers The Silver Surfer

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John Buscema, né Giovanni Natale Buscema (December 11, 1927–January 10, 2002), was an American comic-book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics during its 1960s and 1970s ascendancy into an industry leader and its subsequent expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate. His younger brother Sal Buscema is also a comic-book artist.

Buscema is best known for his run on the series The Avengers and The Silver Surfer, and for over 200 stories featuring the sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. In addition, he pencilled at least one issue of nearly every major Marvel title, including runs on such flagships as Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spider-Man. Buscema, along with John Romita Sr., stepped into the breach when industry legend Jack Kirby, one of the architects of Marvel Comics, left the company from 1970-1975.

He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2002.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Brooklyn, New York, John Buscema showed an interest in drawing at an early age, copying comic strips such as Popeye. In his teens he developed an interest in both superhero comic books and such classic adventure comic strips as Hal Foster's Tarzan and Prince Valiant, Burne Hogarth's Tarzan, Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon, and Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates. He also showed an interest in commercial illustrators of the period, such as Dean Cornwell, Colby Whitmore, Albert_Dorne and Robert Fawcett, and in the fine arts, copying works from fine artists, Italian Renaissance artists being a particular influence.

Buscema graduated from Manhattan's High School of Music and Art. He also took night lessons at Pratt Institute well as life-drawing classes at the Brooklyn Museum.

While training as a boxer, he began painting portraits of boxers and sold some cartoons to the Hobo News.

Seeking work as a commercial illustrator while doing various odd jobs, Buscema found himself instead entering the comic-book field in 1948, landing a staff job under editor-in-chief and art director Stan Lee at Timely Comics, the first forerunner of Marvel Comics. The Timely "bullpen", as the staff was famously called, included such fellow staffers as Syd Shores, Carl Burgos, Mike Sekowsky, and, hired roughly two months earlier, Gene Colan.

Until the bullpen was dissolved a year-and-a-half later, as comic books in general and superhero comics in particular continued their post-war fade in popularity, Buscema, the youngest member of the "bullpen", penciled and inked in a variety of genres, including crime fiction, romance fiction and Westerns. His first recorded credit is the seven-page story "Crime: Kidnapping!- Victim: Abraham Lincoln!" in the Timely crime title Crime Fighters #4 (Nov. 1948). Among the other titles to which he contributed were the "real-life" dramatic series True Adventures and Man Comics (the premiere issue of which sported Buscema's first comic-book cover), Cowboy Romances, Two-Gun Western (for which he drew at least one story of the continuing character the Apache Kid), Lorna the Jungle Queen, and Strange Tales. An early highlight is his work on the Tex Morgan western title (#'s 4-7).

1950s

In the early 1950s Buscema (with a brief stint in the army in 1951, with a honorable discharge due to ulcer, after which he married in 1953) continued to work freelance for Timely (by now renamed Atlas Comics) as well as branching out to other publishers(Ace, Hillman, Orbit, Quality, St. John, Ziff-Davis), continuing in the crime, romance, western vein. Highlights of the period can be found especially with Our Publications/Orbit on such titles as Love Diary (#31-39, including all covers), Love Journal (#14-22 with most covers), Wanted Comics (#47-53 including most covers) and the Westerner (#28-29, 31, 33-37, 40), featuring Nuggets Nugent, Wild Bill Pecos and Lobo the Wolf Boy.

His mid-1950s work for other companies also includes Charlton Comics' Nature Boy — created by himself and Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, marking Buscema's first superhero work — and Ramar of the Jungle.

Buscema's Atlas work drops off as the comic industry shrinks after the early 1950s. He manages to continue working in comics for the better part of the decade, landing steady work mainly with Western/Dell. Of note for this period is his work on Roy Rogers Comics (starting in 1954 with a long run of stories, #74-97 and 104-108).

Buscema next produced a series of western, war, and sword and sandal film and television series adaptations for the Four Color title:

• 684 Mar 1956 (Helen of Troy , 34 pgs)
• 762 Jan 1957 (The Sharkfighters, 34 pages),
• 775 Mar 1957 (Sir Lancelot and Brian, 34 pages),
• 794 Apr 1957 (The Count of Monte Cristo, 35 pages),
• 910 Jun 1958 (The Vikings, 34 pages),
• 927 (Luke Short’s Top Gun, 35 pages),
• 944 Sep 1958 (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, 33 pages),
• 1006 Jul 1959 (Hercules, 34 pages),
• 1077 (The Deputy, 34 pages),
• 1130 (The Deputy, 35 pages),
• 1139 Nov 1960 (Spartacus, 10 pages plus 22 pages pencils, Mike Peppe inks).

According to Buscema :'...I did a bunch of their movie books-...that was a lot of fun. I worked from stills on those, except for The Vikings....I think one of the best books I ever did was Sinbad the Sailor.'

Moreover, he drew at least one issue of the radio, film, and TV character The Cisco Kid for Dell in 1957, as well as one- to eight-page bios of every U.S. president through Dwight Eisenhower for that company's one-shot Life Stories of American Presidents. His work on Indian Chief #30-33 is notable late 50's work.

As the late-1950s industry downturn continued, Buscema hung on with occasional mystery, fantasy, and science-fiction stories for Atlas (Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, Strange Worlds) and American Comics Group (Adventures into the Unknown, Forbidden Worlds.) before seeking work in other fields. He began a freelance position for the major New York City advertising studio, the Chaite Agency, which employed top commercial artists such as Bob Peak and Frank McCarthy.

1960s

Buscema spent around eight years in the commercial art field associated with the Chaite and Triad studios, doing a variety of assignments: layouts, storyboards, illustrations, paperback book covers, etc. in a variety of medium. According to Buscema: '...it was quite a learning period for me in my own development of techniques.'

He returned to comic books in 1966 as a regular freelance penciller for Marvel Comics(he accepted an offer from Stan Lee which allowed him to cut down on his extensive commuting time)" , debuting over Jack Kirby layouts on the "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." story in Strange Tales #150 (Nov. 1966), followed by three "The Incredible Hullk" stories in Tales to Astonish #85-87 (Nov. 1966 - Jan. 1967). He then settled in as regular penciller of the The Avengers, which would become one his signature series, with #41 (June 1967). Avengers #49-50, featuring Hercules and inked by Buscema, are two of his 'best-looking of that period.'

In order to adapt to the Marvel Comics style of superhero adventure, Buscema was influenced by Jack Kirby. According to Jim Steranko: '...the artist synthesized the essence of Kirby' supercharged action figures, harrowing perspectives, monolithic structures, mega-force explosions, and mythological planetscapes into a formula that he instantly integrated into his own superbly-crafted vision. The process brought Buscema's art to life in a way that it had never been before. Anatomically-balanced figures of Herculean proportions stalked, stormed, sprawled, and savaged their way across Marvel's universe like none had previously.'

Buscema would pencil an average of two comics a month in collaboration with such inkers as George Klein, Frank Giacoia, Dan Adkins, Joe Sinnott, his younger brother Sal Buscema, Tom Palmer, and, occasinally, Marvel production manager and sometime inker-cartoonist John Verpoorten.

Among Buscema's works during this period fans and historians call the Silver Age of comic books are The Avengers #41-#62 (June 1967 - March 1969), which includes the introduction of the modern-day Vision in #57 (Oct. 1968), and The Avengers Annual #2 (Sept. 1968); the first eight issues of The Sub-Mariner (May-Dec. 1968); The Amazing Spider-Man #72-73, 76-81, 84-85 (ranging from June 1969 - June 1970), providing layouts finished by either John Romita or Jim Mooney, and two issues he himself finished over Romita layouts; and a new title, The Silver Surfer. That philosophical series about a Christ-like alien roaming the world trying to understand both the divinity and the savagery of humanity was a personal favorite of Marvel editor-in-chief Stan Lee, who scripted. Buscema penciled 17 of its 18 issues — the first seven as a 25¢ "giant-size" title at a time when comics typically cost 12¢. Silver Surfer #4, featuring a battle between the Silver Surfer and Thor is regarded as one his finest achievements.

Toward's the end of the 60's, aside from a few fill-ins (Captain America #115, Captain Marvel #18, Sub-Mariner #s 20 and 24) Buscema also returned to familiar 1950s genres with a spate of mystery and romance stories (for Chamber of Darkness, Tower of Shadows, My Love, Our Love). Buscema then returned to his signature series The Avengers for 11 issues inked by Tom Palmer.

1970s

With Jack Kirby's departure from Marvel in 1970, Buscema succeeded him on both Kirby's titles: Fantastic Four (penciling issues #107-141, following John Romita Sr.) and The Mighty Thor (#182-259). He was inked by Joe Sinnott on the former, and variously by Sinnott, Verpoorten, Vince Colletta, Tony DeZuniga, and others on the latter. Ironically, Buscema claimed to have a nearly complete disinterest for superheroes, although this never showed in his work.

Buscema began penciling Conan the Barbarian with #25 (April 1973)with writer Roy Thomas following Barry Smith's celebrated run, and debuted as the Conan artist of the black-and-white comics-magazineSavage Sword of Conan with issue #1 (Aug. 1974). He would eventually contribute to more than 100 issues of each title (the former through 190, the latter through 101, then again from #190-210), giving him one of the most prolific runs for an artist on a single character. Ernie Chua/Chan was his main inker on Conan the Barbarian in the 1970s, (except for a hiatus between #’s 44-69 which were inked by Tony DeZuniga, Dick Giordano, Tom Palmer, Steve Gan and others). Highlights of the Buscema/Thomas run include the double-sized issues #'s 100 and 115.

Alfredo Alcala was his regular inker on Savage Sword of Conan until #24 and they produced some highly regarded stories. Of note are "Iron Shadows in the Moon" (#4), "The Slithering Shadow" (#20). "The Tower of the Elephant" (#24,) Tony DeZuniga became Buscema' regular inker with #26 producing Conan literary adaptations until his departure with #58 (with Thomas leaving with #60,

He additionally drew the Conan Sunday and daily syndicated newspaper comic strip upon its premiere in 1978, and even contributed some storyboard illustrations for the 1982 Conan movie, as well as painting four covers for the Conan magazines.

In the mid-1970s, Buscema began opting to pencil primarily layouts (pencilled pages without the shading and rendering) as opposed to finished pencils.) For about ten years, he would produce an average three to four books' worth of pencils a month.

He launched the feature "Black Widow" in Amazing Adventures in 1970), and the comics Nova (1976) and Ms. Marvel (1977). In additional to his regular assignments he would pencil covers and fill-in issues of titles including Captain America, Captain Britain (Marvel UK), Daredevil, The Frankenstein Monster, Howard the Duck, Master of Kung Fu, Red Sonja and Warlock. He also drew a story for the science-fiction anthology Worlds Unknown.

Buscema contributed as well to Marvel's black-and-white comics magazines, including the features "Ka-Zar" in Savage Tales #1 (May 1971) and "Bloodstone" in Rampaging Hulk #1 (Jan. 1977), and Doc Savage #1 & 3 (Aug. 1975, Jan,. 1976). Other magazine work ran the gamut from horror (Dracula Lives!, Monsters Unleashed, Tales of the Zombie) to humor (Crazy, Pizzaz).

Buscema left the Thor title (although will return for issues #272-285, inks by Palmer and Stone) to launch the Marvel version of the Edgar Rice Burroughs popular fiction character Tarzan in 1977. Having already done 13 issues of the Jungle-oriented Kazar (in Astonishing Tales and Savage Tales), he pencilled and inked in the first three issues (along with several covers) although he switches to only layouts for the rest of his 18-issue stint with several changes in inkers. Of note is his Tarzan Annual #1 with Steve Gan inks.

Other licensed projects include a 72-page The Wizard of Oz movie adaptation in an oversized "Treasury Edition" format with DeZuniga inking. Apparently Buscema, having something of a photographic memory, was able to draw the entire book without reference except for character photos, based on his recollection of a viewing 25 years prior. However, Roy Thomas reported that Buscema was originally working on an adaptation of the L. Frank Baum book based on the original illustrations. When Marvel decided to collaborate on the project with DC, the project became an adaptation of the MGM movie.

He drew Star Trek as well as Holo Man (both for Power Records), and some Star Wars covers for the UK magazine. He also contributed some superhero drawings for Pro, the NFL official magazine (1970), and pencilled some chapters of the first issue of Marvel Comics Super Special Magazine featuring the rock group Kiss (1977).

Buscema collaborated with Stan Lee on the book How to Draw comics the Marvel Way (Simon & Schuster, 1978), a primer on comic-book art and storytelling, which was based on the comic art classes Buscema had given a few years prior,and has remained in print for over 25 years, in its 33rd printing as of 2007. The same year saw the publication of The Art of John Buscema (S. Quartuccio, 1978), a retrospective that included an interview, previously unpublished sketches and drawings, and a cover that was also sold as a poster. Buscema's passion for drawing was such that he continued to draw and sketch in his spare time (often on the back of comic book art pages) and these images form a considerable body of work in their own right.

Buscema capped off the decade penciling writer Doug Moench's three-issue Weirdworld epic-fantasy tale "Warriors of the Shadow Realm" in the magazine A Marvel Super Special #11-13 (June-Oct. 1979). Pacific Comics released an accompanying portfolio of six signed, colored plates from the story.

1980s

The Thomas, Buscema, Chan team launched a third Conan title, the double-sized bi-monthly King Conan in 1980 as Buscema abandoned regular superhero work in order to spearhead art duties on all three Conan titles and he draws a 6-plate Conan portfolio released by Sal Q. Productions in 1980. The popularity of the character spurred the release of the Conan the Barbarian film in 1982; Buscema provided pencils and inks for a 48-page movie adaptation.

He continued to tackle other high-profile projects such as the second Superman and Spider-Man team-up (1981), a Silver Surfer story for Epic Illustrated #1 (1980), a King Arthur story (Marvel Preview #22, 1980), an adaptation of the 1981 movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the St. Francis of Assisi biography of Francis, Brother of the Universe (1980).

Buscema continued on Savage Sword of Conan after Thomas and Dezuniga's departures (Ernie Chan, Rudy Nebres, Nestor Redondo took on the inking chores, as did Buscema himself in issues #61, 70, 73) and introduced a character of his own creation, Bront, in a 5-part tale in issues #65-66, 79-81, which he plotted, pencilled, and inked. He continued with the Conan the Barbarian comic book series which had gone through a number of changes in writers and inkers (Bob Camp being the most prolific inker before the return of Ernie Chan as regular inker). Buscema plotted five issues (#'s 155-159) as he had strong plotting and storytelling skills as evidenced in his preference for the 'Marvel method' of storytelling (i.e. working from a brief plot rather than a full script). He began contributing pencilled and inked covers in the last few years of his tenure on the title.

Buscema became increasingly disenchanted with the writing on the various Conan series. He left King Conan in 1982 after nine issues, although he remained with Marvel's Robert E. Howard franchise with a revival of the Kull series for 10 issues, and left The Savage Sword of Conan in 1984 with #101 with a series of stories that he plotted himself. After pencilling the Conan the Destroyer movie adaptation in 1984 and the Conan of the Isles graphic novel in 1987, he left Conan the Barbarian with #190 in 1987, ending a 14-year association with the character.

After nearly five years away from superheroes, except for the first two issues of the four-issue, X-Men related miniseries Magik (Dec. 1983 - March 1984), Buscema returned to familiar ground as regular penciller on The Avengers from #255-300 (May 1985 - Feb. 1989). He was also regular penciller on Fantastic Four for its 300th issue, during a 15-issue stint from #296-309 (Nov. 1986 - Dec. 1987). Additionally, he also fit in the three-issue film adaptation Labyrinth (Nov. 1986 - Jan. 1987) and the four-issue miniseries Mephisto (April-July 1987), a character he created with Stan Lee in The Silver Surfer. Moreover, he continued his inking efforts, producing the Thor Annual (#15, 1985), a 10-page western in Savage Tales magazine (#10,1986), and a plate for the WFCBA Portfolio (Éditions Déesse, 1983), for example.

Buscema reteamed with Lee on the Silver Surfer himself with the 1988 graphic novel Silver Surfer: Judgment Day, self-inked and done entirely as full-page panels. He helped launch Wolverine solo series in 1988 with the anthology Marvel Comics Presents #1-10 (inked by Klaus Janson) and #38-47 (inking himself), and Wolverine, which marked a return for Buscema to doing finished pencils for a short period.

Later career

Buscema began his sixth decade in the field by joining Roy Thomas for a return to The Savage Sword of Conan with #191 (Nov. 1991) for a 20-issue run. Conan the Rogue, a graphic novel plotted, pencilled, inked, and colored by Buscema over a period of several years in his spare time appeared that same year. He departed the Wolverine title, but not before both penciling and inking the graphic novel Wolverine: Bloody Choices (Nov. 1993).

Buscema returned to the crime fiction genre with the The Punisher: War Zone #23-30 (Jan.-Aug. 1994, self-inking #26-29); Joe Kubert an artist he particularly admired, follow him on that title. Buscema also pencilled and inked that title's 1993 summer annual, a parallel-universe Punisher Western tale, the 1994 graphic novel A Man Named Frank, and was the penciller for The Punisher Meets Archie (1994) team-up. No longer attached to a regular series after his Punisher run, he penciled and inked a The Avengers Annual #23 (1994) and five more black-and-white Conan adventures, serving as that Marvel franchise's final artist on The Savage Sword of Conan with #235 (July 1995) and on the short-lived spin-off Conan the Savage with #10 (May 1996).

He later provided a few fill-in pencil jobs (the Cosmic Powers Unlimited miniseries, Doom 2099, Fantastic Four 2099, Thor, Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer and a Silver Surfer/Rune special).

Bill Sienkiewicz, a regular Buscema inker during this period, considers Buscema's pencils at this stage of his career as

...the sturdiest foundation an inker or an embellisher could possibly hope to build on, and their beauty was not in their attention to fastidiously rendered minutiae, but instead were marvels of deceptive simplicity. Each page an example of grace, elegance and power.

In 1996, he formally retired at age 68. 1997 was the first year in 30 years where new Buscema material did not appear on the stands - it would also be the last year in Buscema's lifetime, as Buscema continued to receive assignment offers; his retirement thus becoming a "semi-retirement".

He did pencils and inks on a black-and-white short story for Shadows and Light (1998) and made a final return to Conan with the Death Covered in Gold three-issue miniseries (1999). He penciled and inked Spider-Man Annual, penciled five of the six-issue Galactus the Devourer miniseries (inked by Bill Sienkiewicz, and a fill-in Thor issue (inked by Jerry Ordway).

Buscema worked with DC Comics for the first time in 2000, initially doing both pencils and inks on a black-and-white Batman short story (Batman: Gotham Knights #7, 2000). He later reunited with Stan Lee on the Just Imagine Stan Lee and John Buscema Creating Superman (2001) project. He also kept active doing private commissions and cover re-creations as well as teaching art classes with abstract expressionist and figurative painter, Jack Beal. and helped produce the John Buscema Sketchbook (Vanguard 2001) for whose promotion he attended the 2001 San Diego Comic Art Convention where he was received with great appreciation by fans and colleagues. The book gives a good overview of Buscema's wide-ranging passion for art:

I love all the painters…Vermeer, Velasquez, Goya, Rubens, Rembrandt…I’ve got over a thousand art books!

He finished the pencils on a Superman project started by Gil Kane, who had since died, Superman: Blood of my Ancestors (inks by Kevin Nowlan, 2003) and had just signed on for a five-issue miniseries with Roy Thomas, JLA: Barbarians. Shortly after finishing the first issue, Buscema, diagnosed with stomach cancer a few months earlier, passed away at the age of 74. An 11x17-inch lithograph print of the late 1960s/early 1970s Avengers, penciled by Buscema and painted in watercolor by Alex Ross for the publisher Dynamic Forces, was Buscema's last professional work.

Quotes

Stan Lee: "John Buscema was far more than one of our finest comic book artists. If Michaelangelo had elected to draw storyboards with pencil and pen, his style would have been close to that of Big John's. But, even more than a superb illustrator, John was also a brilliant visual storyteller. Thinking back on all the strips we had done together, I had only to give him the briefest kernel of a plot and he would flesh it out with his magnificent illustrations so beautifully that the stories seemed to write themselves. Happily, the legacy of artwork that my dear friend, the creative giant that was John Buscema, leaves behind, will bring wonder and enjoyment to generations of readers to come.".

Awards

Buscema received much recognition for his work in comics, including the 1968 Alley Award for Best Full-Length Story, for Marvel Comics' The Silver Surfer #1: "Origin of the Silver Surfer", by Stan Lee & John Buscema (tied with DC Comics' The Brave and the Bold #79: "Track of the Hook", by Bob Haney & Neal Adams), and the 1974 Shazam Award for Best Penciller (Dramatic Division).

Legacy

The documentary Frank Frazetta, Painting with Fire (2003) on Frank Frazetta, another Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard illustrator and Brooklyn native (born two months earlier than Buscema), is posthumously dedicated to him.

Footnotes

1. http://www.atlastales.com/sI/1802 Retrieved on August 5, 2007
2. ^ Quartuccio, S., & Keenan, B.(1978) An introduction to John Buscema. In The Art of John Buscema. New York: Sal Q Productions Cite error: The named reference "quart" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
3. Spurlock, D., & Buscema, J.(2001) John Buscema Sketchbook. New Jersey:Vanguard Productions, 60-61
4. Spurlock. Buscema Sketchbook, p.27
5. Steranko, J. (2001) John Buscema and the renaissance of comic art. In Spurlock, D. & Buscema J., John Buscema Sketchbook(pp.4-7) New Jersey: Vanguard Productions, p.7
6. Irving,C. (Aug. 2002). The Life of Legendary 'Big' John Buscema. Comic Book Artist, 21, p. 5-B.
7. Steranko. Buscema Sketchbook, p.5.
8. Peel, J. (Sept.-Oct. 1984). John Buscema. Comics Feature, 31, p. 12.
9. Steranko. Buscema Sketchbook, p.5.
10. Evanier, M.,& Buscema, J. (June 2002). John Buscema: The San Diego 2001 interview. Alter Ego, v.3, 15, 16v-17v.
11. Steranko. Buscema Sketchbook, 5-6.
12. Peel. John Buscema, p. 13.
13. Evanier. San Diego 2001, p.7V.
14. Steranko. Buscema Sketchbook, p.6.
15. Spurlock. Buscema Sketchbook, p.34
16. Woolcombe, A.(Aug. 2002). Talking with Big John. Comic Book Artist, 21, p. 26-B.
17. Thomas, R. (June 2002). "Big John" & "Roy the Boy". Alter Ego, v.3, 15, p.5r
18. Steranko. Buscema Sketchbook, 6-7.
19. Thomas, R. & Buscema, S. (June 2002). Alter Ego, v.3, 15, p.31v
20. Lee, Stan. Origins of Marvel Comics (Marvel Entertainment Group, 1997 reissue) ISBN 0-7851-0551-4
21. Defalco, T., & Buscema, S. (August 2002). Memories of Brother John. Comic Book Artist, 21, p.34-B
22. Defalco. Memories, p.35-B
23. Thomas, R.,(February 1998). Roy's Ramblings. Conan Saga, 95, 61-62.
24. Thomas, R. (April 1995). Roy's Ramblings. Conan Saga, V.1, 97, 34-35.
25. Schumer, A.(Aug. 2002), , Remembering Buscema. Comic Book Artist, 21, p. 23-B.
26. Thomas. Big John, p.11r.
27. Thomas. Big John, p.14r.
28. Thomas. Big John, p.15r.
29. Thomas. Big John, p.11r.
30. Thomas. Big John, p.16r.
31. Thomas. Big John, p.14r.
32. Spurlock. Buscema Sketchbook, 19-20.
33. Defalco. Memories, p.35-B.
34. >"The John Buscema Checklist", by Michel Maillot Retrieved on June 19, 2007.
35. Stan Lee declared: 'As a writer I found him a delight to work with. I had only to give him the barest bones of a plot and he'd flesh it out magnificently. He didn't even want a written synopsis most of the time. We'd discuss the story over the phone for a few minutes and days later he'd deliver a terrific strip that looked as though we had spent weeks going over every last detail!' in Schumer. Remembering Buscema, p. 23-B.
36. Peel. John Buscema, p. 18.
37. Thomas. Big John, 16-17.
38. Peel. John Buscema, p.66.
39. Thomas. Big John, p.17r.
40. Sienkiewicz, B.(August, 2002), Remembering Buscema. Comic Book Artist,21, p. 22-B.
41. Spurlock. Buscema Sketchbook, p.95.
42. Spurlock. Buscema Sketchbook, p.20.
43. Irving. Life of Buscema. p.11-B.
44. Spurlock. Buscema Sketchbook, p.111.
45. Thomas. Big John, p.20r.
46. Lee, S., et al. (June 2002). Tributes - A few more words about John Buscema. Alter Ego, v.3, 15, 42v-43v.
47. Frazetta: Painting with Fire at IMDb. Retrieved on June 19, 2007

References

• The Official John Buscema Website
• The Comic Strip Project
• The Grand Comics Database
• Alter Ego vol. 3, #21 (Aug. 2002): "Remembering John Buscema: A CBA Tribute", pp. 3B-39B
• John Buscema checklist

External links

• Silver Age Marvel Comics Cover Index: Silver Surfer #1 (review by Nick Simon)
• John Buscema Image Gallery at Comic Art Community

• American comics artists
• People from Brooklyn
• Cancer deaths
• 1927 births
• 2002 deaths