With a track record that included virtually all of their top tier characters throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, Sal Buscema was a staple of the Marvel Comics bullpen. A skilled pencil and ink artist, Buscema was known initially for his collaborations with his brother, John, but soon found his own artistic voice. He is well known for his long tenure on The Incredible Hulk and The Spectacular Spider-Man, and many other titles.

Buscema was born on January 26, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York. As a kid, he was fan of the Prince Valiant comic strip, appreciated George Tuska’s comic book art, and was a fan of commercial artists like Norman Rockwell. He began his comic art career in the early 1950s by inking pages for his brother, and doing some background art on the Dell Comics that John was working on.

He graduated from the High School of Music & Art in 1955, did production work for an advertising studio and was a delivery person for a commercial art studio. In ’56 he was drafted into the US Army where his art skills were put to work on film strips and charts that were used as training aids. Following two years of service, he got a job with Creative Arts Studio in DC where he did illustrations for government agencies. When his friend and colleague Mel Emde started his own art house, Design Studio, Buscema joined him there, where he stayed until ’68.

While working at Design Studio he had done some inking jobs for Marvel, but his goal was to work the publisher full time. Buscema’s hope was to be an inker, but first he needed to craft pencil art to show then-Editor in Chief Stan Lee. Meanwhile, he was also staying in touch with Marvel production manager Sol Brodsky in the hope of securing assignments.

Buscema’s first job was in June 1968, inking the story “The Coming of Gunhawk” for Western Gunfighters (which wasn’t published until 1970). His first published work at Marvel was inking his brother John’s pencils on The Silver Surfer #4-7 and inking Larry Lieber’s pencils in The Rawhide Kid #68.

Within the year, Buscema started inking The Avengers and spent the next 30 years as one of Marvel’s best and most prodigious artists. He and writer Roy Thomas co-created the Squadron Sinister in The Avengers, they co-created the villainess Llyra in Sub-Mariner #32, and they teamed up on the last new Uncanny X-Men arc before it became a reprints book. Buscema teamed with Steve Englehart to launch The Defenders as an ongoing series in 1972, and from that year through ’75, the duo worked together on Captain America, as well as on Avengers issues. He and Steve Gerber created Starhawk and introduced him in The Guardians of the Galaxy.

He and Bill Mantlo were also frequent collaborators, creating Jean DeWolf in Marvel Team-Up #48. They launched the Rom series in late 1979, and they teamed on The Incredible Hulk, creating the Soviet Super-Soldiers and U-Foes.

Buscema had a 10-year run on the Hulk, he was the artist on New Mutants and Thor, and inked his brother’s art on Fantastic Four. He was the artist on a 100-issue run of The Spectacular Spider-Man from ’88 through ’96, which included the death of Harry Osborn.

Buscema moved over to DC in ’97, and spent two years penciling Batman, Superman, and Superboy, and inking Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and other stories. After that, he inked The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Girl, and Amazing Spider-Man at Marvel; inked DC Retroactive: The Flash – The ‘70s and Superman Beyond at DC; and inked the Dungeons and Dragons: Forgotten Realms series at IDW.

In honor of his work in comics, Buscema has been given the Inkpot Award in 2003 and was awarded the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. He was added to the Overstreet Hall of Fame in 2019 and was given the Inkwell Awards’ Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award in 2021.