Daily Journal 12/27/26
News broke yesterday, on what would have been his 90th birthday, that the legendary comic artist Sal Buscema passed away last Friday. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest of all time, and the quintessential artist for Marvel’s Hulk and the entire “vibe” of Bronze Age comic books (the term used for the era between 1970 and 1985), he is unquestionably my personal all-time favorite. He did the layouts for The Defenders #33, the first comic I ever read (and one I’ve written about many times elsewhere, so no need to recap that here). Suffice to say, had I not read that comic, I’d be doing something else with my life, rather than being a writer.
One of my favorite pages by him is this, from 1977’s Incredible Hulk #207. Hulk is overcome with grief over the recent passing of his other great love, Jarella (who, if we’re being honest, young Brian preferred over Betty Ross). He seeks out his teammates in The Defenders, looking for support and also wanting Doctor Strange to bring her back to life, but a misunderstanding leads to fisticuffs, and the Hulk goes on a rampage, destroying much of the city in the process. It culminates with Valkyrie (who, if you’ve listened to DEFENDERS DIALOGUE, you know was my first crush) calming him down, and this beautiful sequence that follows.
An early masterclass in storytelling and characterization and pathos right there.
Sal Buscema was as important to the Bronze Age of Marvel Comics as Jack Kirby was to the Silver Age foundation of that same universe. There are many folks my age who, when we think of the Marvel universe of characters, immediately picture his depictions of those characters.
Memory eternal…
~
No sign of the new feral since those initial footprint sightings. I suspect if it stayed around, then it is hunkered down somewhere, waiting out the bitter cold outside and also probably not wanting to wade through drifts of snow as tall as human beings.
Got no writing done yesterday, because daylight was pretty much spent shoveling snow and breaking up ice. So, back at it today and extra hours to make up for yesterday’s lost time.