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Paul Wills
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 1:24am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Man, I'm very sorry to hear this. I've always enjoyed his work
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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 1:29am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Aw man!  I LOVE Sal and his work!  I started reading during his and Englehart's CAPTAIN AMERICA run and Cap has been my favorite character ever since!  Sal WAS Marvel!

I have been reading a lot of Marvel Epic Collection reprints lately, and I just happened to finish (and loved):
ROM--first two volumes by Sal and Bill Mantlo
INCREDIBLE HULK--two volumes by Sal and first Roger Stern then Bill Mantlo
DEFENDERS--the two volumes that cover Sal and Steve Gerber's tenure (possibly my all-time favorite comic book run)

I didn't plan a Sal marathon, it just worked out that way--because he did SO MUCH!  I had the thought that you're not a real Marvel character until Sal draws you!  I also recently read Epics of MASTER OF KUNG FU, LUKE CAGE, and the original X-MEN--all of which had at least one issue by Sal!  Between these and his run on AVENGERS and various SPIDER-MAN titles (including TEAM-UP), I have to think Sal drew just about everybody Marvel had up to the 90's.

Sal is one icon I always had hoped to meet.  Very sad that he is gone.

Wearing my Sal Captain America shirt today in tribute.



Edited by Eric Jansen on 27 January 2026 at 1:32am
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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 1:36am | IP Logged | 3 post reply


I read this about a year ago, and it was great to hear about Sal's life and career in his own words.  It also contained a lot of great artwork, including some wonderful paintings he did.  (Who knew that Sal Buscema painted?!)

I was very happy to read that he loved being inked by Klaus Janson!  The work they did together on DEFENDERS is some of my all-time favorite!  With Janson, Gerber, Englehart, and whoever else, Sal gave me a lot of joy as a kid (and also afterward).

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James Johnson
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 2:35am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Oh no!!!!

This one hurts! 

As much as we give much deserved credit to John Buscema, JB, Perez, JR Jr, Walt Simonson, and Frank Miller for their work at Marvel during the 70s & 80s, to me Sal Buscema WAS Marvel.

From the time I began reading comicbooks on a regular basis in 1975, I don't think he did less than 2 books per month.

MARVEL TEAM-UP
INCREDIBLE HULK
THE DEFENDERS 
Guest artist on the FANTASTIC FOUR, CAPTAIN AMERICA,  THE AVENGERS,  THOR, CONAN THE BARBARIAN, and so much more.

My condolences to his family. 
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Dave Kopperman
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 2:37am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

A master visual storyteller in a medium that lives or dies on that quality. It’s no wonder he had such a long career and was so well respected by his peers and admirers. When you read a comic drawn by Sal Buscema, you knew you were in good hands.

Because his career was so varied, he ended up drawing a lot of my favorite one off stories. An odd issue of MTU comes to mind frequently, written by (I think?) DeMatteis, a fun head twisty story of Faustus trying to drive Reed Richards crazy. Just great comics, perfectly essayed by Sal.
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 2:46am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

A total pro as an inker and penciller and who contributed a vast amount to Marvel over the many years.
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Mike Benson
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 2:54am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Very sad. One of the greats without question. 
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Vinny Valenti
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 3:10am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Even more Hulk and Jarella, courtesy of Sal:




I can't look at these panels without tearing up, even as I type this. Sal just completely nailed Hulk at his lowest.

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Paul Greer
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 3:12am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Whenever I think of the Hulk, Sal's version
is what comes to mind. Truly an all-time
great. Another piece of my childhood lost.
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Rich Marzullo
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 3:28am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Saddened to hear this.
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Greg McPhee
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 4:57am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Very sorry and sad to hear this.

One great thing was he provided artistic longevity and stability to a number of books he worked on.

My personal favourites:

CAPTAIN AMERICA with Steve Englehart and Roger McKenzie
ROM with Bill Mantlo
THE INCREDIBLE HULK with Len Wein, Roger Stern and Bill Mantlo
THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN with Gerry Conway and J.M. DeMatteis
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James Woodcock
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Posted: 27 January 2026 at 5:29am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

Sal was such a good artist.
His long runs on HULK, ROM, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN to name but a
few, were brilliant.
I felt he got deserved acclaim by some, but he should have got more.
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