As we mentioned in the news section, legendary artist John Buscema recently passed away below are some comments from the Spiderfan.org staff in tribute:
Only a relatively short run on Amazing, but it sure made a big impact on me.
I used to think that John Romita was the man as far as drawing Spidey was concerned, but when I read John Buscema's run on Amazing I was... amazed. John will be sorely missed, but his great work will stay with me forever.
For me, John wasn't hailed as a big Spidey artist, but for Marvel and comics in general, the man was legendary. In fact, with his tips and techniques outlined in 'How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way' my art (along with thousands of others, I imagine) vastly improved, but nowhere near John's level... and I can safely say it will never be.
My favorite piece of his work has to be Marvel Treasury Edition #28, the team-up of Superman and Spider-Man against Doctor Doom and the Parasite. While many inkers were present in that book, only John worked the pencils. It was great to see him able to draw all the characters (Marvel and DC) even better than they appeared by regular book artists.
I believe John's most recent Spidey-exclusive artwork was Amazing Spider-Man 1999 Annual, and it proves that even a man 70+ years old still possessed tremendous skills, as he did both pencils and inks for that issue, and modern coloring techniques added a certain dimension to his art that was not previously seen in his early works.
John was certainly a major influence on dozens of current comic artists today, and will continue to be for many years to come. He personally helped shape the direction of comic art as a whole... yes, he was that important. This one's for you, John Buscema. You will be missed, yet always remembered.
John Buscema 1927-2002