Legendary comic artist Sal Buscema passed away this past weekend at the age of 89. News broke today, which would have been his 90th birthday. Silvio Buscema was born January 26, 1936 in New York City, the youngest of four siblings. He credited his brother John with his pursuit in drawing.

Sterling Clark broke the news via the Comic Book Club.

Wow. I just received word from Mrs. Joan that Sal Buscema passed away last Friday. He was 89. Today, he would’ve turned 90. When I think back on my childhood and all of the comic books that I read, Sal’s name seems to have appeared in just about all of them. I didn’t just read the books that he illustrated, I studied them.

Every nuance in his pencils and his inks I saw and tried to mimic. He was definitely one of the greats during those years at Marvel, when handling more than three titles a month was not just a requirement but a necessity. Sal’s art had a direct impact on my own, along with his older brother John, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, John Romita Sr and Ron Frenz.

Ron, God bless him, was the person responsible for Sal and I meeting some time ago and for that I’ll be forever grateful. Sal was a very nice, kind and generous person who I am happy to have known and who took note of my skills enough to mentor me. The wonderful conversations we had will always be cherished.

My condolences to his wife Joan, the Buscema family and to all of us fans who grew up with and love his amazing art. I’ll have more posts later. – SC

Buscema began his career as an inker in the 1950s when his brother John Buscema allowed him to do so on some Dell Comics John was drawing.

Buscema worked for numerous publishers including DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Marvel, and more. For Marvel he had many runs on The Avnegers, Captain America, Defenders, The Incredible Hulk, Marvel Team-Up, and The Spectacular Spider-Man.

He married his wife Joan in 1960 and they had three sons, Joe, Tony, and Mike. He’s been recognized through numerous awards including the Inkpot, Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award, Inkwell, and more.