Big John Buscema: A Life in Sketches

One of the great new releases tomorrow is new book called "BUSCEMA: A Life in Sketches" by Emilio Soltero, a compilation of artist John Buscema's preliminary sketches and page/panel layouts.

It's very cool look into the mind and talent of one of this industry's classically styled pencillers. Particularly when looking at Soltero's book and these sketches, one sees that Big John was influenced by Alex Raymond, John Allen St. John, Hal Foster and other earlier 20th century illustrators.
John Buscema is probably best known for his long run on Marvel's CONAN the BARBARIAN title of the early '70s, taking over for Barry Smith (now known more as Barry Windsor-Smith) after Smith's seminal early run on the Robert E. Howard character.

Big John was a more than an able successor to Smith. He refined and defined the look of Conan comics starting in the early '70s.
My first encounter with John Buscema's art was in 1967 when he pencilled Marvel's AVENGERS. From that time on, he was always one of my favorites, so I was very happy years ago to acquire some of his original pages, mostly from another of my favorite comic artists, Jim Mooney, who inked Big John's work on Marvel's FANTASTIC FOUR for an issue or two.


I own several pages from FF #117, from 1971--- excellent pages featuring the Human Torch, the Thing and Crystal, along with Diablo and Lockjaw.

When I bought the pages from Jim Mooney, I didn't expect to find some bonus sketches by Buscema on the backs of each page. Some of his most interesting work was done on the back of his original art pages. Jim Mooney wrote me a blue-pencil note on the back of one of the FF pages "These sketches are the greatest. I really hate to part with them."


Who knew John Buscema also fooled around doing Harvey Comics-styled characters?


Buscema really made no bones about the fact that he didn't much care for drawing super-hero stories, though he was among the best in the field for most of his career.

John Buscema was not only a master of comic art, these sketches and the ones in Soltero's new book prove that he was an avid practitioner of his craft.


Today's comic art students could sure take a lesson from John Buscema and the artists of John's generation. The best constantly work to hone their skills and improve the facility of their art.

The two barbarian pages here, both inked by Buscema's long-time Conan collaborator Ernie Chan, are from the backs of pages from CONAN #149 & 150. All the others are from the backs of pages from FF #117.

Enjoy!

Peace 'n' Buscema-beautiful art!

FlyCoJoe

We've Got Your Cool Gifts Right Here!

did you read the article in the Contra Costa Times on Wednesday about the growing popularity of comics compilations and graphic novels?

FLYING COLORS Comics & Other Cool Stuff features Contra Costa's deepest and widest selection of comics, graphic novels and related "cool stuff"---including action figures, busts, statues, posters, t-shirts and more.

The photo to the right shows some incredibly cool bargains available right now, including our Holiday Sportscards box featuring 20 packs of baseball, football and basketball cards along with a collector's guide and box for only $19.99. Check out the huge discounts on selected statues and busts (shown here).

FLYING COLORS hours:
Friday December 21 11am-7pm
Saturday December 22 11am-7pm
Sunday December 23 12noon-7pm
Monday December 24 11am-5pm
CLOSED CHRISTMAS DAY Tuesday December 25

Open again
Wednesday December 26 11am-7pm
Thursday December 27 11am-7pm
Friday December 28 11am-8pm (It's NEW RELEASES' DAY!)

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

WonderCon this weekend!

FLYING COLORS still has save-a-few-bucks advance tickets available for WonderCon this weekend at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

It's going to be HUGE this year with all the Hollywood happenings, advance looks at summer movies---and oh, yes, comics, too! I want to invite you the one panel I'll be a part of during the con. Here's the scoop:

SUNDAY MARCH 4 11:30AM Room 228
Comic Retailer Roundtable--- Join moderator Dan Shahin (Hijinx Comics, San Jose) and fellow retailers Joe Ferrara (Atlantis Fantasyworld, Santa Cruz), Joe Field (FLYING COLORS, Concord), Brian Hibbs (Comix Experience, San Francisco) and Ryan Higgins (Comics Conspiracy, Sunnyvale) for an up to the minute look into the realities of modern comic book retailing. Special focus will be placed on recent industry changes and how retailers are adapting and planning for the future.

That may sound like a mouthful, but I've been a part of these things at various industry events for years and they really can be quite fun. If you've ever wanted a "peek behind the curtain" of comic book retailing, this panel should be right up your alley.

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

WonderCon is 21!

WonderCon, Northern California's largest comics & pop culture convention, returns for its 21st annual show March 2-4 (next weekend!) at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Since my former WonderCon partner Mike Friedrich and I sold the convention five years ago to the hard-working folks at Comic-Con International, WC has exploded in popularity. I couldn't be happier about that. It's a relief for me not to have the huge task of helping to organize a major convention anymore, and the great team at Comic-Con has taken our good-sized regional event and turned it into a major happening on the comics' calendar.


Along with tons of cool stuff for sale at the show, a number of Hollywood happenings are in store for WC fans and attendees, including advance looks at ucoming movies like FRANK MILLER'S 300, SPIDER-MAN 3, and others.

We still have advance tickets for sale at FLYING COLORS, so our suggestion is to pick up your weekly supply of Comics & Other Cool Stuff at FLYING COLORS (New Releases' Day is Wednesday!), then save a few bucks by getting your WonderCon tix from us.

(I'll be there for a short time on Friday afternoon and then most of the day Sunday. Join me and some of my comics' retailing friends for a panel at 11:30AM Sunday. The topic is "The Future of Comics' Retailing", moderated by Dan Shahin of Hijinx Comics in San Jose.)

The photo shown here is from WonderCon in 1995 at the Oakland Convention Center. That's me on the left---along with artist Dick Ayers (SGT FURY, etc.), the late artist Gil Kane (GREEN LANTERN, SPIDER-MAN, HIS NAME IS SAVAGE,etc.), the late DC editor Julius Schwartz and writer/editor Jim Shooter (former Marvel editor-in chief, also of VALIANT and DEFIANT). So there I am---at that time in 1995, I had all of about eight years professional experience in the comics' world, along with some of the most experienced and talented people the comics' biz has ever seen. I did a rough estimate that the other four gentlemen in the photo with me---at that time had combined for nearly two CENTURIES of professional experience in comics! Yow!!