Rich Buckler (born February 6, 1949) is an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four in the mid-1970s and for creating the character Deathlok in Astonishing Tales #25. Buckler has drawn virtually every major character at Marvel and DC, often as a cover artist.
Career
Buckler broke into comics as a teenager with the four-page historical story "Freedom Fighters: Washington Attacks Trenton" in the King Features comic book Flash Gordon #10 (Nov. 1967). At DC Comics, he drew the "Rose and the Thorn: backup stories in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #117-121 (Dec. 1971-April 1972).
From September 1973 to January 1974, Buckler drew the first three issues of writer Don McGregor's acclaimed Black Panther series in Jungle Action. When given the chance in 1974 to draw the Fantastic Four title, Buckler fulfilled a decade-long dream; he stayed on the title for two years. During this period, Buckler created Deathlok a character which debuted in Astonishing Tales #25 (Aug. 1974). Also during this period, Buckler hired the young George Pérez as his studio assistant.
Buckler collaborated with writer Gerry Conway on a "Superman vs. Shazam!" story published in All-New Collectors' Edition #C-58 (April 1978). The Incredible Hulk newspaper strip was drawn by Buckler for approximately six months in 1979. A Justice League story by Conway and Buckler originally intended for All-New Collectors' Edition saw print in Justice League of America #210-212 (January 1983-March 1983). He and Roy Thomas launched All-Star Squadron with a special insert in Justice League of America #193 (August 1981) which led to the new team's own title the following month. Buckler worked for Archie Comics in 1983-1984, when that publisher briefly revived its Red Circle Comics superhero line and personally recruited Cary Burkett to write the Mighty Crusaders title. In 1985 he returned to Marvel and had a short but memorable run on the title The Spectacular Spider-Man with writer Peter David, where they produced the "The Death of Jean DeWolff" storyline. He also served as editor for a short-lived line of comics by Solson Publications, where in 1987 he created Reagan's Raiders.
He is the author of two books: How to Become a Comic Book Artist and How to Draw Superheroes . In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Buckler's collaboration with Don McGregor on Jungle Action third on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".
Controversy
Buckler has a reputation as a "swipe" artist, with his early work in particular filled with "homages" to artists such as Jack Kirby, John Buscema, and Neal Adams. After being publicly accused of the practice by The Comics Journal in 1983, Buckler denied the charges and sued the magazine for libel. He later dropped the suit.
Bibliography
DC Comics
- Action Comics (Atom) #447 (1975)
- All-New Collectors' Edition (Superman vs. Shazam!) #C-58 (1978)
- All-Star Squadron #1-5, 36 (full art); Annual #3 (among other artists) (1981â€"84)
- America vs. the Justice Society, miniseries, #1 (among other artists) (1985)
- Batman #265, 267, 329; (Robin) #239-242 (1972â€"80)
- DC Comics Presents #12, 33-34, 45, 49, Annual #1 (1979â€"82)
- DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman - The '80s #1 (2011)
- DC Special (Captain Comet) #27 (1977)
- DC Super Stars (Gorilla Grodd) #14 (1977)
- Detective Comics (Hawkman) #434, 446, 479 (1973â€"78)
- The Flash #271-272 (1979)
- Hardware #10, 12 (1993â€"94)
- House of Mystery #199, 258 (1972â€"78)
- House of Secrets #90 (1971)
- Jonah Hex #11 (1978)
- Justice League of America #188-191, 193, 210-212 (1981â€"83)
- Kobra #5 (1976)
- The New Adventures of Superboy #9 (1980)
- New Gods #15 (1977)
- Omega Men #34 (1986)
- Secret Origin of Superman (Leaf Comic Book Candy) (1980)
- Secret Society of Super Villains #5-9 (1977)
- Star Hunters #4-7 (1978)
- Superman (Superman) #364, 369 (1981â€"82); (Fabulous World of Krypton) #246, 251, 352 (1971â€"72, 1980); (Bruce Superman Wayne) #363 (1981)
- Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane (Rose and Thorn) #117-121 (1971â€"72)
- Tales of the Teen Titans #51-54 (1985)
- Time Warp #1 (1979)
- The Unexpected #123, 126, 135, 157, 174 (1971â€"76)
- The Warlord #89-90, 97 (1985)
- Weird War Tales #23, 123 (1974â€"83)
- Weird Western Tales (Jonah Hex) #37 (1976)
- Wonder Woman #300 (among other artists) (1983)
- World's Finest Comics (Hawkman) #257-258; (Superman and Batman) #259-261, 263-264, 266-267, 269-272, 275-276, 278, 280, 285-286 (1979â€"82)
Marvel Comics
- Amazing Adventures (Killraven) #25 (1974)
- Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America: Dr. Doom's Revenge (distributed with a computer game by Paragon Software) (1989)
- Astonishing Tales (Ka-Zar) #13 (with John Buscema), 16; (Deathlok) #25-28, #30-36 (1972â€"76)
- Avengers #101-104, 106, 302-304, Giant-Size #1 (1972â€"89)
- Avengers, vol. 3, #27 (2000)
- Battlestar Galactica #6-7 (1979)
- Black Goliath #4 (1976)
- Black Knight, miniseries, #3-4 (1990)
- Black Panther, vol. 2, #36 (2001)
- Captain America #243, 355 (1980â€"89)
- Captain America: The Medusa Effect (with M. C. Wyman) (1994)
- Conan The Barbarian #40 (1974)
- Daredevil #101 (1973)
- Doc Savage #8 (1974)
- Dracula Lives #1 (1973)
- Epic Illustrated #29 (1985)
- Fantastic Four #142â€"144, 147â€"153, 155â€"159, 161â€"163, 168â€"169, 171, 325, 329-335; Giant-Size #1, 3; Annual #22 (1974â€"89)
- Fear #11, 22 (1973â€"74)
- Freddy Krueger's A Nightmare on Elm Street, miniseries, #1-2 (with Tony DeZuniga) (1989)
- The Incredible Hulk Annual #11 (1982)
- Invaders #5 (1976)
- Iron Man #196-197 (1985)
- Journey into Mystery, vol. 2, #5 (1973)
- Jungle Action, vol. 2, (Black Panther) #6-8 (full pencils), 22 (with Billy Graham) (1973â€"76)
- Luke Cage, Power Man #30 (1976)
- Marvel Comics Presents #24-31 (1989)
- Marvel Comics Super Special (Kiss) #1, 17 (among other artists) (1977â€"80)
- Marvel Spotlight (Deathlok) #33 (among other artists) (1977)
- Marvel Super-Heroes (X-Men) #6 (1991)
- Marvel Tales #242 (with Michael Netzer (Nasser)) (1990)
- Marvel Team-Up (Spider-Man and Nightcrawler) #89 (with Mike Nasser) (1980)
- Micronauts Annual #2 (with Steve Ditko) (1980)
- New Mutants #76-77 (1989)
- Saga of The Original Human Torch, miniseries, #1-4 (1990)
- Saga of The Sub-Mariner, limited series, #1-12 (1988â€"89)
- Savage Sword of Conan #182 (1991)
- The Spectacular Spider-Man #103, 107-111, 116-117, 119, 122; Annual #1, 10 (1979â€"90)
- Supernatural Thrillers #5 (1973)
- Tales of the Zombie #4 (1974)
- Thor #227-230 (1974)
- Vampire Tales #2-3, 5 (1973â€"74)
- What If? (Eternals) #24; (Thor) #25; (Namor) #29; (Spider-Man) #30 (1980â€"81)
- Where Monsters Dwell #15 (1972)
- X-Factor #50 (1990)
Other publishers
- Creepy #36, 38, 75 (Warren, 1970â€"75)
- The Demon Hunter (Atlas/Seaboard Comics, September 1975)
- Eerie #29, 48-49, 53 (Warren, 1970â€"74)
- Hybrids: The Origin #3-4 (Continuity, 1993)
- Mighty Crusaders #1-7 (Archie, 1983â€"84)
References
External links
- Official website and *Official website
- Rich Buckler at the Comic Book DB
- Rich Buckler at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
- Rich Buckler at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
- "Astonishing Tales 25 and the Birth of Deathlok the Demolisher!" at GiantSizeMarvel.com
