Monday, May 23, 2016
Our Pal Sal: "The Dreams of Death!" by Englehart, S. Buscema, and McLaughlin
What it is, Groove-ophiles! For about 40 issues, Our Pal Sal was the mainstay artist on the Defenders. Writers and inkers (great ones!) came and went, but Sal kept pushing that pencil to tell give us the adventures of the world's greatest non-team. Sal is a huge part of why the Defenders was a must-read for yers trooly, along with a goodly portion of Marveldom Assembled. For ish number 6, Sal was joined by writer Steve Englehart, whose story kinda pointed the way toward the far-out types of tales that Steve Gerber would lay on us a couple'a years on down the road. The tone, the motives, personality, and plans of villain Cyrus Black, along with a plot that hinges on the existential angst (and madness) of our baddie is the type of thing we'd eventually get on an even wilder level from Gerber's versions of the Headmen and Nebulon. Oh, and this is a rare Hulk-less ish of the Defenders, leaving much of the spotlight to fall on The Silver Surfer. From March 1973, here's "The Dreams of Death!" inked by Frank McLaughlin...
Our pal Sal Buscema was a linchpin of the Marvel Universe for over 40 years; from his debut in Avengers # 68 to his tapering off as an inker in the late aughts. Along the way, through regular series and fill-ins, he pretty much got to tackle everyone in the Marvel Universe. His 40 issue Defenders run reached it's apex when teamed with Steve Gerber and the ever great inks of Klaus Janson.
ReplyDeleteFans of Sal Buscema (and who ain't) can check out his work as an inker on the Creeper series from the late '90's, which I thought was fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing this issue here. I've got most of the Defenders' run up 'till about issue '70, but I missed this one. You don't often see the villain say, at the end of the story, "Nuts to this! I might just give up being a super-villain altogether!"
M.P.