Monday, May 22, 2017

RIP Rich Buckler

I really, really hate writing this one. You've probably already heard that Rich Buckler passed away this past Friday, May 19 after a battle with cancer. I found out Saturday and my heart just broke. Rich was one of my early favorite artists with his art on Robin, Rose and Thorn, Avengers, Black Panther, and then Fantastic Four, Thor, Demon Hunter, and especially Deathlok. His post-Groovy Age art on World's Finest and later All-Star Squadron and Archie's Red Circle line were among my favorite comics as well. Rich's art was always an extra-special treat for me.

 A few years ago, thanks to this very blog, I got to "meet" Rich via e-mail and Facebook. Rich even wrote a passel of posts for us on and off for a while. I was happy/pleased/thrilled/keep on adding adjectives when Rich VOLUNTEERED to do those Groovy Guest posts. It was such an honor to get those messages and e-mails, to have him pour out his soul with those posts, send me the art he wanted to illustrate them, and then to trust me--and even compliment me on how great the posts looked.

I am so thankful that I got to tell Rich directly through messages and e-mails and indirectly through this blog just how much he meant to me. It was more than I could have ever dreamed of as a fan. Godspeed, Rich. You were a master and a gentleman. Thank you for...

And so very, very much more.

If you'd like to do something wonderful in Rich's memory, please consider joining Clifford Meth's  GoFundMe efforts to set up a scholarship in Rich's name at the Kubert School.


at

11 comments:

  1. Joseph Hinman (Metacrock)May 22, 2017 at 4:57 AM

    I too mourn his passing. He was one of my all time favorites. First for all star squadron.Latter Red Circle in the 80s and much more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kevin LakeMay 22, 2017 at 7:14 AM

    Another part of my youth is gone. RIP

    ReplyDelete
  3. keythd23May 22, 2017 at 9:19 AM

    Another comic creator death. So many people who populated the world of my adolescence​ have passed on in the last 10 years: Cockrum, Rogers, Colan, Giordano, Chan, DeZuniga, Infantino, Cardy, Severin, Wrightson and now Rich Buckler. Mr. Buckler exploded onto the scene in the early 70s to take on the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Soon his covers were popping up all over Marvel, often embellished by the inimitable Klaus Janson. But I think it's his work on Panther's Rage in Jungle Action and Deathlok the Demolisher in Astonishing Tales for which he'll be best remembered. Deathlok could have only come about in the innovative, chaotic 70s where Marvel was willing to give a try to all kinds of off the wall concepts. In my humble opinion​, Astonishing # 33 - 35 contains some of the most beautiful artwork of the Groovy Age. There Mr. Buckler, obviously enthusiastic about his creation, imbued the pages with power and sci-fi wonderment aided by some of the best inking/coloring of Klaus Janson's career (I told Mr. Janson that Astonishing #33 is the single best inked comic of all time.
    I like to deal in hyperbole!). I had a chance to see Rich when he headlined a convention in Minneapolis during the time I lived there but was too tired from working the night before. I regret that now. RIP, Mr. Buckler. You've left us a fantastic legacy. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vince and SivMay 24, 2017 at 3:30 AM

      Hear Hear! I agree with your comments on AT #33!! The close up splash page of Deathlok's face, and the page before with the reflected Deathlok in the puddle of water still stay with me to this day, 40 years after I bought the comic....so they obviously had some kind of impact!

      Delete
    2. keythd23May 30, 2017 at 3:11 PM

      It's those two images I think everyone remembers about AT # 33.

      Delete
    3. Vince and SivMay 30, 2017 at 5:10 PM

      It's incredible isn't it...after all these years people around the world have those images burnt into their memories...talk about catching lightning in a bottle, those buckler/janson deathlok issues epitomise the groovy age to me!

      Delete
  4. MarcusMay 22, 2017 at 10:56 AM

    RIP. Rich had my comic writer and I in his studio preparing to draw a cover for our characters for an indy comic in the 90s. A great guy and he drew the cover in his Kirby style! Joe Sinnott inked it. It's the cover to Fantastic Worlds #2. I'm so sa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Groovy AgentMay 22, 2017 at 6:51 PM

      I still have that comic! If you look at the "next issue" ad, you'll see a cover by publisher Steve Busti inked by Dick Ayers for "Toombora!" I wrote that story and it was to have been published in the next ish of Fantastic Worlds. A few years later, artist Phil Fried drew it and Ayers inked it. The story's been published several times by small press publishers, most recently by Will Lill Comics and in color. What a small world!

      Delete
    2. MarcusMay 22, 2017 at 9:12 PM

      That's amazing! I remember that ad. It is a small world! We tried to use that as a springboard and self-published a Captain Courage comic. I still have a couple of unpublished stories drawn. I

      Delete
  5. MarcusMay 22, 2017 at 11:02 AM

    This is the link to the cover of you want to see it,
    https://www.comics.org/issue/304964/cover/4/

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownMay 22, 2017 at 1:33 PM

    He and Sal Buscema defined the look of Marvel in the 70's for me. They weren't the flashiest artists in comics, but they were solid and prolific. Once you saw them on a series, the look they defined for that series became the look that everyone else was compared against.

    James Chatterton

    ReplyDelete