Our Pal Sal #1

This will be something of a regular feature: a look on why I think Sal Buscema is an awesome superhero artist, particularly on the character I associate him with the most, the Spectacular Spider-Man! When the Darkwing Duck cartoon of the mid-90s encouraged me to try out those superheroic funnybooks at the supermarket (because of the quirky villains like Megavolt and Quackerjack—I wanted to see their “real” inspirations), it was Sal Buscema’s Green Goblin from “The Child Within” that really grabbed my goat (I still don’t know where that goat went to until this very day).

Since “The Child Within” merits a very detailed look, being one of my all-time favorite stories, in no small part due to Sal’s artwork, I will instead kick off this recurring piece of appreciation with the cover to Spectacular Spider-Man #175. Sal Buscema didn’t get to portray Doctor Octopus all that often, despite having drawn more Spidey stories than just about anyone apart from John Romita Jr. As far as I remember, the Doctor was in Spectacular #173-175 and in “Web Of Death” several years later, where Sal’s pencils of a creepy-cool Ock were embellished by none other than an ink-crazy Bill Sienkiewicz. The art in those issues looks like Bill S. snorted the ink up his nose and then went wild; I cannot say I minded :p

In any case, let me focus on the cover (and issue) in question. Spectacular Spider-Man #175 was the second part of a fun two-parter featuring Doc Ock versus none other than J. Jonah Jameson! Yes, back then two- and three-parters, not to mention single issue stories, were still the rule rather than the exception. I miss those days... Now, I know a lot of people are no fan of blurbs on the cover, but I’m rather fond of the words here, they made me chuckle back then, and they still do now. This probably also has to do with me being rather lame :D

What I like very much about this cover is that it gives you a sense of urgency. Even though you know that, duh!, of course Spider-Man isn’t going to drown, it’s nonetheless a cool, dynamic image with a great angle, without any frills but with enough detail to make it pop (I’m particularly fond of the air bubbles, for some reason). I’m quite happy that Buscema chose to go for the Doctor-in-a-suit, as revamped by Erik Larsen, one of my preferred redesigns that I wish had stuck around, rather than going back to the old green jumpsuit. Octavius just exudes more menace when he looks a bit classy, which is far more effective than making him look like a dork or loser. As far as I’m concerned, Doctor Octopus is Spider-Man’s best and coolest villain, so anything that makes him stand out is a plus for me.

The story itself, called “Spouse Trap” (Michelinie loves his pun-titles even more than Peter David), is very straightforward, and you needn’t even have read the previous part to be able to enjoy this one (I know, it’s crazy, right?!) Doctor Octopus wants to get a big load of cash from Jameson, otherwise he’ll collapse the newly rebuilt Daily Bugle. Spider-Man thwarts this plan, but Octavius takes it to the next level by kidnapping Jonah’s wife Marla and asking a ransom in exchange for her safe return. We get some great shots of a hard-assed yet emotional JJJ, as well as some more casual coolness combined with hilarious hystrionics by the good (bad) doctor. Naturally Spidey interferes yet again and saves Marla.

It’s all very basic, going from point A to point B with ease, but that’s what makes it so enjoyable for me. There’s no cosmic menaces, no reset buttons, no big sprawling agendas, just a story featuring a bad guy, a good guy, and a guy somewhere in-between. Exactly because it’s such a basic plot, the art has to carry a lot of the story (although Michelinie has always been good at making the dialogue sound real without making things trite), and Sal really pulls it off. If anyone knows how to use lines to their best effect, making the panels flow smoothly while keeping things uncluttered, it’s Sal Buscema. Facial features, especially on Jonah and Ock, are iconic rather than ultra-realistic and as such pack a bigger punch.

Although Buscema doesn’t go crazy with Ock’s arms like Erik Larsen would whenever he’d get to draw the Doc, he does use them to great effect, while the story gives Spidey enough opportunities to unbalance Octavius despite his clear advantage. This all adds up to a great little comic that is well and truly enhanced by the sharp, stylistic art of our pal Sal, with a cover that kicks some major Spider-butt! :)