Alter Ego # 19 June 2002 (magazine review)
The year before comicbook artist John Buscema died, he attended a San Diego 2001 panel hosted by Mark Evanier and the transcript is here. It’s well-known that he wasn’t keen on super-heroes, hence his long tenure on ‘Conan’ but he really could draw anything and the art samples here shows that. Evanier points out what appears to be a mistake with the opening page of a ‘Bonnie Parker’ story with the drinks bar on the wrong side. I took a serious look at it and think it was flopped (flipped over the other way) to ensure it pointed to the left in the action. Considering that Buscema’s ‘Conan’ has his design and final pages together with the final panel also flopped shows it wasn’t the only kind. Buscema explained his drawing process sorting out the design before the detail also gave him the opportunity to change things if it needs changing. Reading on, it does become a little obvious that Buscema had what we call today ‘imposter syndrome’, thinking every job was his last but as he also said he never stopped learning, probably kept him on his toes. Purists who think comicbook artists don’t swipe should get a lesson from Buscema, especially when it came to likenesses. When you consider comicbook fandom rotates around super-heroes, Buscema must have thought himself in the wrong arena being asked questions about them although he expertly evades them as he must have done many times before. When you consider he thinks the practice sketches he did on the backs of his comicbook pages better than the main art, it does make me wonder how lucky the owners of his original comicbook pages are. The man loved to draw.
Flipping the magazine over, Roy Thomas relates all the times he worked with John Buscema with various art samples and emphasis on Conan. You have to love the sketch of the Cimmerian under an umbrella in the pouring rain bemoaning his fate at something he can’t beat.
The same year, comicbook artist Kurt P. Schaffenberger (1920-2002) also died. Here, an interview John Pierce conducted with him in the mid-1970s looks at his work at Fawcett and DC Comics, specifically the ‘Lois Lane’ comicbook.
I really did think the odds were against me at finding a paper edition of this ‘Alter Ego’ but was glad I did. You won’t be in competition with me for too long on the auction websites.
GF Willmetts
March 2024
(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82 page illustrated magazine. Price: $10.95 (US). ISSN: 1932-6890. Direct from them, you can get it digitally for $ 4.99 (US))
check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_55&products_id=492
