"BIG JOHN, BIG JOHN - BIG BAD JOHN..."

Artwork by Big John Buscema

Well, that's a big fat lie for a start.  There was absolutely nothing bad about JOHN BUSCEMA - or his art.  He was one of the very few artists to adapt the principles of JACK KIRBY's power-packed storytelling into his own and perhaps even eclipse Kirby to some extent with the result.

Of course, by the time Buscema was coming into his own, Jack was somewhat in decline, due in part to an enforced reduction in the size at which he drew (which affected the look of his finished pages) and also dissatisfaction at what he saw as not being accorded his due at MARVEL COMICS, both in terms of credit and financial remuneration.  Can anybody really blame him if his heart wasn't really in it to the same degree as had once been the case?

Nobody has ever really topped Kirby when he was at the height of his powers, but that was hardly the case when he was about to jump ship to DC COMICS, or when he returned to Marvel a few years later.  Buscema was Jack's natural heir, so enjoy the above illustration by Big John from around the mid-to-late '70s.