Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: John Buscema, Romance Comics

John Buscema Covers Orbit's 1950s Romance Comics, Up for Auction

John Buscema did significant work for publisher Orbit from 1950 to 1953, including several covers for their romance comic book line.

Published Thu, 29 Feb 2024 10:03:07 -0600

by Mark Seifert

Last updated Fri, 04 Oct 2024 04:30:37 -0500

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Article Summary

Explore John Buscema's early foray into comics with Orbit's Love Diary #31 cover art.
Discover the pivotal role of Buscema from 1951-1953 across several Orbit titles
Uncover Orbit's unique history, led by one of the few female industry leaders.

Legendary comic book artist John Buscema began his career in the late 1940s, significantly shaping the landscape of Marvel Comics during its pivotal growth in the 1960s and 1970s. He initially pursued a career in commercial illustration after graduating from Manhattan's High School of Music and Art and taking courses at Pratt Institute and the Brooklyn Museum. Despite his initial intentions, Buscema's path veered into the comic book industry in 1948 when he secured a position at Timely Comics, which later evolved into Marvel Comics, under the guidance of Stan Lee. From this start, Buscema would leave a lasting impact through his work on major titles such as The Avengers, The Silver Surfer, and Conan the Barbarian.

According to his credits on GCD, John Buscema worked almost exclusively for Marvel in 1948 and 1949, but in 1950, he branched out to other publishers, including Ziff-Davis and Orbit. Outside of its G.I. Joe title, Ziff-Davis' foray into comics would be short-lived. The company we now typically refer to as Orbit consisted of the usual collection of related brands and corporations, and would come to dominate Buscema's output from 1951-1953. Run by Ray R. Hermann, one of the few women to lead a comic book publishing company during this era, Orbit published 162 issues across seven series 1948-1955, and is best remembered for the crime title Wanted Comics.

Buscema contributed to 55 issues at Orbit, for the titles Wanted Comics, The Westerner Comics, Love Diary, and Love Journal. He drew several covers for the publisher during this period and Love Diary #31 is one of the best of the bunch. There are several issues featuring Buscema's work on Love Diary and Love Journal up for auction in 2024 October 3 – 5 Good Girl Art and Romance Comics Showcase Auction #40269.