I spoke with some minion at DC who, per my request, sent over definitive Superman reference for John Buscema. It consisted of a batch of model sheets and drawings by the brilliant José Luis Garcia-Lopez gathered in a binder.

John Buscema happened to be coming into the city from his home in Port Jefferson, 10.000 miles out on Long Island (or so it seemed the few times I drove there). So, he came by my office to visit and pick up the reference.

Sitting in the guest chair across the desk from me, he noticed some Neal Adams artwork amid the clutter….

John Buscema picked Neal’s pages* up and shuffled through them. He too, had no idea who had drawn them. John was sufficiently out of touch with most of what was going on in comics (for example, he needed reference for Superman!) that it seemed reasonable that he might not recognize Neal’s style at a glance. Besides, John lived 10,000 miles away.

“What do you think?” I asked.

John said, words to the effect, “This guy can’t draw for &#@%. Look at this figure. He’s not standing on the floor. He’s floating in the air. See that’s what happens when you’re one of those light-box guys. And this figure, look at his shoulder. Is he a hunchback? ” Etc.

“Here’s your Superman ref,” I said.

John started to page through the binder, at first with that casual disdain look on his face that he got when viewing the work of mere mortals. Then, suddenly he started looking closely. His expression changed. He seemed impressed. I might go as far as challenged.

“This guy is good,” said John. “Who is he?”

I told him. As he tucked the binder in his portfolio, John said, exactly, “Any chance we can get him to ink the book?”