Years before Norm Breyfogle landed in Riverdale to draw the adventures of Archie, he had a career with Marvel and DC. But even before that he was a young artist, trying to break into the comic book industry and spent time appearing at conventions and plying his wares. A meeting with Mike Friedrich soon saw Norm on the way to stardom and Batman, but even before Bob Violence and Whisper, Norm did something amazing and sold Marvel Comics a Batman story.

You read that right. Norm sold Marvel a story featuring one of DC Comics flagship characters. How did this happen and when was this printed? Back in 1986, just before Norm began work for First Publishing, he submitted a story to DC where he’d done some work as part of Sal Amendola’s New Talent Showcase. The story featured Batman taking down an oversized villain in a school where the villain has taken two young children hostage. During the story Batman has to rely on his wits and fighting skills only as he can’t use anything in his …

Welcome to Part VII of the life story of Rich Buckler!  Following on from Part VI, Rich discusses the creation of one of his most famous creations, Deathlok.  Keep watching this series as there's some exciting news that, once the ducks are all lined up in a row, will thrill a lot of people. 

If you enjoy reading these articles, and if you like the art you're looking at, then feel free to contact Rich directly and arrange a commission.  Rich's schedule is fairly open right at the moment and Rich is more than capable of doing some stunning work.  Give it some serious consideration and spread the word.

Before we start I'd like to point out that all of the cover images shown in this post are Rich's own favourite DC covers.  When Rich points out what he loved drawing, well, you can see why people loved those covers then and still love them now.

In the meantime, sit back and enjoy Rich Buckler's life story, exclusive to this blog.

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