Rich Buckler (born February 6, 1949) is an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four in the mid-1970s and for creating the character Deathlok in Astonishing Tales #25. Buckler has drawn virtually every major character at Marvel and DC, often as a cover artist.

Career

As a teenager in Detroit, Buckler attended the initial iterations of the Detroit Triple Fan Fair (one of the first regular fan convention that featured comics as a major component). He eventually ran the convention along with originator Robert Brosch in 1969–1970.

Buckler's first comics work was as a teenager with the four-page historical story "Freedom Fighters: Washington Attacks Trenton" in the King Features comic book Flash Gordon #10 (Nov. 1967). At DC Comics, he drew the "Rose and the Thorn: backup stories in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #117-121 (Dec. 1971-April 1972).

From September 1973 to January 1974, Buckler drew the first three issues of writer Don McGregor's acclaimed Black Panther series in Jungle Action. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked McGregor and Buckler's run on Jungle Action third on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels". When given the chance in 1974 to draw the Fantastic Four title, Buckler fulfilled a decade-long dream; he stayed on the title for two years. During this period, Buckler created Deathlok a character which debuted in Astonishing Tales #25 (Aug. 1974). Also during this period, Buckler hired the young George Pérez as his studio assistant.