Buscema, John - Avengers Under Siege TPB Cover!

John Buscema’s Original Pencils for the Avengers: Under Siege TPB Cover (1998)

This stunning piece of original art is the final, uninked pencil drawing by the legendary John Buscema, created for the cover of Avengers: Under Siege, the 1998 trade paperback collection of what many fans (myself included!) consider to be THE greatest Avengers story of all time! Known as the "Masters of Evil" storyline, this epic tale of heroism and devastation remains one of the most celebrated Avengers arcs ever published, making this cover art a true collector's treasure.

Buscema’s dynamic composition tells the entire story in a single image—the Avengers lie utterly defeated, their battered bodies sprawled across the rubble as their vicious foes loom above them, their faces twisted in rage, triumph, and bloodlust. The piece is quintessential Big John, powerful figure work, masterful storytelling, and a cinematic sense of drama.

The Evolution of a Masterpiece

Included for comparison are:

✔ The fully painted, published cover—which brings Buscema’s masterful layout to life in vivid color.

✔ The original rough prelim—a looser, sketchier version of the composition, drawn on thin paper before the final pencils were completed on official Marvel Bristol board.

Why This Piece is Special

Buscema knew this cover would ultimately be painted, so he opted not to include shading or lighting indications in his pencils, allowing Joe Jusko to handle that task in the final painting. This piece represents the purest, rawest form of his artistic vision before being transformed into the finished cover.

Owning 'Big' John Buscema’s final pencils for this historic Avengers cover has been my absolute honour and privilege for the past 18 years, and now, it’s time for another passionate collector to take on that honour. If you’re an Avengers fan, a Buscema enthusiast, or a lover of high-impact, battle-worn superhero art, this is an unparalleled opportunity to own a defining piece of comic book history! 

NOTE: If this cover art had been fully inked, either by Buscema, Tom Palmer or virtually any one of Buscema's regular inkers, it would be worth roughly 3 to 4 times what it is now. So while it would've looked far better fully inked, the state Buscema left it in simply means that a lucky collector will be able to acquire this for a small fraction of that. Will that lucky collector be YOU?