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First, they were. Second, style has nothing to do with it.

I used to swipe myself, back in the early days, and as I have said over the years swiping is a good way to learn.* Find an artist who has solved a particular problem, and "borrow" his solution.

But Buckler was long past any need to do this when he was doing most of his swiping. As noted, he was already a competent artist in his own right. (Much better than I was at the same time.) The degree of swipes he used was a disservice to the readers, who were not paying for recycled panels.

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* I've even swiped in recent years, for flashbacks. That's called "homage".