Joe Kubert
Encyclopedia
Joe Kubert is an American
comic book
artist
who went on to found The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics
characters Sgt. Rock
and Hawkman
. His sons, Andy Kubert
and Adam Kubert
, have themselves become successful comic-book artists.
Kubert's other creations include the comic books Tor, Son of Sinbad, and Viking Prince, and, with writer Robin Moore
, the comic strip Tales of the Green Beret
.
Kubert was inducted into the Harvey Award
s' Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1997, and Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998.
called Yzeran (Jezierzany), in southeast Poland
(now Ukraine
). He emigrated to Brooklyn
, New York City
, United States
, at age two months with his parents and his two-and-a-half-year-old sister Ida. Raised in the East New York neighborhood, the son of a kosher butcher
, Kubert started drawing at an early age, encouraged by his parents.
Yossel, Kubert wrote, "I got my first paying job as a cartoonist for comic books when I was eleven-and-a-half or twelve years old. Five dollars a page. In 1938, that was a lot of money". Another source, utilizing quotes from Kubert, says in 1938, a school friend who was related to Louis Silberkleit, a principal of MLJ Studios (the future Archie Comics
), urged Kubert to visit the company, where he began an unofficial apprentice and at age 12 "was allowed to ink a rush job, the pencils of Bob Montana's [teen-humor feature] 'Archie'". Author David Hajdu, who interviewed Kubert and other comics professionals for a 2008 book, reported, however, that, "Kubert has told varying versions of the story of his introduction to the comics business at age ten, sometimes setting it at the comics shop run by Harry "A" Chesler, sometimes at MLJ; however, MLJ did not start operation until 1939, when Kubert was thirteen".
Kubert attended Manhattan
's High School of Music and Art. During this time he and classmate Norman Maurer
, a future collaborator, would sometimes skip school in order to see publishers. Kubert began honing his craft at the quirkily named Harry "A" Chesler's studio, one of the comic-book "packagers" that had sprung up in the medium
's early days to supply outsourced comics to publishers. Kubert's first known professional job was penciling and inking the six-page story "Black-Out", starring the character Volton, in Holyoke Publishing's Catman Comics
#8 (March 1942; also listed as vol. 2, #13). He would continuing drawing the feature for the next three issues, and was soon doing similar work for Fox Comics
' Blue Beetle
. Branching into additional art skills, he began coloring
the Quality Comics
reprints of future industry legend Will Eisner
's The Spirit
, a seven-page comics feature that ran as part of a newspaper Sunday-supplement.
, where he would spend much of his career and produce some of his most notable art, was penciling and inking the 50-page "Seven Soldiers of Victory" superhero
-team story in Leading Comics #8 (Fall 1943), published by a DC predecessor company, All-American Comics
. Through the decade, Kubert's art would also appear in comics from Fiction House
and Harvey Comics
, but he was otherwise worked exclusively for All-American and DC.
In the 1950s, he became managing editor of St. John Publications
, where he, his old classmate Norman Maurer
, and Norman's brother Leonard Maurer produced the first 3-D
comic books, starting with Three Dimension Comics #1 (Sept. 1953 oversize format, Oct. 1953 standard-size reprint), featuring Mighty Mouse
. According to Kubert, it sold a remarkable 1.2 million copies at 25 cents apiece at a time when comics cost a dime.
At St. John, writer Norman Maurer and artist Kubert created the enduring character Tor, a prehistoric-human protagonist who debuted in the comic 1,000,000 Years Ago (Sept. 1953). Tor immediately went on to star in 3-D Comics #2-3 (Oct.-Nov. 1953), followed by a titular, traditionally 2-D comic-book series, written and drawn by Joe Kubert, that premiered with issue #3 (May 1954). The character has gone on to appear in series from Eclipse Comics
, Marvel Comics
' Epic
imprint, and DC Comics
through at least the 1990s. Kubert in the late 1950s unsuccessfully attempted to sell Tor as a newspaper comic strip. He also contributed work to Avon Periodicals, where he did science-fiction stories for Strange Worlds
and other titles.
and Atlas Comics
, the 1950s iteration of Marvel Comics
. By the end of the year he was drawing for DC exclusively, working on such characters as the medieval adventurer Viking Prince
, the superhero Hawkman
, which would become one of his signature efforts, and, in the war comic GI Combat, features starring Sgt. Rock and The Haunted Tank
, two more signature strips.
From 1965 through 1967 he collaborated with author Robin Moore
on the syndicated
daily comic strip
Tales of the Green Beret
for the Chicago Tribune
.
Kubert served as DC Comics' director of publications from 1967 to 1976. During his tenure with DC, Kubert initiated titles based on such Edgar Rice Burroughs
properties as Tarzan
and Korak
. Kubert also supervised the production of the comic books Sgt. Rock, Ragman
and Weird Worlds
. While performing supervisory duties he continued to draw for some books, notably Tarzan from 1972 to 1975. Kubert also did covers for Rima the Jungle Girl from 1974 to 1975.
In 1976, Joe and his wife Muriel founded The Kubert School in Dover
, New Jersey
.
Kubert wrote and drew a collection of faith-based comic strips beginning in the late 1980s for Tzivos Hashem
, the Lubavitch children's organization, and Moshiach Times magazine. The stories, "The Adventures of Yaakov and Yosef", were based on biblical
references, but were not Bible stories. Many were based on stories of the Lubavitcher Rebbes and their disciples.
Kubert made a return to writing and drawing in 1991 with the Abraham Stone graphic novel Country Mouse, City Rat for Malibu Comics
' Platinum Editions. He returned to the character for two more stories, Radix Malorum and The Revolution published by Epic Comics
in 1995.
Also for Epic Comics
, he delivered the four-issue Tor miniseries in 1993. 1996 saw the publication of Fax from Sarajevo
, initially released as a 207-page hardcover book and two years later as a 224-page trade paperback. The non-fiction book originated as a series of faxes from European comics agent Ervin Rustemagić
during the Serbian siege of Sarajevo
. Rustemagić and his family, whose home and possessions in suburban Dobrinja
were destroyed, spent two-and-a-half years in a ruined building, communicating with the outside world via fax
when they could. Friend and client Kubert was one recipient. Collaborating long-distance, they collected Rustemagić's account of life during wartime, with Kubert and editor Bob Cooper turning the raw faxes into a somber comics tale.
Kubert drew a pencil-illustrated graphic novel
s,Yossel: April 19, 1943 (2003) and 'Jew Gangster' (2005) both from IBooks. In 2003, Kubert returned to the Sgt. Rock character, illustrating 'Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and a Hard Place' a six-issue miniseries
written by Brian Azarello and wrote and drew "Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy", a six-issue miniseries
in 2006. 2005 also saw the publication of 'Tex, The Lonesome Rider', written by Claudio Nizzi and published by SAF Comics.
As of the mid-2000s, Kubert is the artist for PS Magazine
, a U.S. military magazine, with comic-book elements, that stresses the importance of preventive maintenance of vehicles, arms, and other ordnance.
In 2008, Kubert returned to his Tor character with a six-issue limited series published by DC Comics entitled Tor: A prehistoric Odyssey. In 2009, Kubert contributed a new Sgt. Rock story for Wednesday Comics
, published by DC. His son, Adam
, wrote the story, his first foray at scripting. In 2011, he did the introduction and lenticular
3-D front cover for Craig Yoe
's Amazing 3-D Comics!
Kubert was inducted into the Harvey Awards' Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1997, and Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
who went on to found The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
characters Sgt. Rock
Sgt. Rock (comics)
Sgt. Frank Rock is a fictional infantry non-commissioned officer during World War II in the . He first appeared in Our Army at War #83 , and was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert.-Publication history:...
and Hawkman
Hawkman
Hawkman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940....
. His sons, Andy Kubert
Andy Kubert
Andrew "Andy" Kubert is an American comic book artist, son of Joe Kubert, and brother of Adam Kubert, both of whom are also artists...
and Adam Kubert
Adam Kubert
Adam Kubert is an American comic book artist known for his work for publishers such as Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and DC Comics, including work on Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Superman and Ghost Rider.Kubert has established himself as one...
, have themselves become successful comic-book artists.
Kubert's other creations include the comic books Tor, Son of Sinbad, and Viking Prince, and, with writer Robin Moore
Robin Moore
Robert Lowell "Robin" Moore, Jr. was an American writer who is most known for his books The Green Berets, The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy and, with Xaviera Hollander and Yvonne Dunleavy, The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.Moore also co-authored...
, the comic strip Tales of the Green Beret
Tales of the Green Beret
Tales of the Green Beret is a comic strip created by Robin Moore and Joe Kubert. It began as a daily strip, running for 72 numbered strips starting 20 September 1965. The following year it returned daily and Sunday, beginning 4 April, with scripts by Howard Liss...
.
Kubert was inducted into the Harvey Award
Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
s' Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1997, and Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998.
Early life
Kubert was born to a Jewish family in a shtetlShtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
called Yzeran (Jezierzany), in southeast Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
). He emigrated to Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, at age two months with his parents and his two-and-a-half-year-old sister Ida. Raised in the East New York neighborhood, the son of a kosher butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
, Kubert started drawing at an early age, encouraged by his parents.
Career
In his introduction to his graphic novelGraphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Yossel, Kubert wrote, "I got my first paying job as a cartoonist for comic books when I was eleven-and-a-half or twelve years old. Five dollars a page. In 1938, that was a lot of money". Another source, utilizing quotes from Kubert, says in 1938, a school friend who was related to Louis Silberkleit, a principal of MLJ Studios (the future Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
), urged Kubert to visit the company, where he began an unofficial apprentice and at age 12 "was allowed to ink a rush job, the pencils of Bob Montana's [teen-humor feature] 'Archie'". Author David Hajdu, who interviewed Kubert and other comics professionals for a 2008 book, reported, however, that, "Kubert has told varying versions of the story of his introduction to the comics business at age ten, sometimes setting it at the comics shop run by Harry "A" Chesler, sometimes at MLJ; however, MLJ did not start operation until 1939, when Kubert was thirteen".
Kubert attended Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's High School of Music and Art. During this time he and classmate Norman Maurer
Norman Maurer
Norman Albert Maurer , a comic book artist and writer, was also a director and producer of films and television shows.-Comic books:...
, a future collaborator, would sometimes skip school in order to see publishers. Kubert began honing his craft at the quirkily named Harry "A" Chesler's studio, one of the comic-book "packagers" that had sprung up in the medium
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
's early days to supply outsourced comics to publishers. Kubert's first known professional job was penciling and inking the six-page story "Black-Out", starring the character Volton, in Holyoke Publishing's Catman Comics
Cat-Man and Kitten
Cat-Man and Kitten were a pair of superhero characters created by Charles M. Quinlan and Irwin Hasen and first published in 1940 by now-defunct Holyoke Publishing...
#8 (March 1942; also listed as vol. 2, #13). He would continuing drawing the feature for the next three issues, and was soon doing similar work for Fox Comics
Fox Feature Syndicate
Fox Feature Syndicate was a comic book publisher from early in the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by entrepreneur Victor S...
' Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes that appear in American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939.-Publication history:...
. Branching into additional art skills, he began coloring
Colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates...
the Quality Comics
Quality Comics
Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
reprints of future industry legend Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
's The Spirit
The Spirit
The Spirit is a crime-fighting fictional character created by writer-artist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940 in "The Spirit Section", the colloquial name given to a 16-page Sunday supplement, distributed to 20 newspapers by the Register and Tribune Syndicate and reaching five million...
, a seven-page comics feature that ran as part of a newspaper Sunday-supplement.
1940s and 1950s
Kubert's first work for DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, where he would spend much of his career and produce some of his most notable art, was penciling and inking the 50-page "Seven Soldiers of Victory" superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
-team story in Leading Comics #8 (Fall 1943), published by a DC predecessor company, All-American Comics
All-American Comics
All-American Comics was the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from April 1939 to October 1948, at which time it was renamed All-American Western. In 1952, the title was changed again to All-American Men of...
. Through the decade, Kubert's art would also appear in comics from Fiction House
Fiction House
Fiction House is an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. Its comics division was best known for its pinup-style good girl art, as epitomized by the company's most popular character, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.-History:-Jumbo and Jack...
and Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfred Harvey in 1941, after buying out the small publisher Brookwood Publications. His brothers Robert B...
, but he was otherwise worked exclusively for All-American and DC.
In the 1950s, he became managing editor of St. John Publications
St. John Publications
St. John Publications was an American publisher of magazines and comic books. During its short existence , St. John's comic books established several industry firsts. Founded by Archer St. John , the firm was located in Manhattan at 545 Fifth Avenue. After the St...
, where he, his old classmate Norman Maurer
Norman Maurer
Norman Albert Maurer , a comic book artist and writer, was also a director and producer of films and television shows.-Comic books:...
, and Norman's brother Leonard Maurer produced the first 3-D
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
comic books, starting with Three Dimension Comics #1 (Sept. 1953 oversize format, Oct. 1953 standard-size reprint), featuring Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse is an animated superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox.-History:The character was created by story man Izzy Klein as a super-powered housefly named Superfly. Studio head Paul Terry changed the character into a cartoon mouse instead...
. According to Kubert, it sold a remarkable 1.2 million copies at 25 cents apiece at a time when comics cost a dime.
At St. John, writer Norman Maurer and artist Kubert created the enduring character Tor, a prehistoric-human protagonist who debuted in the comic 1,000,000 Years Ago (Sept. 1953). Tor immediately went on to star in 3-D Comics #2-3 (Oct.-Nov. 1953), followed by a titular, traditionally 2-D comic-book series, written and drawn by Joe Kubert, that premiered with issue #3 (May 1954). The character has gone on to appear in series from Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
, Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Epic
Epic Comics
Epic Comics was a creator-owned imprint of Marvel Comics started in 1982, lasting through the mid-1990s, and being briefly revived on a small scale in the mid-2000s.- Origins :...
imprint, and DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
through at least the 1990s. Kubert in the late 1950s unsuccessfully attempted to sell Tor as a newspaper comic strip. He also contributed work to Avon Periodicals, where he did science-fiction stories for Strange Worlds
Strange Worlds
Strange Worlds was the name of two American, science-fiction anthology comic book series of the 1950s, the first published by Avon Comics, the second by a Marvel Comics predecessor, Atlas Comics...
and other titles.
DC Comics and Sgt. Rock
Beginning with Our Army At War #32 (March 1955), Kubert began to freelance again for DC Comics, in addition to Lev Gleason PublicationsLev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason, was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics....
and Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
, the 1950s iteration of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. By the end of the year he was drawing for DC exclusively, working on such characters as the medieval adventurer Viking Prince
Viking Prince
Viking Prince is a DC Comics title which featured in the comic book The Brave and the Bold. It was a historic adventure story about a Viking named Jon...
, the superhero Hawkman
Hawkman
Hawkman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940....
, which would become one of his signature efforts, and, in the war comic GI Combat, features starring Sgt. Rock and The Haunted Tank
The Haunted Tank
The Haunted Tank is a comic book feature that appeared in the DC Comics anthology war title G.I. Combat from 1961 through 1987. It was created by writer and editor Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath in G.I. Combat #87 ....
, two more signature strips.
From 1965 through 1967 he collaborated with author Robin Moore
Robin Moore
Robert Lowell "Robin" Moore, Jr. was an American writer who is most known for his books The Green Berets, The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy and, with Xaviera Hollander and Yvonne Dunleavy, The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.Moore also co-authored...
on the syndicated
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
daily comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Tales of the Green Beret
Tales of the Green Beret
Tales of the Green Beret is a comic strip created by Robin Moore and Joe Kubert. It began as a daily strip, running for 72 numbered strips starting 20 September 1965. The following year it returned daily and Sunday, beginning 4 April, with scripts by Howard Liss...
for the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
.
Kubert served as DC Comics' director of publications from 1967 to 1976. During his tenure with DC, Kubert initiated titles based on such Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
properties as Tarzan
Tarzan (comics)
Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in 23 sequels. The character proved immensely popular and quickly made the jump to other media, including comics.-Comic strips:...
and Korak
Korak
Korak [long "O"] is the ape name of John 'Jack' Clayton, the son of Tarzan and Jane.-History:Jack first appeared in the original Tarzan novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He was introduced as an infant in the non-Tarzan novel The Eternal Lover , in which the Ape Man and his family played supporting...
. Kubert also supervised the production of the comic books Sgt. Rock, Ragman
Ragman
Ragman is a fictional mystic vigilante and superhero who first appeared in the short-lived comic-book series named after him. He is one of a limited number of Jewish superheroes, and his continuity is tied to that of DC Comics' Golem, derived from the Golem of Prague of Jewish folklore.Ragman is...
and Weird Worlds
Weird Worlds (comics)
Weird Worlds was a short-lived science fiction anthology title from DC Comics that was published between 1972 and 1974. It lasted 10 issues.At first, Weird Worlds published series from Edgar Rice Burroughs that DC had the rights to...
. While performing supervisory duties he continued to draw for some books, notably Tarzan from 1972 to 1975. Kubert also did covers for Rima the Jungle Girl from 1974 to 1975.
In 1976, Joe and his wife Muriel founded The Kubert School in Dover
Dover, New Jersey
Dover is a town in Morris County, New Jersey on the Rockaway River. Dover is west of New York City and west of Newark, New Jersey. As of the United States Census, 2000, the town's population was 18,188.-Geography:...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Kubert wrote and drew a collection of faith-based comic strips beginning in the late 1980s for Tzivos Hashem
Tzivos Hashem
Tzivos Hashem, is a Brooklyn, New York based organization that was founded in 1980 by the Lubavitcher Rebbe as a youth group to serve both the physical and spiritual needs of Jewish children.-Participants:...
, the Lubavitch children's organization, and Moshiach Times magazine. The stories, "The Adventures of Yaakov and Yosef", were based on biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
references, but were not Bible stories. Many were based on stories of the Lubavitcher Rebbes and their disciples.
Later career
Malibu Comics
Malibu Comics was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. The company's headquarters was in Calabasas, California. Malibu imprints included Aircel Comics and Eternity Comics...
' Platinum Editions. He returned to the character for two more stories, Radix Malorum and The Revolution published by Epic Comics
Epic Comics
Epic Comics was a creator-owned imprint of Marvel Comics started in 1982, lasting through the mid-1990s, and being briefly revived on a small scale in the mid-2000s.- Origins :...
in 1995.
Also for Epic Comics
Epic Comics
Epic Comics was a creator-owned imprint of Marvel Comics started in 1982, lasting through the mid-1990s, and being briefly revived on a small scale in the mid-2000s.- Origins :...
, he delivered the four-issue Tor miniseries in 1993. 1996 saw the publication of Fax from Sarajevo
Fax from Sarajevo
Fax from Sarajevo is a graphic novel by veteran American comic book artist Joe Kubert. It was initially released as a 207-page hardcover book and two years later as a 224-page trade paperback....
, initially released as a 207-page hardcover book and two years later as a 224-page trade paperback. The non-fiction book originated as a series of faxes from European comics agent Ervin Rustemagić
Ervin Rustemagic
Ervin Rustemagić is Bosnian comic producer and distributor, born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina currently based in Slovenia. He was the founder of Strip Art Features in Sarajevo, as well as the magazine Strip Art of the former Yugoslavia which won the Yellow Kid Prize of Lucca, Italy as Best...
during the Serbian siege of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
. Rustemagić and his family, whose home and possessions in suburban Dobrinja
Dobrinja
Dobrinja is the most populous neighborhood of Sarajevo. It's part of the municipality of Novi Grad. In 1993 a mortar attack was conducted from Serb-held positions on a football game. 13 people died and over 130 were wounded....
were destroyed, spent two-and-a-half years in a ruined building, communicating with the outside world via fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
when they could. Friend and client Kubert was one recipient. Collaborating long-distance, they collected Rustemagić's account of life during wartime, with Kubert and editor Bob Cooper turning the raw faxes into a somber comics tale.
Kubert drew a pencil-illustrated graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s,Yossel: April 19, 1943 (2003) and 'Jew Gangster' (2005) both from IBooks. In 2003, Kubert returned to the Sgt. Rock character, illustrating 'Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and a Hard Place' a six-issue miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
written by Brian Azarello and wrote and drew "Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy", a six-issue miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
in 2006. 2005 also saw the publication of 'Tex, The Lonesome Rider', written by Claudio Nizzi and published by SAF Comics.
As of the mid-2000s, Kubert is the artist for PS Magazine
PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly
PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly is a monthly United States Army magazine published since June 1951 to illustrate proper preventive maintenance methods with comic book-style art...
, a U.S. military magazine, with comic-book elements, that stresses the importance of preventive maintenance of vehicles, arms, and other ordnance.
In 2008, Kubert returned to his Tor character with a six-issue limited series published by DC Comics entitled Tor: A prehistoric Odyssey. In 2009, Kubert contributed a new Sgt. Rock story for Wednesday Comics
Wednesday Comics
Wednesday Comics was a weekly anthology comic book launched by DC Comics on July 8, 2009. The twelve issues of the title were published in 14" x 20" broadsheet format, deliberately similar to Sunday newspaper comics sections...
, published by DC. His son, Adam
Adam Kubert
Adam Kubert is an American comic book artist known for his work for publishers such as Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and DC Comics, including work on Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Superman and Ghost Rider.Kubert has established himself as one...
, wrote the story, his first foray at scripting. In 2011, he did the introduction and lenticular
Lenticular printing
Lenticular printing is a technology in which a lenticular lens is used to produce images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles...
3-D front cover for Craig Yoe
Craig Yoe
Craig Yoe is an author, editor, art director, graphic designer, cartoonist and comics historian, best known for his Yoe! Studio creations and his line of Yoe! Books...
's Amazing 3-D Comics!
Awards
Kubert's several awards and nominations include:- the 1962 Alley AwardAlley AwardThe Alley Award was an American series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, under executive secretary Jerry Bails, and later Paul Gambaccini and David Kaler, the award...
for Best Single Comic Book Cover (The Brave and the BoldThe Brave and the BoldThe Brave and the Bold is the title shared by many comic book series published by DC Comics. The first of these was published as an ongoing series from 1955 to 1983...
#42) - a 1963 write-in Alley Award for "Artist Preferred on Sea DevilsSea Devils (comics)The Sea Devils are a team of characters in comics published by DC Comics. They are a team of conventional adventurers, in undersea adventures. They were created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath ....
- a special 1969 Alley Award "for the cinematic storytelling techniques and the exciting and dramatic style he has brought to the field of comic art"
- 1974 and 1980 National Cartoonists SocietyNational Cartoonists SocietyThe National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops...
Awards for best Story Comic Book, plus a 1997 nomination for Best Comic Book. - The 1997 Eisner AwardEisner AwardThe Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
for "Best Graphic Album: New", for Fax from Sarajevo - The 1997 Harvey AwardHarvey AwardThe Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
for "Best Graphic Album of Original Work," for Fax from Sarajevo
Kubert was inducted into the Harvey Awards' Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1997, and Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998.
Hardcover reprints
- Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years (Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
)
-
- Volume 1 (2005) ISBN 1593074042; ISBN 978-1593074043
- Volume 2 (2006) ISBN 1593074166; ISBN 978-1593074166
- Volume 3 (2006) ISBN 1593074174; ISBN 978-1593074173
- Tor (DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
)
- Tor (DC Comics
- Volume 1 (2001) ISBN 1563897814; ISBN 978-1563897818
- Volume 1 (2002) ISBN 1563898306; ISBN 978-1563898303
- Volume 3 (2004) ISBN 1563899981; ISBN 978-1563899980
- Wednesday ComicsWednesday ComicsWednesday Comics was a weekly anthology comic book launched by DC Comics on July 8, 2009. The twelve issues of the title were published in 14" x 20" broadsheet format, deliberately similar to Sunday newspaper comics sections...
(2009): Sgt. Rock
- Wednesday Comics
External links
- PS Magazine
- PaulGravett.com: "Joe Kubert: Rock & A Hard Place"
- Comic Geek Speak Podcast Interview (November 21, 2005)
- Interview for Graphic NYC (March 2009)
- Archive of Molnar, Phillip, "Comic's Kuberts Teach Art to Next Generation", Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
via NewsdayNewsdayNewsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, October 8, 2010