Joe Kubert was simply a comic book legend. To list all his achievements in a career that spanned 70 years would take a lot more space than I have on this blog. Joe’s first professional work was in 1942 where he drew a 6 page Voltron strip for Holyoke Publishing’s “Catman Comics" before working on Blue Beetle for Fox comics. But is was at DC Comics where Joe moved into a differnet league inking the first issue of the silver age Flash and drawing the first 1960's revival of Hawkman. He created/ co-created DC’s western character Firehair , the Unknown Soldier, Enemy Ace, Tor, Viking Prince and Ragman. In the 1970’s he drew and wrote DC’s successful Tarzan comic and with his wife Muriel set up The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic art. But it is for his long association with DC’s Sgt Rock & Easy Company characters, stating in DC's "Our Army at War" comic 195, that Joe will be best remembered. Below are some of my favourite Joe Kubert covers:
"Atom and Hawkman" issue 40 (1968/1969) -When sales on the Atom and Hawkman's comics began to slide the two comics combined, continuing the numbering from the Atom's title. Sadly the comic would only last for another 5 issues before being cancelled. I had no idea that this title even existed until 1976 when on a holiday I came across this issue in a market stall for the pricely sum on 30p (less than the cost of a new comic of that time) .
"Justice League of America" issue 72 (1969). One of the earliest comics I have in my collection.
"G.I. Combat" issue 140 (1970). I only have 2 issues of "GI Combat" both of which I only bought for their amazing covers, this one and issue 168 by Neal Adams.
Batman issue 344 (1982).
"Tor" (Heavy Hitters -Epic comics) issues 1 (1993) - This was a large size 4 issue mini series based on Joe Kuberts 1950's character Tor. The artwork in all 4 issues is stunning. Sadly the larger size format didn't catch on (I managed to pick up all 4 issues for £1 in 1995).
"Blitzkrieg" issue 3 (1976).This was a strange title looking at the war from a German soldiers point of view. The comic only lasted 5 isuses with some wonderful art by Ric Etrada (isssue 1-4). I only picked up this issue as I loved the Kubert cover.
"Our Army at War" issue 207 (1969) - One of my favourites from Joe Kubert's legendary run on this character/title. This also featured some excellent Kubert pencils on the main story.
"Our Fighting Forces" issue 150 (1974) - Truth be told I'm not actually a fan of (US or UK) war comics but Sgt Rock and the "Loser" were two titles that I would pick up now and then for the great artwork alone. Sgt Rock would regularly feature the art of Russ Heath (when Joe Kubert wasn't on the pencils) and the "Losers" featured the work of John Severin before Jack Kirby started a weirdly entertaining run on that title.
"DC Comics Presents" issue 66 (1983). Not only a nice Kubert cover but Kubert also provided the internal art on this Len Wein story.
Mystery in Space issue 113 (1980).
An interesting extra: A page from "DC special " issue 5 " from 1969 (cover below) which featured a fun 4 page intro story "The Cartoonist at home!" featuring illos of Joe's children including Adam and Andy Kubert who of course would become comic book superstars in their own right. The last panel features fellow comic book legend and (allegedly) "man about town", Russ Heath.
I was probably about seven years old when I walked into my local newsagents in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) with my pocket money firmly he...
Following on from my last post featuring some of my favourite Marvel comic book covers from 1973, I thought I would show some of DC's ...
Nearly a half-century on I still consider 1973 to be the year that cemented my destiny in becoming a lifetime comic book fan. It was a yea...
There was a time (brief thought it was) that I didn't prefer Kubert's "messy" style. I think it was his Tarzan that changed my mind and allowed me to see the raw power he was able to deliver to the page. I have a bunch of Kubert's work in Showcase Presents volumes and his stuff looks magnificent in black and white.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a big fan of Kuberts superhero art (Hawkman aside) as his "heroes" always looked to skinny (Hawkman looked right soaring in the sky like this to me). It was really his war , western and SF art that I liked (a lot). Sadly I don't have a lot of Joe's work just the above issues (most of which are just cover art) and a handful of western , war and Tor comics. I agree, his black and white art looks great.
ReplyDeleteNice covers. To me his artwork has a John Buscema feel.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I see that in Kuberts actual style, but perhaps there a bit of Biscema in the design of Joe's covers. Saying that his Tor cover does look to me like a late Buscema illo Colin.
ReplyDeleteI had an aversion to Kubert's style back in the 70s, in much same way that I disliked Frank Robbins' artwork, and again I've come to appreciate it much later in life.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, the first Kubert war comic I read was the graphic novel "Sgt Rock: Between Hell and a Hard Place", drawn by Kubert, written by Brian Azzarello in 2004. I was really engaged by that story, and sought out some of the previous Our Army at War issues that caught my eye, as well as picking up his later 6-issue runs he did for DC since 2005.
By the way, McScotty - were you able to track down those issues of Sojourn featuring TOR?
It was Joe's covers that initially attracted me to his art and those great faces with dark brooding eyes that always looked cool. But I certainly appreciatedchiscart more as I got older and was more willing to read western and US war comics.
ReplyDeleteAhhh Frank Robbins I wonder how many comic readers of the 1970s loathed his art at first before "getting it" I'm a big fan of Frank's art myself now.
I'm afraid I haven't seen a copy of Sojourn yet Ian , well none at a price I am willing to pay.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete