Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.11: Joe Kubert

No.11: Joe Kubert

Joe Kubert was a writer, artist, editor and the founder of the school that bears his name. He had a career that spanned eight decades with his dynamic storytelling and skilful composition drawing on a diverse range of influences from the newspaper strip masters of Foster and Raymond to the Old Masters like Rembrandt, Van Dyck and Breughel. His impressionist approach to comic art lent his work a fluidity and grace. Words: Joel Meadows…

Kubert was born in Poland but emigrated to the US when he was only two years old. He began drawing at a very young age, encouraged by his parents. 

He attended New York’s High School Of Music and Art, where he and classmate and future collaborator Norman Maurer would sometimes skip school to visit publishers.

His first professional work was when he was only eleven or twelve years old, penciling and inking the six-page story “Black-Out”, starring the character Volton, in Holyoke Publishing’s Batman Comics#8 (March 1942).

It only took a year for him to have his DC debut penciling and inking the 50-page “Seven Soldiers of Victory” superhero team story in Leading Comics #8 (Fall 1943), published by DC predecessor company, All-American Publications.

It was at DC that Kubert spent most of his career although during the 1940s he also worked for companies like Fiction House, Avon and Harvey Comics. He drew a number of Hawkman tales for All-Star Comics during the decade, a character he would return to two decades later. 

In the 1950s, Kubert was made managing editor of St John Publications. This was a company where his prehistoric adventure strip Tor, co-created by his friend Norman Maurer, made its debut, a character he would return to throughout his career. Kubert, like his contemporary Will Eisner, was one of the first figures in comics to keep the rights to his creations as Tor was not a work for hire job.

In an interview with Tripwire in 2009, he explained its genesis: “The character gave birth as a caveman Tarzan. I had always been influenced very, very heavily by Foster’s handling of the Tarzan character which to me always seemed regardless of what he was doing, always seemed so completely credible and believable that the story and what happened to the character had an effect on me.”

Tor came about through his interest with the prehistoric world, Kubert revealed in the same interview back in 2009: “I’ve always been fascinated, as most children have, with dinosaurs and those creatures of that sort. I’ve always been fascinated by that and I’ve read many, many books and have practically lived in the Museum of Natural History for a long time.”

As well as working for St John Comics, Kubert also contributed to EC Comics’ Two-Fisted Tales alongside EC regulars Wally wood, Jack Davis and John Severin.

Later in the 1950s, the artist began his association with the genre that would make his career: war comics.

By the end of 1955, Kubert was drawing exclusively for DC with editor Julius Schwartz giving him, Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino the task of revamping DC superheroes for what would become the Silver Age. Their efforts would become The Flash, which debuted in Showcase#4 (Oct 1956).

As his career developed, the artist got a little faster in completing his work, he admitted in our interview: “I don’t set a time slot when I sit down to work. My feeling, my sense is however that I feel a little bit more secure about what I’m doing now than when I was younger and so I believe that the work goes a little faster. I have gained a certain amount of sureness and commitment. I do barrel ahead on my work. I have no compunctions and no fears about what I’m doing. I don’t second-guess myself at this stage of the game.”

In the 1960s, the illustrator became even more prolific drawing historical adventures starring the Viking Prince for DC and creating what would become his most famous character, Sgt Rock with writer Kanigher, for Our Army At War. He also returned to superhero Hawkman in DC’s Brave And The Bold, revamping him for a new era. Kubert also co-created German WWI flier Enemy Ace in Our Army At War #151 which came out in Feb 1965.

Kubert was DC’s director of publications from 1967 to 1976 and his impact on the company was immense. He drew DC’s adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan for the publisher, bringing his pulp sensibilities to bear on the writer’s iconic jungle lord. Kubert was the face of DC for many years, contributing covers for a range of the company’s titles from superheroes to horror, war to fantasy.

 

In 1976, Kubert put something back into the industry that had been his life all this years with the founding of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art with his wife Muriel. 

He taught a range of comic artists who went on to become professionals in the industry including Steve Lieber, Amanda Conner, Eric Shanower and Scott Kolins.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Kubert contributed to a number of DC milestone anniversary issues including Batman #400 and Justice League of America 200. He returned tor Tor in the 1990s but he began to focus on more personal work with books like Fax From Sarajevo about the Yugoslavian conflict in 1996, Yossel, set in Poland during the Holocaust (2003) and Jew Gangster (2005). In 2003, Kubert came back to Sgt Rock, to illustrate a graphic novel, Between Hell And A Hard Place with writer Brian Azzarello and again in 2006 to write and draw Sgt Rock: The Prophecy. 

 

Kubert’s legacy is so huge that we can only really scratch the surface of his career here. His shadow on the industry continues to be significant with his sons, Adam and Andy joining him in comics. His elegant brushwork and attention to detail marked him out as one of the greatest mainstream four color creators of the twentieth century with a true love for the medium and a genuine intention to pass on the skills he had acquired himself over many decades. Also Kubert continued to develop and evolve as a creator, not happy to rest on his laurels. 

Here’s the rest of our 101 Greatest Comic Artists list so far

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.12: Wally Wood

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.13: Jim Steranko

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.14: Alex Raymond

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.15: Harvey Kurtzman

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.16: Walter Simonson

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.17: Russ Heath

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.18: Bill Sienkiewicz

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.19: Jack Cole

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.20: Bernie Krigstein

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.21: Graham Ingels

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.22: Al Williamson

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.23: Barry Windsor-Smith

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.24: Alex Ross

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.25: John Byrne

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.26: Mike Mignola

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.27: Basil Wolverton

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.28: Howard Chaykin

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.29: Moebius

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.30: Dave Gibbons

 

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.31: Creig Flessel

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.32: Milt Caniff

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.34: Burne Hogarth

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.35: LB Cole

 

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.37: Bill Everett

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.38: Robert Crumb

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.39: Mac Raboy

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.41: Jim Starlin

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.42: Mike Zeck

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.43: Adam Hughes

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.44: Daniel Clowes

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.45: Gene Colan

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.46: George Perez

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.47: Michael William Kaluta

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.48: Cary Nord

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.49: Frank Quitely

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.50: Mike Ploog

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.51: Johnny Craig

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.52: Darwyn Cooke

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.53: Steve Dillon

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.54: Gil Kane

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.55: Michael Zulli

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.56: John Romita

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.57: Joe Maneely

 

 

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.58: Marshall Rogers

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.59: John Severin

 

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.60: Alex Toth

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.61: Brian Bolland

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.62: David Mazzuchelli

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.63 Reed Crandall

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.64 Harry Anderson

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.65 Nick Cardy

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.66 Matt Wagner

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.67 Bryan Hitch

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.68 Shawn Martinbrough

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.69 Al Feldstein

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.70 Nestor Redondo

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.71 Tarpe Mills

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.72 Eduardo Risso

 

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.73 JH Williams III

 

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.74 Irv Novick

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.75 Dan Zolnerowich

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.76 Gilbert Shelton

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.77 Tommy Lee Edwards

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.78: Sean Phillips

 

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.79: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.80: Dan DeCarlo

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.81: Marie Severin

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.82: John Paul Leon

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.83: Jim Lee

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.84: Denys Cowan

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.85: Ross Andru

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.86: Paul Gustavson

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.87: George Evans

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.88: Michael Golden

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.89: Matt Baker

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.90: Todd McFarlane

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.91: Fiona Staples

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.92: Carl Barks

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.93: Carmine Infantino

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.94: Alan Davis

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.95: CC Beck

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.96: Syd Shores

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.97: Bob Fujitani

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.98: Tim Sale

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.99: Jim Aparo

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