Joe Kubert: September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012
Born Yosaif Kubert, Joe Kubert, as he was widely known for most of his lifetime, sadly, passed away yesterday, was truly one of the Greats: an Icon, a Legend, and he worked at his craft constantly, every day, from the age of (some say) 13 or 16 years old, until his passing last evening, August 12, 2012, aged 85, just three weeks shy of his 86th birthday!He was born in Poland, (now The Ukraine), and, when his family came to America, they lived in the Jewish ghetto in Brooklyn, New York.
His formal art training was at the High School of Music and Art in New York City.
His extremely prolific career in the field of comic book art, and in terms of great success in the field, was truly formidable, and held in the highest esteem by everyone who follow such things!
Joe Kubert, more than most, re-defined how we look at war, (in his DC Comics, Inc’s. Sgt. Fury of Easy Company, “…where the fightin’ ain’t easy!”)….tales of great courage, at devotion to an important cause – to free the world of tyranny and great evil; and at how we look at and view brotherhood and sisterhood, and of great sacrifice, on the part of millions of millions of courageous men and women, including civilians, caught in that struggle, from 1939 – 1945!
Joe Kubert’s illustrated tales of Sgt. Rock told of huge human sacrifice, of fighting against the formidable odds of the evil Axis horde, in their evil attempt, in not one, but in two separate World Wars, to conquer the planet, and in their bipartisan goal and attempt to completely exterminate the Jewish race; The Holocaust-!!!
Joe Kubert, the man, the Legend, will be truly, greatly missed by his beloved family, his colleagues in the field, and by millions of his adoring fans, in all parts of the world!
He was an artist, a writer, a chronicler, a teacher, a husband, and a father.
He of course founded the famous (Joe) Kubert Art School, to train would-be artists the correct illustration fundamentals of how to illustrate comic books by the proper methods, teaching his art students, along with his peers, who also helped train them at the school, how to hone their skills – spending decades as a teacher, and a sort of father figure, to help ensure their eventual success in the thrilling, burgeoning comics art field!
When one thinks of Joe Kubert, immediately, for many, Sgt. Frank Rock, and the men of Easy Company, in the title Our Army At War, (most of them written by Robert Khaniger), come to mind Joe Kubert is also very much associated with Hawkman; these two characters spring immediately to mind, when discussing the works of Joe Kubert!
However, Joe Kubert also illustrated thousands of other fictional characters, including Green Lantern, The Flash, The Justice Society of America, Tor, as well well as real people from real world history, the daily newspaper strip Tales of The Green Berets, The Batman, horror comics for the company EC (which stood for Educational Comics) in the 1950′s, Viking Prince, for the Silver Age (1960′s) DC Comics’ title Brave and The Bold, X-Men, a long-running 1970′s incredible Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan at DC Comics, Inc.; and recently, Before Watchmen: Nite-Owl, to name just some!
Kubert’s much lauded graphic novels include ‘Abraham Stone’ (1990), ‘Fax From Sarajevo’ (1996), ‘Yossel April 1943′ (2003), ‘Jew Gangster’ (2005), and ‘Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965′ (2010.) This is in addition to new Tor and Sgt. Rock graphic novels, in recent times.
Joe Kubert was the winner of both Eisner and Harvey Awards, for best graphic novel of 1996, for Fax From Sarajevo. Additionally, his name was elected to the Harvey Awards Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998.
The name Joe Kubert is held in the highest esteem, by the innumerable millions of his fans, the world over, shoulder to shoulder with such Collosal Greats as Jack Kirby, Russ Heath, Gene Colan, Will Eisner, Jean Giraud a.k.a. Moebius, and many, many more!
Joe Kubert’s loss to the art world is immense. He was Giant Among Men.
I’d say Rest In Peace, Joe, but I know better. Because I’d be willing to bet that, as I type these words, The Lord Already has already supplied you with a brand new Drafting table. You are, very likely, hunkered over it right this minute, with pencil, pen and brush, carving out, so to speak, your next illustrated Epic, for the millions of fans who, like you, have passed on to that Other Realm!
The rest of us will require patience on our end, for the reason that we’re all going to have to wait a longer period, before we will then, joyfully, get to read and experience it, for ourselves!
God bless you, Joe Kubert!
And now, here are some interesting Joe Kubert bio links from the internet, for your interested reading, from other writers who, the other day, chronicled parts of Joe Kubert history! :
and…
–Phil Latter
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
www.firstcomicsnews.com staff reporter, Canadian Bureau Chief for same.
