Forst Comics News: How did you first become involved in drawing comic books for a living?
Joe Jusko: I could draw from a very early age, and from the first time I’d ever picked up a comic, I knew that was what I wanted to do with my life. How slim the chances were of actually achieving that goal never occurred to me, so I simply drew every day with the intent of making that my career. Shortly afteI graduatedon from NYC’s High School of Art & Design in 1977, I happened to meet Howard Chaykin in a local comic shop. As luck would have it,t he was looking for a new assistant. He saw a few of my pieces and offered me the position. After several months working with him, he set up a meeting for me with editor Julie Simmons at Heavy Metal Magazine, where I sold my first cover. After that, he sent me up to Marve,l and my career took off in earnest from there.
1st: How would you describe your art style?
Joe: My approach would classify me as a “narrative illustrator”. I was reared in an era where covers told a story and gave some indication of the content of the book they were representing. The majority of contemporary covers are predominantly pin-up shots that tell you nothing about the story inside. While I’ve done my share of those type covers, my preference will always be to tell a story with my work. Fine art is art for art’s sake. Illustration, by its very definition, is a narrative discipline. While they’re easier to create, I find nothing less exciting than an editor asking me to just give him “a really cool shot of” fill in the blank.
I’ve seen my work often referred to as photo-realistic. My work is accurately drawn and tightly rendered, but they’re still obviously paintings. I find anything painted to be indistinguishable from a photograph, more of a technical exercise than anything else. I do find the skill and patience it takes admirable, though.
1st: You recently did the covers for “Fantastic Four # 6-9. What did you try to achieve with them?
Joe: I’ve been doing the Marvel corner box recreations for about a decade, de and they’ve been among my most popular works. I’ve always been enamored of the corner boxes and thought realizing them in paint would be fun. They’re essentially a vanity project for me. Marvel had seen the first few I had done, and that turned into a fairly extensive cover run.
My goal is not to re-imagine them, but to keep as much of the original artist evident in the painted interpretations as possible. I think keeping them recognizable is what maintains the nostalgia factor that has made them so popular.
1st: Do you prefer working on covers to interiors?
Joe: While I have done some interior work over the years, including three issues of The Black Panther, and a couple of Vampirella and Tomb Raider books, I realized early on that my attention span was better suited to single images than sequential storytelling.
1st: Out of all the Marvel characters you have drawn, do you have a favorite?
Joe: That’s a common question that artists get, and I think it’s more about which characters you find you havea better feel for. I guess I enjoy working on the Hulk, as you can do a lot of outrageous stuff with him. If I were ever to consider a Marvel graphic novel, though, I’d probably pick The Silver Surfer. That original 18-issue series is my all-time favorite comic run. Throw the Hulk in, and we’d be golden!
1st: Do you enjoy creating art for trading cards?
Joe: I do! Again, it’s the ability to put everything into one piece and then move on to something totally different. Trading cards definitely suit my mental approach and keep me from getting bored with anything I’m working on. They are a bit draining as you have to produce a large body of work over a relatively short period of time, but I’ve done so many at this point that I can get into the groove fairly easily.
1st: You created a cover of Tarzan for the 2025 Overstreet Price Guide Cover. Why do you like to draw Tarzan?
Joe: While I’ve done more than my share of superhero work over the years, I’ve always been drawn to the more reality-based characters (if a guy raised by apes in Africa who at one point fights dinosaurs at the center of the earth could be considered “reality-based”). I’m a better fit for Men’s Adventure type material, I think, as it offers the ability to paint things I have a major interest in. I’m a frustrated wildlife artist, so any opportunity to realize big cats and other creatures is a joy. I’m also not a fan of painting tech, so natural and organic environments are always my preference. Tarzan affords all that and more. The Price Guide cover is a recreation of the Joe Kubert cover from, I believe, the fifth edition back in 1975. It’s, coincidentally, the very first Price Guide I’d ever bought.
1st: What has been the strangest commission you have been asked to do?
Joe: Someone once asked for a very sexually explicit Supergirl and Krypto drawing at a con. Needless to say, I didn’t do it. I shudder to think about what he’d asked others to do over the years.
1st: When drawing a bad girl, how do you make them look tough?
Joe: It’s really just about attitude and posture/body language. It’s never about pandering, as many artists seem to think
1st: How important has Linda been to your career?
Joe: She’s a constant source of encouragement and understanding of the requirements of my job, as well as my biggest support system.
1st: What do you have lined up next to work on?
Joe: The Book of Jusko, my second hardcover career retrospective from Joe Pruett and Desperado, will be out in the next month or so. We put a lot of effort into it,t and I think it came out great. I’m continuing with my covers for the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library. I’m almost done with the John Carter books and will be moving on to the Pellucidar series next. There are several one-shot covers that I’ve done that I’m not at liberty to discuss, but my main project is still the ERB series. I also keep adding a corner box piece here and there as time permits. They’re a fun distraction from time to time.
1st: What would you like to say to your many fans?
Joe: I am so appreciative and humbled by their continued appreciation of my work. They are the reason I’ve been gifted with a career that has spanned almost 50 years. That little kid who dreamt of doing this for a living could never thank them enough.
About Author
