Tag: Joe Kubert

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With Further Ado #407: Kubert and Comic Art Collides with Academia

With Further Ado #407: Kubert and Comic Art Collides with Academia

Posted on by Ed Catto

Even though I’m teaching a lot of classes these days, there are some classes I’d really like to take! It turns out The Kubert School has just merged with County College of Morris.

The Kubert School, the brainchild of the brilliant Joe Kubert, was established in 1976 essentially as a technical school for artists wanting to get into comics, illustration, and/or animation. So many of your favorites have graduated from this illustrious school. Here’s just a few:

• Thomas Yeates
• Amanda Conner
• Stephen R. Bissette
• Andy Kubert
• Adam Kubert
• Rick Veitch
• Jan Duursema
• Tom Mandrake
• Timothy Truman
• Thom Zahler
• Eric Shanower
• Steve Lieber
• Scott Kolins
• Dan Parent
• Sergio Cariello
• Matt Hollingsworth
• Ed Piskor

I worked with Joe and The Kubert School on a couple of projects, and it was always a joyously fun spot to visit. And yes, I always had FOMO that I didn’t enroll way back when.

But today, I’m so encouraged that academia now embraces it all and provides a pathway for talented folks to break into comics (and so much more).

The article is here and below: Continue reading “With Further Ado #407: Kubert and Comic Art Collides with Academia” →

With Further Ado #388: Seeing Red

With Further Ado #388: Seeing Red

Posted on by Ed Catto

There’s something about red comic book covers. I’m not sure what it is. I just love ‘em. I think maybe it was a sort of trend when I was kid, or some design choice that was popular for a hot minute. Nonetheless, these things stick with us, and I still love red covers.

Here’s a few that really stick out:

Best-but-Worst-Costume Design – One of the first Red Covers I loved was Detective Comics #358 from 1966. This introduced Spellbinder and his over-the-top costume.  You don’t see many Spellbinder cosplayers, and there’s a reason for that.  Fun fact: this copy (I keep it framed in my office) was editor Jack Schiff’s file copy!

Dizzying Heights –  I guess Balloon Buster, one of DC’s war comics heroes, liked these Red Covers too because here’s two of them almost back to back. Check out these amazing Joe Kubert mid-sixties covers on All-American Men of War #113 and #116.

Giant Italian Batman – Here’s a copy of Batman #61, but not the issue you are thinking of. This is a 1969 Italian publication that reprinted several Batman adventures. While Giant Batman vs. Hawkman seems like a quite a battle, sadly it was not found in the interior pages.

Yellow on Red – Alex Segura is a fantastic writer, and he’s having fun with Mad Cave’s new Dick Tracy series. Issue #3 Red Cover really pops!

Is it really Red? – Another modern cover by another fantastic writer, Phillip Kennedy Johnson. I enjoy his work quite a bit. This cover to Batman and Robin #25 by Javier Fernández with color by Marcelo Maiolo, is striking, but even I’m not sure if it counts as a Red Cover.

Not all of them are Winners – Ok, maybe a Red Cover doesn’t make it an instant classic. Here’s a very lame cover, Unexpected #84 from 1964. Certainly artists Dick Dillin and Sheldon Moldoff tried hard, but this one sure is a dud.

 

Do you have a favorite Red Cover? I’d love to see it.

Brainiac On Banjo: Lessons Ignored

Brainiac On Banjo: Lessons Ignored

Posted on by Mike Gold

“History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man.” — From Godzilla, written by Buck Dharma.

If I were to make a list of what I consider the most important comic book series ever launched by Marvel Comics, The ‘Nam would make my top five with ease. Maybe the top two.

So The ‘Nam Omnibus, all 1128 pages of it and weighing in at six and one-half pounds, deserves a revisit. These humongous omnibi usually have pretty small print runs so they might be hard to find after a bit — this big dog was released last August but at $349.00 a pop you might still be able to find a copy at a friendly neighborhood comics shop. If so, they might be willing (if able) to cut you a deal.

“War comics” is something of a misnomer. Gung-ho stories about the evil enemies, be they German, Japanese, Viet Cong, or MAGAts, aren’t interesting. The white guys carry their bazookas into combat and shoot down all the snipers firing from the trees… and that’s about it. We are always the good guys, and the enemy is always bad — no matter who the enemy might have been at the time. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Lessons Ignored” →

With Further Ado #328: Merry Christmas 2024

With Further Ado #328: Merry Christmas 2024

Posted on by Ed Catto

Forty years ago, I was in my senior year at Cornell University and a proud member of the Ithaca Comic Book Club. We had monthly meetings, ran ITHACON and even had a newsletter, The Panel, in that pre-digital age.

I supplied the cover to The Panel’s December 1984 issue. Clearly I was riffing on one of my favorite Christmas stories – “The Christmas Peril”. It was originally published in Batman #27, from 1944) but I read it as a reprint in Batman #239 (one of my all-time favorite comics.)

Of note – that’s my boyhood house they are flying above, and the neighbors’ houses too. Even Mr. Meyers’—the next-door neighbors’—pick-up truck is there! And in those days before Google Maps, we had to draw stuff like that without any satellite photo references. It was all memory and imagination, baby. Continue reading “With Further Ado #328: Merry Christmas 2024” →

With Futher Ado #300: RIP My Comic Book Reading Dad

With Futher Ado #300: RIP My Comic Book Reading Dad

Posted on by Ed Catto

My dad just passed away, and we’re all dealing with the grief and the loss. I am struggling to write one of the eulogies, and I’m hoping that writing this 300th “With Further Ado” will be a good “warm-up” exercise for writing that difficult speech.

It makes sense to shine the spotlight (Batsignal?) on my dad as he really was a comic book guy. He grew up trading comics, as did many of those kids from late 40s and early 50s. He would tell me that his favorite was Crimebuster (and his monkey) from Lev Gleason’s BOY Comics. In fact, a few years ago, Joe Kubert gifted my dad with an autographed sequence from when he worked on that series all those years ago. It was a joy to buy him back issues of that series every time I’d stumble across affordable copies.

My dad also enjoyed reading The Phantom and Prince Valiant Sunday strips in the newspapers. He loved the sweeping adventures, and of course, the father-son themes of each strip made if fun for me to enjoy each one with him. Continue reading “With Futher Ado #300: RIP My Comic Book Reading Dad” →

Brainiac On Banjo: Five Comics Tropes I Want Back!

Brainiac On Banjo: Five Comics Tropes I Want Back!

Posted on by Mike Gold

Get out your white suit, your tap shoes and tails, let’s go backwards when forward fail, and movie stars you thought were alone then now are framed beside your bed — “Everything Old Is New Again,” written by Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager

Every commercial storytelling medium that achieves any sort of longevity finds itself inventing recurring themes and concepts, often inadvertently. The kids today call them “tropes” but I’m old enough to remember when they were simply called “do that again so we can pay our bills.”

This is not to suggest comics have abandoned the trope motif. Nothing could be further from the truth — except Donald Trump. If we stopped using all the contemporary comics tropes we’d have nothing but panel borders and staples. But I miss the occasional use of a number of little used or ignored formats and concepts. I’m going to list a mere five; I’d do more if I had a functional attention-span and this wasn’t a holiday weekend.

5. Backgrounds

There was a time when most comics stories had backgrounds, unless they were inked by Vinnie Colletta. You know, stuff going on or simply being there to establish environment or allow for some foreshadowing. Some artists would drop “eyeball kicks” into their backgrounds to lighten the mood. Let us not forget that minimizing or not drawing backgrounds is a great way to pick up deadline time.

Now we have computers that deploy palettes that contain three million more colors than the naked eye can distinguish. We can go apeshit with our computers and the color artists have a lot more range and so it is intuited that the need for filling space with backgrounds isn’t necessary. Well, not to this guy. Let’s cut back on the cutting back on backgrounds. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Five Comics Tropes I Want Back!” →

Brainiac On Banjo: A.I. Swiping Honored By Government!

Brainiac On Banjo: A.I. Swiping Honored By Government!

Posted on by Mike Gold

I’m a substitute for another guy. I look pretty tall but my heels are high. The simple things you see are all complicated. I look pretty young, but I’m just back-dated. — Pete Townshend, “Substitute”

I’ve just done a couple of conventions over the past several weeks — C2E2 in Chicago and the always-fantastic Ithacon in – surprise! – Ithaca, New York. As always, I enjoyed pressing the flesh (in a neighborly way), signing a shitload of comics, including the ones I forgot I worked on, and talking with a lot of friends old and new. Even though my life has been one massive comic book convention that has lasted 54 years and counting, it’s a collegial environment chock full of swell folks.

Whereas I did not conduct a formal survey, it is safe to say the major topic of general conversation was “Artificial Intelligence.” No, not the type commonly used by our politicians in the southern states, nor the type often used in the corporate suites of many publishers. I’m referring to the computer devices that create imitations of the works of artists and writers all over this rapidly-boiling planet of ours. I suspect if some binary-workers created software that provided abortion care, our governments would be all over that as well, but ramming some people’s religious “values” such as matricide down the throats of those with differing religious values is a well-known diversion for our nation’s judicial systems. But, I think I digress… therefore I am. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: A.I. Swiping Honored By Government!” →

Eighty Years of Hawkman Panel at Baltimore Comic-Con

Eighty Years of Hawkman Panel at Baltimore Comic-Con

Posted on by Bob Harrison

On October 23, 2021 at Baltimore Comic-Con we held a panel discussion about the history of Hawkman in comics. Guests in attendance were Mike Gold, Jack C. Harris, Jerry Ordway, and Robert Venditti.

We talked about important creators involved in the character’s history and his popularity and publication challenges. Robert Venditti talked about his most recent Hawkman series. Jerry Ordway gave some great insights into the character from an artist’s perception. Mike Gold and Jack Harris shared some inside details on how comics get made. It was a super informative conversation.

We hope you enjoy the panel and let us know what you think.

With Further Ado #163: Hosting Halloween

With Further Ado #163: Hosting Halloween

Posted on by Ed Catto

Halloween is seemingly right around the corner. There’s a lot of candy in the stores. Of course, we know that this is all part of a pantry loading strategy. That’s consumer-package-ese for a plan to make you buy more than you need right now.  In other words, the candy companies want households across America to buy their Halloween candy ‘early’, then give in to temptation and eat it, and then rush back to store to buy more candy to give out to trick or treaters.

Of course, in the this crazy world of delta variants and anti-vaxxers, it’s hard to predict just what will happen this Halloween.

I can safely predict that (1) I won’t be buying bags of Halloween Candy for trick-or-treaters (We always give away comics.) and (2) I’ll be reading a spooky story or two.

And in that… vein, let’s turn the spotlight on a few wonderful comics I recently rescued from bargain boxes from various comic shops.  And the theme for this week is Horror Hosts.

Spooky radio shows and comics have been using Horror Hosts to introduce, or queue up, creepy tales for years and years. They typically don’t engage in the story itself but rather just make a few ghastly puns and set the stage for a story. The fine of art of horror hosting is almost a lost art, I’m afraid.

Do You Believe in… Ghosts ?

This issue of DC’s long-running Ghosts touts the fact that is the 10th anniversary of the title (with 27 Spine cracking pages), but even cheesy sales copy can’t keep you from admiring the brilliant Joe Kubert cover.

The horror host for this one is a bit of a puzzler. He’s called Squire Shade, but he seems to be an almost total rip-off of that perennial Hawkman foe, The Gentleman Ghost. In some issues Squire Shade has a portly girth, but in this issue he could’ve been a ….dead ringer… for the confounding arch nemesis of the Winged Wonder. Continue reading “With Further Ado #163: Hosting Halloween” →

With Further Ado #148: Two Giants Among Men – Kubert and Anderson

With Further Ado #148: Two Giants Among Men – Kubert and Anderson

Posted on by Ed Catto

In recent weeks, I’ve written about Bill Turner, who has been running the ITHACON comic convention for over 45 years. It’s quite a feat.  And when asked how it all started, Bill will tell the tale of the local comic club – where fans would meet to discuss and trade comics.

In today’s world, so many of those actual clubs have been replaced by online groups. I’m in a few comic-focused groups, and I find them to be (generally) fun and enlightening.

One group is dedicated to the DC character Hawkman. Ever since I was a kid in 1967 and I laid my eyes on Brave and the Bold #70, I’ve been a fan. This dynamic Carmine Infantino cover, with inks by Joe Giella, shows – astonishingly – Batman and Hawkman locked in a particularly brutal struggle. They aren’t messing around. Their costumes are shredded. The Batmobile is smashed-up.

”How could this be?”, my five-year-old mind screamed!

That sparked my Hawkman fascination. Just one step over from my Batman obsession.

Fast forward to today: Tim Board’s Hawkworld FB group has re-ignited my Hawkman passion. I’ve written about Tim back in With Further Ado #23.  And really, how could any classic comic fan not like Hawkman when so many fantastic creators have contributed their talents to this character?  Favorites like Gardner Fox, Ryan Sook, Rags Morales, Tim Truman, Mike Gold, Robert Vendetti, Tony Isabella, Graham Nolan, Tim Truman, Bryan Hitch …the list goes on and on.  And it includes two of my favorite, undeniable comic legends:  Joe Kubert and Murphy Anderson.

Joe Kubert worked on Hawkman in the Golden Age and then helped relaunch the character during the Silver Age. After a few try-out issues in Brave and the Bold (that was a thing back then), he handed the artistic reigns over to fellow New Jerseyan Murphy Anderson.

Note: Murphy would become the cover and interior artist when Hawkman #1 debuted in 1964.

I had the supreme honor of getting to know both Joe Kubert and Murphy Anderson a bit. Their artistic talents were off-the-charts. Beyond that I was really struck by how kind, humble and professional each of these gentlemen was. These were both exceptional people, in addition to being exceptional entrepreneurs, exceptional family men and exceptional artists.

That’s why, when I recently purchased a copy of Mystery in Space #87, one of the tryout issues for Hawkman, I was surprised-not-surprised to find the following letter in the letter column.  In this issue Joe was officially passing the baton to Murphy.  I was so impressed to find this gem as the first letter in the Letter to the Editors page, entitled (underwhelmingly) Via Rocket Mail.

Kubert rolls out the red carpet for his successor, Anderson. Does it get kinder, classier or more professional than this?

{And sharp-eyed comics fans will note editor Julie Schwartz stealing Stan Lee’s “nuff said” in his response to the letter.}

Joe Kubert and Murphy Anderson. Geez, what great guys.

*Although I will always think of Murphy as a true-blue Tarheel!