Comic Legend Joe Kubert Passes Away at 85

The comic community was rocked on Sunday by the news of  an industry legend’s death. Joe Kubert passed away on  August 12th due to multiple myeloma – a form of cancer that destroys bone marrow.

His work in the comic field is outstanding. Contributing to numerous titles in his overwhelming career, he is most famous for his work on Sgt Rock, for which he was still contributing right up to 2009. He dabbled with other comic companies, but was most well-known for his work at DC comics where he contributed his penciling talents to Hawkman and JLA among others.

DC Comics had this to say about the comic legend which can be found on http://www.wired.com

 We are saddened to learn of the death of our colleague and friend Joe Kubert. An absolute legend in the industry, his legacy will live on through his remarkable talent, with his sons and with the many artists who have passed through the storied halls of his celebrated school. An important member of the DC Comics family, Joe made an indelible mark on the entire DC Comics universe including his renowned and award-winning work on iconic characters such as Sgt. Rock, Enemy Ace, Hawkman and most recently Nite Owl. We are so honored to have worked side-by-side with such an unforgettable force in both comics and in life.”

– DC Entertainment Executive Team.

This statement has caused a bit of an outrage with comic lovers everywhere, because it essentially sounds like an advert for the new Watchman comics and not a tribute to a man that had been doing outstanding work for them all the way back to 1943. That’s near 70 years of service, and it’s been boiled down to ‘most recently Nite Owl ‘.

In addition to being one of the biggest names in the industry for the better part of the last century, but Joe also set up his own school for aspiring artists, and won Harvey Awards’ Jack Kirby Hall of Fame Award in 1997, and Will Eisner Comic Book Home of Fame in 1998. His two sons Adam and Andy are massively popular comic artists too, and it’s great to know that he has been an inspiration to so many people. My first experiences of him were through his sons. I’m a big fan of their work and it was through their work that I heard about their father. His work on Sgt Rock is still some of the best war stories I have ever read and his artwork is so distinctive you can spot it a mile away. The thing that struck me about his work is the way it seems so realistic. These people’s lives can be easily seen written on their face and in Sgt Rock’s case you can see the pain of war in his visage. Much how Harvey Pekar expertly showed what it was like to just be an average Joe Kubert’s work on Sgt Rock made me feel what it was like to be a member of the army.

He will be missed by the many fan that his work has touched, me included. To finish here are some touching words from the The Kubert School of Art …

Comic Rack: The Spider-Men Are Revealed, Archie vs Kiss, and Marvel Teasers!

Welcome to Comic Rack! My pick of the top five comic news stories in no particular order.

Comic Rack – The New 52 Omnibus, Creative Team Changes, & A Fond Farewell

Welcome to Comic Rack! Your weekly look at all the comic news from across the industry!

The New 52 Omnibus! – (TheSource)

This one I’ve been waiting for. The entire line up of the New 52 will be featured in the omnibus, and you can now own every first issue from every new series, if you don’t already. Don’t believe me? Here are 3 reasons why you need to get it:

Grizzly Graphic Novel Review: Batman and Son

So I’ve been doing a lot of Batman reading. And a lot of it happens to be written by Grant Morrison, who a lot of people love and a lot of people hate. I just previously reviewed Batman and Robin Volume 1, which is basically the adventures of the newest Batman: Dick Grayson and his sidekick Robin: Now the young, and mouthy Damian Wayne. I loved that trade even when I hadn’t yet seen when Damian Wayne first showed up on the scene. But now I finally am after reading Batman and Son.

Flashpoint: DC Comics next Major Event…

Aside from Batman, I was formerly unable to read most DC comics due to a lack of interest. I thought the heroes were too clean-cut, boring and flashy. That was until I was introduced to a little storyline called Blackest Night. I most definitely had never read a Green Lantern comic prior, but a friend told me how great Blackest Night was because heroes and villains were coming back from the dead killing everything in their path.

Click to Enlarge

I thought- “Hmmm… zombie heroes and villains basically? I’m in.” Even though they weren’t exactly zombies, that is still the concept that got me interested. I was not disappointed. The story had much more to it than just super powered zombies, and as a first time Lantern reader I had to piece together who the Guardians were, where the other colored lanterns came from, what each light/emotion meant on the spectrum, where Oa was, and what the Blackest Night meant. I had a great time after reading it, going back and reading everything that lead up to it. This included The Sinestro Corps War, Agent Orange, and Rage of the Red Lanterns. I had a better understanding of the Green Lantern universe after reading so much, and graciously appreciated the exciting new world made great by comic writing superstar Geoff Johns.

After Blackest Night I knew that Brightest Day had to be just as good, so that was the next big story for me. I was wrong, and shame on me for believing that Brightest Day was going to be another Green Lantern centered storyline, because it wasn’t. It instead focused on the 12 resurrected heroes and villains, and the reasoning behind their returns during the Blackest Night.

I’m not saying that Brightest Day is in any way a bad series, I’ve actually heard quite the contrary from fellow readers, it just wasn’t what I was expecting. Fortunately for me the upcoming War of the Green Lanterns story arc will help satisfy my GL cravings when it’s first two parts release today. My review for those will be forthcoming.

Aside from Hal Jordan having a big DC moment to shine in Blackest Night, the Flash also stood out to me as a primary character during the arc. It was rare to see a page where the two heroes weren’t working together, and it was truly awesome to see Flash as a temporary member of the Blue Lantern Corps, because as you know…. he had the ability to instill great hope. I’ve always liked the ‘Barry Allen’ Flash, but I’ve never actually had the desire to pick up a title starring only him. I’m hoping the upcoming Flashpoint event will do for me with the Flash, what Blackest Night did for me with Green Lantern, which is actually have a desire to read a DC character’s comic that isn’t named Batman.

See the Superman jail in the background?

Flashpoint will begin this May, being composed of five issues along with many tie-in books and one shots. However, it was announced at C2E2 that the Flashpoint tie-ins will be self-contained, and not necessary to follow the main story. Personally I like it better when you don’t have to pick up seven titles a week, for six months just to be in the loop which seems to be the trend nowadays with comic events.

Below is an official description of the upcoming arc from ComicVine:

Flashpoint is an event focusing on Barry Allen and the rest of the Flash Family’s efforts to fix the fissures in time, made by unknown forces. It was first mentioned in the sixth issue of Geoff Johns’ The Flash, and will later be seen in a five issue mini series written by Johns and drawn by Andy Kubert starting in May 2011. As with Blackest Night, Flashpoint will be accompanied by a fifteen three-issue mini series, as well as a number of one shots, starring characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and more, showing how the event affects their lives.

The series seems very interesting indeed, with these fissures in time having direct effects on many of the main DC heroes. I’m hoping to see a few alternate realities in the spin-off issues, seeing as how time itself is being manipulated, and it appears to be the case according to the promo below:

Oh my….

Bruce Wayne running casinos? Aquaman and Wonderwoman married? Superman detained? Hal Jordan is not the Green Lantern because Abin Sur never died?

Awesome! It has a very Age of Apocalypse vibe running through it, and I assume that Flash and the other speedsters who use the ‘Speed Force’ will be hot on the trail of exactly whatever the Flashpoint is. I cannot wait to get into this story, especially with Geoff Johns writing and Andy Kubert doing the art. Johns has proven himself a genius in breathing new life into characters and making them relevant again, and I have liked Andy Kubert’s art since he was doing X-Men in the 90’s. This seems like a great jumping on point for any passive reader of the Flash looking to expand their comic horizons. (Like me.)

Flashpoint will be speeding to your local comic store in May!