Farewell, Joe Kubert

[filkertom]

Great sadness. Legendary comic artist Joe Kubert has passed away at the age of 85. We extend condolences to his friends and family, and to the incredible comic art school he established in 1976.

Kubert was one of those artists like Alex Toth and Frank Cho: you feel as if they're not drawing so much as copying photographs. There's a life to his work, a reality to it that sucks you in that much deeper.

Here, let me try this: Picture three very famous cinematic swordfights, as illustrated by comic artists:

• The Man In Black vs. Inigo Montoya would, I think, best be drawn by Gil Kane or Terry Dodson (who's got more than a little Cho in him).
• Robin Hood vs. Guy of Gisbourne (Errol Flynn/Basil Rathbone), we're talking Jack Kirby or John Buscema.
• The final duel between D'artagnan and Rochefort (Michael York/Christopher Lee)... that's Joe Kubert.

What are some of your favorite Kubert stories or characters? I used to love Sgt. Rock -- gritty, realistic that didn't flinch from war. And of course his work on Hawkman was amazing. But every once in awhile he'd draw Batman, and that was something, because his Batman was lean rather than bulky, and looked as if he actually could travel magically from shadow to shadow.