Joe Kubert was a big part of my comic book past. I read a ton of Sgt. Rock and the Haunted Tank when I was a kid. Kubert had this amazing way of putting you right there in the action, of pitting men against men, and yet never losing the human side of things. His work showcased a lot of adventure and daring, but often included irony and humor. The people he drew in those panels were real, vulnerable, and they were folks you could have known in any town you lived in. They were heroes and they were individuals up against impossible odds. Not all of them won.
I liked Marvel's Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos too, but those stories never quite rivaled what Joe Kubert and his buddies at DC Comics were doing.
If you've never read a Joe Kubert comic, there are a lot of collections out there. Several of them are in libraries. He didn't just do Sgt. Rock or military comics. He also brought out the Silver Age Hawkman, DC Comics' run on Tarzan of the Apes, Tor (prehistoric series that's still talked about) and a huge body of work. He founded one of the first comics schools and made a huge impact on the world of comics.
Kubert never set out to be a legend. He was just a man doing the best that he could at whatever he was given. But what he gave back to the industry and his readers was awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment