Online desde: 05/01/2000       
Última atualização: 07/11/09       

UHQ: How many covers have you done in comics?

During his carreer Joe Kubert had the opportunity to draw everything. From superheroes to italian cowboys.

Kubert: I don't know. Thousands, I guess. Well for a whole year, back then, I was doing about 6 or 7 covers a week.

UHQ: When you were an editor?

Kubert: Yeah, while I was editing at DC.

UHQ: What was your biggest challenge in relation to comics?

Kubert: [long pause] I never even thought of anything like that. I love what I'm doing. It's a pleasure, not a challenge. The challenge may be to try to do each job better than the one I finished. But I don't know if you'd called that a challenge. That's fun!

G.I. Combat #112, june/july 1965.

UHQ: You've done War, Super-Heroes, Adventure, etc. What genre was your favorite?

Kubert: My favorite strip it's always been the one I'm working on.

UHQ: What was the best comic book you ever read?

Kubert: There was one that I really enjoyed reading. I can reread it, read it and reread it all over again. It's called: Scribbly, by Sheldon Mayer. He was the editor of when I was doing Hawkman and as a matter of fact DC is putting up a scholarship at The School in his name. But anyhow, Sheldon was one of my first editors when I was first doing Hawkman. He was also a Cartoonist in his own right.

He did a strip called Scribbly. It was sort of autobiographical. It was his history as a cartoonist. It's a story of a young kid who wants to break into cartooning; he wants to become a newspaper cartoonist. That strip was so lovely to read, such a pleasure to look at. That probably was my favorite.

UHQ: Fax from Sarajevo! How was the experience in producing that book?

Page from Fax From Sarajevo

Kubert: It was very rewarding personally to me. It was an actual occurrence that happened to a very dear friend of mine and I was kept aware for the full 2 years that he was trapped in Sarajevo during the war in Yugoslavia, 1992 to 1994. When he finally got out I felt that this was a story that other people should know, well so I did it the way I felt I knew how to do it best: in the form a comic book.

I didn't even expect it to be published. I didn't know who would publish it. I didn't know if a comic book publisher would even want to publish it.

UHQ: It was not your goal.

Kubert: No. I just wanted to do it. And thank God I was in a position where I could do that while I was making a living. I was quite surprised by the response from the people who read it; by the publishers…there were a number of publishers who wanted to publish it.

UHQ: In 1993 you came to Brazil to a comic book convention in Rio de Janeiro. Remember? And you had an invitation to do Tex from Sergio Bonelli, only published last year, 2001. Why did it take so long to do the project?

Italian edition of Texone #15

Kubert: Because I was busy with about 7 or 8 other projects. When I took the job on I told Sergio Bonelli that it would take me at least 3 years to do…and he said: "Fine". He didn't care how long it took as long as I did it. When I saw it went beyond the 3 years… it was 6 to 7 years that it took to finish the whole thing, I even offered to give back the money and take back my artwork.

I said: " Look, I can't keep you on…to keep the work so long, even though I told you it would take a long time, if you want I'll stop now. He said: "No! Continue doing it!"

UHQ:And how did you enjoy drawing the Italian cowboy?

Kubert: Oh, I enjoyed it. I loved it!

UHQ: Tex will be published in the United states. What is you expectation on that and which publisher do you think will…

Kubert: I have no control over that. I know that there are people who are working to try to get it published here in the United States, to do it in color, to do it in hard cover, for that matter, and I know there are a number of places in Europe that will be publishing it. Incidentally, Erwin Rustemagic, who is the man who was involved with the Fax from Sarajevo and the Tex is the one who's acting as an agent, speaking to the different publishers in Europe as well as in the United states to get it published.

UHQ: Do you like European comic?

Kubert: Love it!

UHQ: Which ones? Would you mention the ones you remember?

Kubert: I like most of the material that came out of Metal Hurlant, the artists that they had in France, Italy, England. Very talented people.

UHQ: Can you talk about Abraham Stone's work? What was the acceptance of those projects?

Abraham Stone

Kubert: Well, I did 3 Abraham Stone's books, I believe. They have been published and distributed in Europe and they also have been published here in the United States. The acceptance was very, very good. The only reason I haven't continued with them is because I have a load of projects that I'm working on and it's very hard to put aside one while I'm working on another.

UHQ: How has the experience of drawing the Preventive Maintenance Army Magazine been? What made you decide to get involved in that?

Kubert: We have a 5-year contract. We were very lucky to get it. It's ironic because as a young person, I think I was about 12 or 13, I worked for Will Eisner's studios. My job then was sweeping up the place. I did very little drawing, erasing everybody else's work, cleaning up, and Will was the one who created The PM Magazine, back in 1945, during WWII. That publication is over 50 years old. And every 5 or 10 years it goes out to bid again because it's a government project. And in order to acquire it one must to put out bids, it's quite a complicated ordeal that you have to go through.

It was through a telephone call from Neil Adams had found out that it was up for bid again. I had not even heard about it. Neil called me, he said: "Joe, this would be a good thing for you. You have help with a lot of students and a lot people, a lot of artists that you have, graduates who would be able to help and it would be perfect for you". I said: "Neil, thank you very much, I will apply for it" and I got it.

Tales of the Green Berets

UHQ: Did you enjoy doing Spider-man for the first time?

Kubert: [Laughter] I had done several Spider-man covers for Marvel before.

UHQ: Your work always created a lot of interest in journalists and authors of books, that already interviewed you many times to speak about your career...

Kubert: They have a lot of empty space that they have to fill up. [Laughter]

UHQ: What's your take on the business? Is it really hurting?

Kubert: No. It was hurting badly. But I think that it's coming around. The sense I get now from Marvel, from DC is that books are starting to pick up and sales are becoming more solid. The sales are better. Everything looks much, much better than it did before.

Brazillian edition of Viking Prince

UHQ: So what's your opinion on the invasion of Manga style in comics?

Kubert: I think it's great! I think anything that adds to our business, anything that stretches our business, that gives more opportunity for others to come in…I think it's wonderful! Most of the artists that I know like to work in a studio atmosphere, not because of competing against another artist that they're working with, but they get a better feeling, they get more momentum on their own work when they see somebody else's work. They can talk about the work and get more ideas. The more things that come into our business, the more things that spread our business, the more new things, the better for everybody.

UHQ: That's a funny one; they put me on the spot here! Do you know any Brazilian artist?

Joe Kubert as Tor, art by Sérgio Cariello

Kubert: No! [Laughter]

UHQ: What do you think of them? Oh, my Goodness!

Kubert: Terrible!!![more laughter] But seriously, of course! I know your brother, Octavio Cariello, Mauricio de Sousa. Matter of fact, I always been really quite surprised when I've been down there. I'm constantly surprised because... it's ironic... most of the places where it's hard to make a living, where it's hard to get a dollar or two together, it seems that the most talented young people come from that kind of set up. I'm always constantly surprised when they want to show me their work and the quality of the work that I see from the young people there is of a high caliber.

I'm disappointed when I see so may different people working on the same piece of artwork. That's why I tell you that the best thing for you is to be inking your own work. Don't let anybody else touch your work. Not that they don't do a good job but they take away from the individuality. So when I see other people's work, even my own sons, Adam and Andy... I see their pencils... I see how beautiful Adam and Andy's work is. But once somebody else inks it, once someone else colors it, it's hard to tell the difference from one artist's work from another.

Joe Kubert interview- part 1 | Joe Kubert interview- part 3