Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert

Before I read Man of Rock I knew OF Joe Kubert, but I didn't know much ABOUT Joe Kubert. I knew Kubert from his artwork on Enemy Ace and a few other comics but to me he WAS the embodiment of SGT Rock. I grew up with his WWII stories. This book gave me an even better picture of the man behind the brush.This book looks at the origins of Kubert's family, his Jewish parents' wise decision to leave Poland in the 1920s and their struggles to make it in the United States as newly-arrived legal immigrants. In the late 1930s and early 1940s Joe began his career in the field of comic book art, doing piecework and learing from the very best in the field at the time. He was given entire stories to do on his own at a fairly early age and even worked his own comic series for a time. Eventually he became an artist for DC comics, where he has made an indelible mark on pop culture.The book is well-illustrated with examples of Kubert's artwork as well as pictures of him and his family through the years. Told in an anecdotal style, it sometimes wanders from the main subject yet manages to give the reader a feel for the man. An excellent study of this great artist.

Great book, great condition, great read!

Once upon a time there was a young man named Joseph Kubert who traveled across the ocean to arrive in New York. His father, Jakob, and mother, Etta, encouraged him as a young man in his pursuit of art. With the arrival of Action Comics #1, and the influence of the daily comic strips by Raymond and Foster, he found himself. Joe the young man, had become Joe, the artist.He arrived at the Harry A Chesler shop, a precoucious 11 year old eager to learn. At $5 a week, he practised and watched the industry grow from the Shops. Growing up as a professional artist while still in school, Joe's early work can be found in books from Fox, Quality, Fawcett, MLJ, and eventually DC comics. His stops at the Demby, Eisner, and finally the DC shop under Shelly Mayer proved valuable.His age presented no barrier to his development. He learned at the elbows of the early practishoners that included Irv Novick, Tex Blaisdell, Alex Kotzky, Lou Fine, Will Eisner, Nick Cardy, Reed Crandall, Jack Coke, and many other talented individuals. His first published work was for Hollyhoke, a back up story that featured Voltron that Kubert thought stunk. For a young artist of 13, it was the beginning of a long career that still continues today."Man of Rock" is an amazing, in depth, passionate, detailed, living chronology of the story of Yosaif Kubert. Schelly discusses his beginings in the Jewish ghetto, and his rise to prominence from janitor to art school owner/director/teacher. The book is addictively fascinating, with each chapter unveiling the genesis of Kubert through his work and interests. It is very fitting that he and his late wife Muriel, created the Kubert School to mentor future artists given his steep learning curve in the shops at the tables of the legends.Within the pages, Schelly discusses the Sgt Rock, the Green Beret, Tarzan, his graphic novels, his school, his early work at DC with All American, and St John on the 3-D titles. In discussion with Mr Kubert once, he told me that this book was coming out, and that he had no choice but to co-operate as Schelly had talked to all of his friends already!I am glad that he did.This book is truly amazing. If you can imagine that this man, in his early 80's now, is still creating published material for DC, and teaching, then you need to read this book. As passionate as WIll Eisner was about sequential art, Kubert is about passing on his skills and storytelling.Thank you Mr Schelly and Mr Kubert.Tim Lasiuta[...]

Once upon a time there was a young man named Joseph Kubert who traveled across the ocean to arrive in New York. His father, Jakob, and mother, Etta, encouraged him as a young man in his pursuit of art. With the arrival of Action Comics #1, and the influence of the daily comic strips by Raymond and Foster, he found himself. Joe the young man had become Joe the artist.He arrived at the Harry "A" Chesler shop, a precocious 12-year-old eager to learn. At $5 a week, he practised and watched the industry grow from the shops. Growing up as a professional artist while still in school, Joe's early work can be found in books from Fox, Quality, Fawcett, MLJ, and eventually DC comics. His stops at the Demby, Eisner, and finally the All-American shop under Shelly Mayer proved invaluable.His age presented no barrier to his development. He learned at the elbows of the early practitioners that included Irv Novick, Tex Blaisdell, Alex Kotzky, Lou Fine, Will Eisner, Nick Cardy, Reed Crandall, Jack Cole, and many other talented individuals. His first published work was for Holyoke, a back-up story that featured Volton that Kubert thought stunk. For a young artist of 13, it was the beginning of a long career that still continues today."Man of Rock" is an amazing, in-depth, passionate, detailed, living chronology of the story of Yosaif Kubert. Bill Schelly discusses Joe's beginnings in the Jewish ghetto, and his rise to prominence as an art school owner/director/teacher. The book is addictively fascinating, with each chapter unveiling the genesis of Kubert through his work and interests. It is very fitting that he and his late wife Muriel created the Kubert School to mentor future artists given his steep learning curve in the shops at the tables of the legends.Within the pages, Schelly discusses Sgt. Rock, the Green Berets, Tarzan, his graphic novels, his school, his early work at DC with All-American, and St. John on the 3-D titles. In a prior discussion with Mr. Kubert, he told me that this book was coming out, and that he had no choice but to co-operate as Schelly would write it, whether or not Joe participatedI am glad that he did.This book is truly amazing. If you can imagine that this man, in his early 80's now, is still creating published material for DC, and teaching, then you need to read this book. Kubert is about passing on his skills and storytelling as Will Eisner was passionate about sequential art. Thank you, Mr. Schelly and Mr. Kubert.