Without a doubt, my favorite comic growing up was Sgt. Rock. Some kids had great collections of Spiderman, Superman and Batman; my comic collection consisted of Our Army At War and GI Combat. Of course the man most associated with those two titles was Joe Kubert. The artist had a style that was like no one else's and it was perfect for the war comics that made up a huge part of his career.
When I went to the 1994 Joe Convention on the Intrepid in New York, Joe Kubert was there for the unveiling of Hasbro's new Sgt. Savage line. Kubert had done the artwork.
Joe Kubert on Left with Don Levine of Hasbro
Joe Kubert on Left with Don Levine of Hasbro
Amazingly enough, Sgt. Savage had an amazingly similar appearance to Easy Co.'s Sgt. Rock (go figure). But what I really liked about that artwork was the way that Kubert's lines had loosened up, giving the art a sort of sketchy Sgt. Rock look. Along with the package artwork, Kubert created some little miniature Sgt. Savage comic books that were available in some of the packages. It was a really clever idea. I wish that Hasbro had done more with it than they did, it could have been a win-win for both them and the artist if it had been developed a little further, but... enough about that, back to Sgt. Rock... and Kubert...
Swiped this picture from Amazon, don't try clicking on it, you can click it all day and nothing will happen. I recently picked up this book and read it. I really enjoyed it, but those not interested in the history of comics in America might find it a little dry. Kubert was around at the beginning, working as early as age 11. He actually did a whole lot more than just Sgt. Rock, Jeb Stuart, Enemy Ace, Unknown Soldier, etc, etc.
As I said, I found it to be an interesting read, not only because of the Kubert story, but the attention that was paid to how comics were made during the "Golden" and "Silver" ages of American comics. You probably don't know the process, the materials used, the size they are drawn at and the number of comic companies that were competing for business in the 30's, 40's and 50's, but all that information is in the book. Plus the book detailed how war comics came about and sort of gave a history of some of the various ones. But as I said above, it is a subject that I am really interested in, so I pretty much couldn't put the book down. Before I leave the subject of recent books, I want to take a moment to briefly talk about another Kubert project - a graphic novel called...
DONG XOAI...
DONG XOAI...
This one is written and illustrated by Joe Kubert and it is pretty cool. It is the story of some Green Beret Advisors whose camp, Dong Xoai is overrun by the Viet Cong. Based on actual events, the book is done in a very loose, sketch book style, which really gives it a journalistic feeling. The back part of the book actually has photos and informations contributed by the survivors of the actual attack. Of course I am pretty biased because of my interest in Vietnam, but I think this is one of Kubert's best comics ever. On a side note, how many of you know that he had a syndicated strip in the Newspaper during the sixties called Tales of the Green Beret.
I don't remember the year that this set came out, but I had to have one when they did, bought mine through Cotswold's if I recall. It was a must have, not only did I get an action figure of my favorite comic book character, it also featured art by Kubert and was signed by the artist. To date, it is probably one of my favorite pieces in my collection.
And well...that's about it for tonight. We'll end with this. Anyone remember this? Sgt. Rock action figures and vehicles by REMCO? I've got to say that I honestly do not remember these at all. I have no idea whether they actually made it to the shelves of the Toy Aisle or not. I am sure that if I had seen them, I would have had one.
Well Campers, that is all for this time. Until next time, have a good one!
Well Campers, that is all for this time. Until next time, have a good one!
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