Nimoy's New STAR TREK Movie Endorsement

Above: the STAR TREK movie teaser poster distributed at last Weekend's San Diego Comicon.

Everyone who cares all ready knows about the new STAR TREK theatrical movie in 2008 and the meeting of the Spocks at the San Diego Comicon; the new Spock and the old Spock.


Above photo of Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto from the Trekmovie blog.

But my concern is that the franchise will be changed into some effects-laden big budget action-oriented silly bombast with little of the human, morality tales that made STAR TREK what it's famous for.

(Well, yes, that and tribbles and Klingons. But I digress.)

And when I read this, and it gave me hope:

"Nimoy's endorsement of the movie and especially the script is no small potatoes. In my conversation with him a few years ago, he referred to Star Trek as a "beached whale," helplessly flopping around. But he noted that whenever the situation was most dire, something or someone saved the Star Trek galaxy with a new infusion of creativity. He apparently believes this movie will do it again.

"He also told me as he has told others that Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was his Star Trek statement. Note that he didn't say Wrath of Khan. He pointed out that The Voyage Home had almost no violence, yet it was dramatic. I'm assuming that if the new script was nothing but special effects battles, he wouldn't be endorsing it."

From The Soul of Star Trek blog

I think that "Captain Future" (Yeah, that's his handle; he's the writer behind the Soul of Star Trek) is right: having both of these guys in the same room was a great way to cool divisiveness. And getting Nimoy's blessing is something that they consciously chose to get.

And Paramount is gearing up the merchandising, remastering both the old TREKs and the TNG episodes for HD-TV distribution.

Here's hoping that Shatner and whoever will be the newer, younger Kirk will have their photo op soon.

The new STAR TREK movie begins shooting November 2007. It's release date is Christmas Day 2008.

Alan Gardner "Daily Cartoonist:" Tired of Editorial Cartoonists' Whining

Alan Gardner, who runs the Daily Cartoonist site, complained yesterday that editorial cartoonists are "whiney."

"When I wrote last week that today’s editorial cartoonists are “infatuated by their own victim status” this is an example of what I mean. ... I got to assume editorial cartoonists would get more milage [sic] out of a positive campaign rather than the tired and so far unsuccessful, self-destructive woe-is-me path that they’re currently on.

"I apologize (somewhat) if I’m coming across as a back street [sic] driver (one that is no longer in the car itself). I have a great passion for editorial cartooning and it would be a tremendous travesty if the art was to disappear completely - but looking in from the outside, the messaging that has come from the community is reminiscent of the Debbie Downer character on Saturday Night Live. Always negative. And who wants to associate with someone always bringing things down."

I watched several of the panels from the AAEC conference (it was on C-Span) and felt that the organization, and the editorial cartoonists, had a lot of positive ideas for furthering their profession.

H/t Journalista!

Cartoon Stock Houses

Do you know about cartoon stock houses? There are a number of them, easily findable on the Web. They offer searchable databases of cartoons for clients (but that no longer makes them unique).

And they use cartoonists, obviously.

When I write that the stock houses "use cartoonists" that I really should italicize the word "use."

Most stock houses take 50% of the sale. Now, I just draw funny pitchers for a living and I'm no mathematician, but that's, like, half of your money if you're a cartoonist.

When I was first approached by a stock house, I was honored to be asked. It was a nice ego boo. I had only been cartooning a couple of years. The guy that ran the place (no names) had seen my Web site and liked what he saw.

But I didn't like the fact that it looked like this stock house and I would be competing for the same markets. Although, when I brought this up with the owner of the stock house in a phone conversation, he assured me that there were "my" markets and the stock house's exclusive markets -- and never the twain shall meet. I did not agree with him. I didn't sign the contract.

In the past year, I have been told about a very well known stock house trolling for clients by visiting major magazines and doing a pitch. These stock house reps, armed with a PowerPoint presentation and low, low prices, hold a meeting with editors and owners of the mag. The reps' goal is to get that mag to sign a contract to buy their stock exclusively, usually at cut rate prices, and stop dealing with individual cartoonists like me.

Of course, it's a free market. But if I was an editor, I would not buy from them.

The editor who told me about this (again, no names) assured me that the mag did not choose to go with the stock house. The editor felt that their publication would lose their unique editorial slant by going with a stock cartoon content provider.

But the stock house cartoon reps are out there, trying to do what all of us in business do: expand our markets.

One thing I want to point out is that there are independent cartoonists out there (I'm thinking of my pal Mark Anderson) who offer easy searchability of funny cartoons. And at least, when you buy direct from a cartoonist, you are supporting 100% of the guy, and his family, that you found so danged funny.

Mark Tatulli: Believe in Yourself

There is a statistic -- I don't know if it's true, but here it is -- most cartoonists' careers last 6 months.

Whether you're a comic book artist, a graphic novelist, or manga girl -- it's not easy to do the work, and then try and make a living off of what you do.

Mark Tatulli, creator of the HEART OF THE CITY and LIO comic strips, wrote about what it's like to be a working cartoonist on the pro/am cartoonist board The Wisenheimer. I thought it was one of the most heart-felt and true stories of working hard to achieve a goal that I had read. So I asked Mark if I could share it here, and he gave me permission. Here's Mark:

Let me tell you my little story...got a minute?

In 1995, I was "syndicated" by Lew Little Enterprises with a little comic strip called BENT HALOS. I wrote and drew it for 18 months and I put my all into that thing. My ALL. By the end, I had two clients ... the Long Beach Press Telegram and the Philadelphia Inquirer, daily and Sunday. I was pulling down about $200 a month drawing a strip 7 days a week, color on Sunday, all while maintaining a full time job in the video post-production field. One day in '97 I remember walking into the kitchen and I said to my wife, Donna, "Honey, I just can't do it anymore. Not for this small payback." She said to me (and I'll never forget it), "I understand what you're saying, Mark, but I hope you know that you may never be syndicated again." I was devastated, hurt, angry, crushed, depressed ... but, really, I had no choice.

The next day I quit, making it official with a faxed letter to Lew Little, which he accepted and signed. And I immediately starting working on another strip. Taking what I had learned in those past 18 months with me. That was April. By June I had another strip concept. I remember because my air-conditioner broke and I didn't have the money to get it fixed. I mailed out to the syndicates and by July I had a response from Universal Press. By September I had a development deal. By December I had a signed syndication deal for HEART OF THE CITY. I launched in November of 98 with 56 papers. Since then it built to 113 papers. A nice number but not enough to make a living, and so I continued to work full time in the TV business and do my little strip.

Flash forward to 2005. I get laid-off from my TV job in January and have enough money to last me to October. So I gotta get moving. I come up with a new strip concept and bounced it off the wife (by the way ... wives; good to have in a clutch situation). Donna loves the idea and says I should run with it. She's always been such a great support and if it hadn't been for her I don't know where I'd be. Two weeks before the Reubens in May and I want to have something to show my syndicate; a solid pitch. So I write and I write and I come up with 7 solid daily strips and one Sunday and a pitch concept. I'm ready to go. As Yoda would have said, "On this, all depends."

First, I showed it to the head of sales at Universal, John Vivona. If he says he can't sell it, I'm not gonna even bother showing it to the big wigs. So he looks at my kit, strip by strip, and he says, slowly (or at least I remember it that way) ...."Yep, I can sell this ... oh, I can sell this." So, on Sunday, the day after the Reubens ceremony in Scottsdale, Arizona ... at 8:00am (the sun was already broiling and I had the sweat to prove it), I pitched LIO to Lee Salem over cigarettes and coffee. Lee looked at my samples with the trained eye of an expert poker player and said, "Yeah, I like it. But I can't give you contract based on 8 strips. Let's see what else you can do with this."

So I went home with new vigor and turned three months of roughs in two weeks. By the end of the summer I had a great development deal. By October I was putting together roughs for the sales kit. We started the sales campaign in January and by May 2006 I launched with 100+ newspapers. Then THE BOONDOCKS quit. And FOXTROT went Sunday only. I hit 200 papers by January 2007. A Reubens comic strip category nomination by May. I'm now at 285 papers and counting, 14 months after launching! Who would have thought it possible?!

So what's the point of all this? Well, back in '97 I thought it was all over. I had to give up my dream out of necessity. Sales weren't there and there was no money and it was too much work, the same reality so many of us face in this crazy business. So I stopped that strip ... but not the dream. It wasn't the end. Great things were to come because I was a cartoonist with passion and determination. And while now I would never recommend to anyone to start comic stripping for a living (it's just too much of a crap shoot to become successful, and I had the benefit of good timing ... but then again, you never know), it's never over when it's over. There are so many opportunities for cartoonists. And you're never too old. I was 43 when I launched LIO, a lot older than the average mook just getting started in the comics-biz. But it took 10 years to get here. The simple truth is you just have to believe in yourself. Today ends, but tomorrow starts something new and better.

Incidentally, it's 2:50am when I write this. I just got done working. This is the hardest I've ever worked in my life. But I love it. God help me, I love it so

.
Another link: A LIO-centric May 2007 podcast interview with Mr. Media here.

Happy Birthday, Jesse Marsh!

Jesse Marsh would have been 100 today.

One of my favorite comic book artists. Love that inky line! Best remembered for his Tarzan work. Above panel from Dell Comics' TARZAN No. 3 (May-June 1948) courtesy of The World of Jesse March Web site!

H/t Comics Reporter!

Wish Kevin McVey the Best!

NJ NCS Chairman Tom Stemmle reports that cartoonist Kevin McVey is undergoing some physical therapy due to a recent illness.

"I thought it might lift his spirits if we, on an individual basis, send him either a note of cheer, a drawing, or a greeting card (but not necessarily a 'get-well' card-since he is getting well)," suggests Tom.

More info. at the NJ NCS blog.

Web Sites Down

"Go ahead and laugh, but this baby hasn't crashed since 1961."

The Web sites I manage (my own, HeyKidsComics.com, and the NCS Long Island chapter BerndtToastGang.com sites) are going from old and lousy server to new and improved server.

They will, therefore, be down from time to time.

Berndt Toast Gang Meeting July 26, 2007

It's the last Thursday of the month and time for the Berndt Toast Gang get together! Above: a tableful of Don Orehek original drawings. Gorgeous work!





"I'm on this new diet. You can eat anything and still lose weight"

Don is a prolific Playboy cartoonist. Someone asked, Where are all the girls, Don? Don is known for his beautiful girls! All of the cartoons that he brought were conspicuously G-rated! So, Don sketched a gorgeous blonde in her birthday suit, passed it to me, and I put it on the display table.


Adrian Sinnott and Don Orehek


I came in with a boxful of comics to give away. Helen Murdock-Prep promised to give a couple of them a good home.

The BT running gag: Al Scaduto introduces his friend ...


... Jumpin' Joe Giella.


Above: Mike Lynch & Adrian Sinnott hold up a Union Suit.

Above: Frank Springer, Mort Drucker, Joe Giella, Sy Barry

This was a surprise gift from the Gang to me.


Above: Bunny Hoest and Al Scaduto

The suit has everyone's signature and cartoons and is now so amazing to look at that of course I can never, ever wear it!


"Forget Archie Girls ... Here Comes Mike L.!!" by Stan Goldberg


John Reiner adds a martini-sporting Leroy Lockhorn.



Another BT tradition: Al Scaduto sings.


Al was singing a song of farewell to me. I'm leaving NYC.

If all goes well, I'll be moving by this time next month. More anon.


Bunny Hoest has a much bigger smile than me!

My shirt says "Building a Better World With Comics" and it's drawn by NH cartoonist Marek Bennett. You can buy his t-shirts here.


Above: a great wordless Don Orehek cartoon. This was what traffic was like on the way home!

My sincere thanks to the Gang for the incredible surprise. You guys are amazing. Thank you so much.

Of Percy Crosby, creator of SKIPPY, I Sing

From the 1976 30th anniversary NCS Reubens Journal: Bob Dunn recalls "the Charlie Schulz of his day," Percy Crosby.

Now I don't know if all these are true stories or tall tales. Regardless, there is a reputable place to fins out more about Percy Crosby: Joan Crosby Tibbetts, Mr. Crosby's daughter, has a wonderful site, Skippy.com, where you can get to know all about her father and SKIPPY.

Big Little Books

The Golden Age Comic Book Stories blog shares some scans of Big Little Book covers here and here.

"... Tiny Tim was being taken by two other mechanical men straight to cruel Zorax, King of the Boogaboos."

I think I use Zorax to clean the bathroom sink this morning. More about the "famous comic strip Tiny Tim" here.

Take a while to poke around the blog for some great Sci Fi pulp cover illustrations and some early Wally Wood stories this month.

2007 Festival of Cartoon Art: Graphic Storytelling

Dateline Columbus, Ohio: In just 3 months from today, the 2007 Festival of Cartoon Art begins!

Take a look at the link for the list of speakers. This is going to be a good one. Hope to see you there!

Happy Birthday, Ray Billingsley

Above photo from the 2006 Bunny Hoest party: Ray Billingsley, Mike Lynch, Archie's Stan Goldberg

Cartoonist Ray Billingsley, creator of Curtis, hits his landmark 50th birthday today! Many happy returns, Ray!

Ray's interview with Mr. Media here, and here's an update on that same interview.

Fred Allen Quote

"Within the hierarchy of the little men there is no man who can outlittle the minor executive in a large corporation who treats his authority as he treats a tight suit. In a tight suit, he is afraid to make a move. With his authority the minor executive takes the same precaution. There are thousands of these negative men in the places where minor executives conceal themselves in the labyrinths of the big corporations. They use the clam philosophy. If a clam never sticks its head out it is never overtaken by trouble. "

-- TREADMILL TO OBLIVION by Fred Allen

Illustration of Allen by Al Hirschfeld, as if you couldn't tell.

The Captain's Women

Series of trading cards I've never heard of before, full of great lines between Captain Kirk and the Babes of Trek! I'd never seen them, and stumbled on them by accident. I think that these are great. Love the "What is ... love?" line. Better Kirk show you than Picard, you little cute drill thrall, you!

But none of those women, despite their wanton ways, will come between a captain and his vessel!

Spock: The antidote to a woman of Elas, Doctor, is a starship. The Enterprise infected the Captain long before the Dohlman." -- Elaan of Troyius by John Meredyth Lucas


Big hat tip to Mr. Balihai!

And, just to make it clear that we do not consider Captain Kirk a big il' Playboy horndog, consider Laura Goodwin's Women of TOS site:

Here's proof that Kirk was NOT a playboy and Star Trek was NOT a sexist show. It was an anti-sexist show: one of the first, and one of the all-time best.

Hmm. Well, click here to judge that she makes her case.

Sergio Aragones 1972 NYC Phil Seuling Convention Drawing

Hey, it's a couple days until the sold-out San Diego Comicon. I'm not going -- but in honor of the Con, here's a blast from the past -- back before Hollywood and Sony and WWF and big business discovered comics:

The Booksteve's Library blog shares a huge pin up of a 1972 Phil Seuling comic book convention by Sergio Aragones. A wonderful drawing, as per usual for Mr. Aragones. One to linger over!

The slice reproduced here is just a small bit of the huge drawing, published back in THE MONSTER TIMES that same year.

More Gag Cartooning Questions

I got a couple of emails recently with some good questions. Here are some of them.

What's a cartoon batch?

I mail in a "batch" of 10-15 cartoons, with my contact information on each cartoon. I send finished copies. No penciled roughs. No originals. It's sent to the art director. I include a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope).

How does an editor contact you if he/she wants a buy?

Depends. Some of them send you a note in your SASE. Sometimes they'll email.

How do you find gag cartoon markets?

This was my big question when I started out. I went to the library and my local big chain bookstore to look at magazines. I found that there were a number of business and women's magazines that used gag cartoons. I wrote down the art director's name and address, and made notes on the kind of cartoons I saw.

I also found out about a small press Xeroxed publication that listed all of the cartoons that appeared in all of the magazines every month, with a description of the cartoon and cartoonist. It was expensive, but I subscribed. After the third issue, I saw that the magazine actually listed fewer markets than I had seen -- and some of the information was wrong, outdated or missing. I was so disgusted with the quality of the thing that I'm not mentioning the name here. It was, for me, particularly useless and waste of my money.

After a while, I had a lot cartoons that had done the rounds. So, I would send batches to publications that did not have cartoons.

I've always wondered, of all those Conde Nast magazines -- why does only one magazine, The New Yorker, have cartoons? Maybe all an editor needs is to actually receive some cartoons and they might think about running them!

Most of the time, I struck out. But I found that it was a numbers game, I could -- and did -- sell cartoons to magazines that did not have cartoons. I even got a regular gig at one magazine for over 2 years as their regular monthly cartoonist. It ended when the editorship changed.

I would avoid being lazy about looking for markets. So much of the information I see on the Web is outdated and wrong. Go see what's selling now.

If I'm mailing in my cartoons, how do I know the editor's looking at my work?

You don't.

Hey, you depend on the kindness of strangers.

I remember one guy told me that he would send in a batch of 10 cartoons to the New Yorker with his SASE. He took note of the order of the cartoons that he mailed, and always looked to see if they were in the same (assumption: not looked at) or mixed order (assumption: looked at) upon their return. Another cartoonist would fold one of the cartoons in the middle of the outgoing batch to see if it came back opened-up when it was returned.

Me? I just figure that the editor is there to do his/her job. So, I assume that my cartoons are looked at and given professional consideration. I'm not going to lose sleep over thinking that there are people out there who aren't doing their jobs.

How do you decide where to send your cartoons?

I send them according to whether or not the cartoon is appropriate for the market. I also pay close attention to payment. Most magazine have a set payment for their cartoons. And if I have a batch of business cartoons, it goes to the magazine that pays the most first.

After sending in cartoons for a while, do you sell more based on your now-friendly rapport with the editor?

Ha ha ha!

No.

Oh, I wish that I could say that all you have to do is be friends and the cartoon editor will buy more just because, you know, now we're pals and so forth and so on -- but that hasn't been the case. Not for me. I'm friends with a number of editors and go thru times when I sell regularly, and then there are months where there are no buys at all.

Besides, I'd rather that an editor buys a cartoon because it's FUNNY -- not because of WHO I am. The readers don't care -- they want FUNNY.

I've seen the piles of cartoons that The New Yorker has. This week, when I drop off my batch for their consideration, I'll be putting my cartoons on a pile along with (to name just two) Barbara Smaller and Pat Byrnes. Each has been published frequently in the NYer, and each submit every week. The majority of their work is rejected.

More gag cartoon Q&A here.

My pal Mark Anderson has an excellent business savvy guide from his Andertoons blog titled
The Gag Cartoonist's Business Plan.

Workaday Life of a Cartoonist: Mark Anderson

Mark Anderson shares an answer to the number one question that cartoonists get asked: Where do you get your ideas?

I want to shout out to Mark and thank him for his kind words about this here blog. Mark is, at this moment, frolicking with his family in the vacationy wilds of Wisconsin. He deserves it -- but the guy is still blogging every day!

This drawing here, a blown-up doodle from my sketchbook, illustrates an atypical gag cartoonist, sadly mulling over those shopworn cliches: desert island, boss chasing secretary, shackled prisoner. I drew it when I didn't have any ideas.

And my take on the "Where do you gut your ideas?" question from my old MySpace blog is here.

Richard Burton as Captain Kirk

It's Friday, so I'm indulging in TREK, 1970s style:


Courtesy of Booksteve's Library, we can relive a 1976 issue Crawdaddy Magazine as its cover story wonders "Can Star Trek be put back together again?"

There was that time when TREK was dead during the 1970s. Occasionally, there would be rumors that the show might come back. Obviously, some of the high points were the animated series and the naming of the first space shuttle "Enterprise."

STAR TREK PHASE II was announced by Paramount in 1977. It was to be the flagship series of a new Paramount network. All of the actors, except for Leonard Nimoy, were hired. Scripts were written, sets were constructed, a special effects company was engaged. All was go.

Paramount cancelled its plans for the network. Of course, 10 years later the network did go forward and Gene Roddenberry launched STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION.

But back in 1977, rumors started that TREK would be revived as a movie. And movies, so they say, require movie stars -- not TV actors. Who is going to pay to see people they can see for free?

Of course, now, most of us do not get TV for free off the airwaves. We pay. And it doesn't bother anyone that, for instance, that guy from the old MOONLIGHTING TV show is in a big action movie or that guy who was in the NEXT GENERATION is heading the X-MEN.

Heck, the main reason that Paramount decided to do a movie is because they saw the receipts for Fox's STAR WARS and scrambled around, asking, "What do we own that's like STAR WARS?" And STAR WARS had, really, no one in the cast. Maybe Peter Cushing was the only recognizable face in it. The rest of 'em were unknowns!

Back 30 years ago, the thinking at Paramount was that there was a line between TV and movies. For a while, the rumors were that Richard Burton would play Captain Kirk. Yeah, really! Richard Burton! As a kid, I never believed it. There was only one guy to wear that orange velour costume!


There was a Save the Star Trek Cast drive assembled (if I remember correctly) by Bjo Trimble and her Star Trek Welcommittee. In the end, the cast was, of course, all reassembled. Dor one, they were cheaper than Burton. And I think that's the reason why, in an initial 1979 theatrical promo, we get to hear Orson Welles remind us that EVERYONE is back, and he lists them all and we see them on the screen. And if Welles tells you, it must be true!

But part of me would have loved to have seen a clip of Burton doing a Shatner impersonation. And who else would be in it? Anthony Quinn as McCoy? Peter Finch as Spock?


P.S. STAR TREK was originally out of Desilu Studios. Here part one, part two and part three of a color promotional film with Lucy & Desi about their studio. It's absolute fluff, but fun to watch. Looks to be taped off of someone's TV screen.

P.P. S. There is new commentary, covering things not discussed by the previous Robert Wise commentary, for STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE. You can download it and listen while watching your 2-disc collector's item STTMP DVD set. Trekmovie.com has the background and links.

The Mad Magazine Illustration That Nearly Killed Evan Dorkin

Above: detail from Evan Dorkin's illustration for Mad Magazine #480.

Some amazing work by comic book writer & illustrator Evan Dorkin which he shares here. I get carpal tunnel sympathy twinges just looking at the inky detail work he's done. The issue's on sale now.

H/t to Comics Reporter.

Richard Erdoes: Jokes Jokes Jokes

Found at the Community Bookstore: JOKES JOKES JOKES Selected by Helen Hoke, with illustrations by Richard Erdoes. Published in 1954 by Franklin Watts, Inc., 699 Madison Avenue, New York 21.



As you can clearly make out, JOKES JOKES JOKES had seen lots of use in the 53 years before I found it. I thought I'd show you a bit of this tome today. First, the good news:


The endpapers! As soon as I saw them, I knew I'd buy the book. Love Erdoes' style.


Above: the next page. Just that one goofy guy with a hat and wearing a bowtie. A bowtie, for goodness sake! Kinda creepy, huh?


Now you can see that this is part of a series.


More great cartoons. They're like part cartoon, part 50s design.


Above: the bad news. Here's the first joke of the book. The drawings may have aged like fine wine, but these jokes -- I don't know!




OK, that's all for JOKES JOKES JOKES today. Just like "Joe" likes his school -- we, too, are closed!

Mike Lynch Cartoon in July 2007 PROSPECT and 14 July THE WEEK Magazines

Above: This month's PROSPECT magazine, for sale in the UK, and a some of the larger US newsstands.

The saying goes the fine artists look down their noses at commercial artists, and commercial artists look down on the cartoonists -- but the cartoonists don't care. Why? Because they're having too much fun.

And one of the reasons this is a fun profession is the organic progression -- the viral effect -- that a good cartoon can have.

I sold a cartoon to PROSPECT magazine (UK). Here it is:

"The bar charts show our clients overwhelmingly prefer pie charts."

PROSPECT came out at the beginning of the month. Someone at THE WEEK saw it and, before my second cup of coffee one morning last week, I had an email from a THE WEEK editor. I sold the cartoon again to their publication.


Lee Salem, the now Executive Vice President and Editor over at Universal Press Syndicate, said in an interview that "the good stuff floats to the top." That was certainly true of this cartoon that more than one editor thought was worthy of committing a portion of their cartoon budget.

Remember Interstitial TV Slides?

Hey, I remember when the TV station would show a still slide in between the show and the commercial ....


Take a look at these Interstitial TV Slides at the Cranched for Now blog.

Joe Kubert & Sons Exhibition

Above: DC Special #5, December 1969. 68 pages for 25 cents! Image from the Grand Comics Database.

Lots of Joe Kubert in the news! And why not? He is part of a museum show:

Michael Uslan is interviewed about the museum show "Reflecting Culture: The Evolution of American Comic Book Superheroes" at the Montclair Art Museum. Joe Kubert, and his sons, will have an exhibition of their comic book work. Bill Ervolino wrote the story for the North Jersey Media Group.

Comics Are a Kubert Family Legacy by Asbury Park Press writer Mark Voger.

Joe Kubert on the profession:

“Anyone who wants to do this,” he says, “has to be sitting at that drawing table anywhere from eight to 10 hours a day, six to seven days a week in order to achieve the kind of quality necessary to be deemed a professional."

-- from Drawing a Strong Living From Superheroes, a great profile of Joe Kubert and his school, which is, unfortunately, locked behind a subscription-only wall.