Interviews

Non-Sport Spotlight—Joe Rubinstein

Many people think comics notable Josef “Joe” Rubinstein holds a Guinness Book record for being the world’s most prodigious inker. “It doesn’t exist,” Rubinstein admitted. “I said it as a joke one day with the addendum, ‘IF it existed,’ which is usually left off. I inked.

By Feb 27,2013  0

rubinstein-and-daredevilMany people think comics notable Josef “Joe” Rubinstein holds a Guinness Book record for being the world’s most prodigious inker. “It doesn’t exist,” Rubinstein admitted. “I said it as a joke one day with the addendum, ‘IF it existed,’ which is usually left off. I inked a series called The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe on and off for about 20 years. It was an encyclopedia Marvel was doing to help keep the facts and characters straight. I would persuade lots of my favorite pencilers to draw the figures to keep it interesting for me. I inked greats that rarely, if ever, were inked by other people, i.e. Joe Kubert, Stan Drake, John Severin, John Bolton, Brian Bolland, Dick Giordano, Nestor Redondo, etc. Having been an inker for so long and having been so prolific, I estimate I’m partnered up with 400-500 different pencilers.”

Rubinstein started working in the industry at a very young age. “I met Neal Adams at a comic con when I was 13 and asked him if I could be a gofer at his new studio, Continuity Associates. He was partnered with the wonderful Dick Giordano at the time. It was 1971. Dick was a very sweet man who taught me most of what I know about comics. Also, while working there I assisted qreats such as Wally Wood, Russ Heath, Jim Starlin, and others,” said Rubinstein proudly.

In the years since,Rubinstein has worked for “Nearly every major company and on nearly every character.” A fraction of his celebrated assignments include X-Men—with Cockrum and Romita, Jr., Captain America—Byrne, Wolverine—Miller, JLA—Maguire, Superman—Jeurgens, Franz, Epting, and Garcia-Lôpez, Road to Perdition—Garcia-Lôpez, Batman—Manley, Wagner, and Giordano, Spider-Man—Frenz, MacFarlaine, Micronauts—Golden, Batman/Green Arrow—Netzer, and Archie—Breyfogle.

A current project which is close to Rubinstein’s heart is NISTAR, a graphic novel written by first-time author Shira Frimer, for which Joe is doing art direction and all the inking for all 98 pages and the book’s covers. NISTAR is being marketed in conjunction with the Superhero for Kids with Cancer campaign. For more information see Superhero for Kids with Cancer.

Working in comics is a complicated affair. Said Rubinstein, “There is so much work to doing a comic book and meeting the deadline that the work was separated into an assembly line process, especially in the early days of comics where it could be broken down to even smaller parts. Some people are also better pencilers and can’t ink or vice versa. I get a graphite drawing/page handed to me either loose and sketchy (where I have to make many more decisions) or very detailed and tight. I use pen and brush and marker and anything else that makes a mark to finish/improve the work and hand it over to the colorist. I think of myself as a portrait painter away from comics but I’m painting more comic book images so it all gets mashed together.”

Working for trading card companies is something in which Rubinstein also has an interest, having drawn sketch cards for over eight years. “[I’ve done] all the Marvel sets for Rittenhouse and recently for Upper Deck. I’ve also done them for Dynamic Forces. I also do hand-painted baseball cards like a recreation of the Honus Wagner card,” Rubinstein mentioned. “I love being an artist. I like working with pencilers I respect and I like doing the work all on my own, giving the client what they envisioned.”

Want to know more about Joe Rubinstein and his art? Follow these links:

For sample trading card sketches, check: Sketch Gallery 1 and Sketch Gallery 2.

For sample comics art, look at: Comics Gallery.

For non-comics work, check out Joe’s Facebook page and Rubinstein Info.

For commission samples, see: JR Commissions.

To view art for sale, click on JR Sales.

Vampy

 

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