One Last Time, NOT the Video Game...

Another story from the Baltimore Comic-Con...

I got to talk to Joe Kubert. Obviously we've met before, given that he taught me in my third year of school at his oh-so-appropriately named Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. He didn't really remember me, but that's no surprise. I went there fifteen years ago, and in his class I was by no means notable. That's less a feature of my talent and more how I was dwarfed by classmates.

Here's what was cool, and what surprised me. He asked how I was doing, and what art I was doing. He exuded this genuineness when he asked. I could tell that he really wanted to know that the education that he was responsible for had paid off. And he was genuinely pleased when I told him that I was making my living as a cartoonist, and was doing pretty well.

Of course, I say "genuinely pleased" and for all I know he was actually thinking of ways to kill me using a Hunt 107 pen tip. But, I thought he was being genuine, and in these cases, I find perception is reality.

As for why I was surprised, that comes from my experience at the school. I've referred to my time there as "boot camp for artists." It wasn't always pleasant. And there were times that it felt I was getting a good education in spite of the administration. I don't hold Joe responsible for that aspect, as I think he was pretty removed from the day-to-day operations. I also had some great times there, and made some fantastic friends there.

I was just surprised at how much I wanted Joe to be proud of me. With all those mixed feelings from the school, I would have thought I would have been a little more distant from Joe himself and that his opinion wouldn't matter. But it did, and it was kind of nice that it did.

Joe also has what a friend of mine describes as "a young man's walk." When he said that, my friend was referring to Stan Lee. It gives me hope that a lot of my artistic heroes, both in terms of style and business, seem to live so well so long. Viktor Shrekengost is almost 100. Al Hirschfeld lived to be about 100 and was still working. Carl Barks and Will Eisner both seemed to live long, full lives. Joe Kubert and Stan Lee are still doing really good work.

In an Uncle Scrooge story, Carl Barks suggested that Scrooge McDuck was so old and so spry because he was doing what he loved. I think there's a lot to be said for that and makes me appreciate that I get to do what I love for a living.