Craig Zablo's StalloneZone

Back in January of 2005, I posted about meeting the legendary comic artist, Joe Kubert.  Here is part of what I wrote then:

I had the good fortune to meet Joe Kubert in the early 80’s. He was Guest of Honor at one of Jim Ivey’s OrlandoCons. Joe Kubert was there to pick up his Ignatz award. At the time Mr. Kubert was also promoting a series that he was to write and draw for DC called The Redeemer. Sad to say it never appeared.

Another thing that Joe Kubert worked on that never appeared is, interestingly enough, a proposal for a Rocky Balboa newspaper strip. Mr. Kubert told me that he was approached to work on a daily newspaper strip and that he had in fact worked up character sheets, some daily samples, etc. Sadly the strip was never picked up.

You can imagine how excited I was to hear that JOE KUBERT had drawn Rocky Balboa. I asked Mr. Kubert if the art was available for sale, but it wasn’t. I then asked if I could buy Xeroxes but again, Mr. Kubert politely declined. Man, you just know that those pieces look great… maybe someday we’ll get the chance to see them in a treasury of his work.

The two strips you see above (click on the art to see them biggie-sized) are samples that Joe Kubert created for the proposed Rocky Balboa newspaper strip.  These are the only two I’ve ever seen.  I’m not sure how many others he may have drawn.  One thing I am sure of: Any strip Joe Kubert drew would contain great art.