[music playing] ♪ - Hello, and welcome to Comic Culture.

I'm Terence Dollard, a Professor in the Department of Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

My guest today is President of the Kubert School, Anthony Marques.

Anthony, welcome to Comic Culture.

- Hi.

How are you?

Thanks so much for having me.

- So, Anthony, the Kubert School is known as one of the top schools for cartooning and sequential art in the country.

So, I'm wondering if you could tell us a little bit about the school, and how you ended up as president?

- That's the-- I love that question.

So, the school was founded by Joe Kubert in 1976.

It actually started off in what we use as the housing now for the students.

And it was very small.

They only had about 20 students in his first year.

And Joe, after being asked many, many times of how do you get into this field, how do you draw comic books, what do you do?

He decided that it was a great idea and an opportunity to start a school that specializes in cartoon and graphic arts.

So, he did.

And he started it over, like where I just mentioned.

And he started off his first class.

And it just continued to grow.

And after a few years, he needed more space.

And wound up bringing students on over to where we're currently located, which is 37 Myrtle Avenue, Dover, New Jersey.

And we've been here ever since, for about 45 years.

- You end up as the president of the Kubert School, and I understand you were a student there as well.

So, how do you go from someone who is an alum to somebody who is the big boss?

[laughing] - Big boss.

I hope I never have to be called that ever by anybody.

So, I started off actually as a student, like you mentioned.

Came here back in about 2008.

And I remember, the year prior, I had tried to come to the school and I couldn't come.

It's just different life circumstances.

And I wound up working my way as a bartender at the time, saving up every single dollar that I could from my tip jar at the end of the night, and working my way through.

Came into the school.

And I worked really, really hard the entire time while I was here.

My first job at the school was actually as a security guard, sitting in the front.

And the whole reason I took on that position was so this way I could learn a little bit extra, learn a little bit more, talk with Joe on a daily basis.

See Adam and Andy, and talk with them in the hallway as well.

And it was a really wonderful experience.

Eventually, I wound up drawing backgrounds for Joe as a part of PS Magazine, which is a pamphlet done for the army.

And that was great.

That was also an intensive with Joe on top of that.

Afterwards, I wound up going into editorial and doing comic work as well, drawing.

And I came back as an instructor at the school.

And at some point, I'd heard some rumblings of different things going on.

And Andy's a very good friend of mine.

Most of the family, we all get along very, very well.

And we had just a really honest conversation about a few different things.

And I expressed an interest in continuing the legacy that Joe had started here, and seeing it move forward in a really strong position, and keeping it growing.

They loved the idea.

And we wound up coming to a wonderful agreement, as all sort of real estate deals do, and businesses.

And I'm very happy to say, Andy is still a part of the school.

And his daughter.

And we've really kept it growing and kept Joe's legacy moving forward.

- I mean, that's amazing.

Because it's so often we hear about a family business, and then someone might not have the desire to keep the business going.

But the Kuberts did want to keep their business going.

But they also saw an opportunity with you to sort of have you shepherd it into another generation of comic creators.

The pandemic has changed the way we do everything.

And I know that the Kubert School has gone from face-to-face classes to delivering classes online.

And that seems to be changing the business for you as well.

So, I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about how you had to adapt to the pandemic, and to where you got now.

- So, the most important thing here is, the curriculum that Joe created when he first started the school back in 1976, it's still there.

The building blocks, the foundation that Joe created, you can't change it.

It works.

It's 45 years of tried and true.

You're not going to want to change that.

And we continue that moving forward.

Yeah, there's different technologies or different programs that people use.

And we're going to update that and continue that moving forward to make sure that the students know what's being used in the industry, and that they have access to it.

So, when they leave, they can go out and get jobs in this field, whether it's in comics, or animation, or whatever other sort of things, graphic design, other fields that they want to go into.

But really, what we've done is, we really pay attention to what's happening in this industry.

And not just comics, like I just mentioned.

It covers all different bases.

And we have a program advisory committee that consists of folks that work throughout many industries, and they give us feedback on what's going on.

We've created relationships with different companies.

We reach out to companies like Pixar, we get feedback from them.

We've reached out to different graphic design houses.

All sorts of different places.

Just to see what they would recommend for us to include.

So, we're really trying to pay attention to what's out there and what we can give to our students to make sure that they're aware.

The online portion of it has been interesting.

Unfortunately, COVID has been devastating to many people.

But out of it, we were able to realize that we could offer our programs online.

So, we were able to do a hybrid program.

We were able to get approval from the state, federal government.

And of course accreditation to be able to now offer our full time program online moving forward, which has been an incredible experience to be able to get that approval.

So now if we have students that are somewhere far away and they don't want to come on out to New Jersey, you can actually take our full time program online, wherever it is that you live.

We've created an online studies program for students.

So, this way, if you might not be ready to come to our full time program, or maybe if you just want to take part in some of the classes that we can offer, you can now learn from some of the best talent in our industry, from the comfort of your own home by taking part in our online studies program.

So, from that end of things, it's been great.

We've also updated the technology everywhere throughout the building.

Every single classroom has a Cintiq LED light boards, giant flat screen televisions.

We conduct everything and record everything for all of our students as well.

So that if you need to go back and listen to a different portion of the lecture from the day, you can do that now.

And of course, our teachers are always available to help and give extra instruction to any student that they need.

- It's interesting.

Because you mentioned that you follow roughly the same curriculum that Joe Kubert started in 1976.

And you're talking about the new technologies that you're bringing in.

So, it kind of speaks to the philosophy and the technology kind of merging together.

Because you will always need to be a good storyteller, regardless of the tools that you're using.

- Oh, storytelling is key.

Whether you can draw with a pencil, or you can draw on a Cintiq, it doesn't make a difference.

You need to understand the basics behind it all.

It's walking before you're running.

And, heck, even before that.

Crawling before you're walking.

So, as long as you have that foundation underneath you, you can do anything.

Anything is possible.

It's just another tool that you're using.

- If I'm a student in high school, or I'm a student in college and I want to pursue-- I mean, I suppose I could be a student of any age.

But I want to pursue a career in comics.

What sort of things should I be doing to prepare myself for applying for a seat at the Kubert School?

- So, the one thing that I always tell students, or students that are in high school, or younger artists is, number one, have fun.

That's something that so many people forget.

You need to have some fun.

I want you to draw what you want to draw.

But if you're looking to really fine tune your work while in high school, draw things that are just everyday objects.

Draw a car.

Draw a house.

You're going to see a lot of portfolios that have superheroes in them, but can you draw backgrounds?

Do you know about perspective, textures, things like that.

You want to put together a portfolio consisting of different images like that.

I would rather see you come up to me and show me that you have a great understanding of basic perspective, or basic drawing.

You'll blow me away.

If we can get you in here and you have a basic understanding of anatomy.

Whoa.

We can really work with you.

We can get you going in the right direction.

As long as I can see that you have a drive and that you're willing to put in the work, we can help you.

A lot of the work that you do when you come here, you got to really engage into it.

It's a lot of work.

We're up front.

We'll tell you.

If you're going to come here, it's 10 classes a week, two classes a day.

And you're going to have a lot of work.

But it's rewarding.

Every single month when you finish up your projects, or however long your deadlines are, it's great.

At the end of the year, you have multiple portfolios.

You have a portfolio basically for every single class that you take.

Basic drawing.

Narrative art.

Sketching and layout.

Color theory.

You can have a portfolio for it all.

- When you look at comics, you're talking about doing things that are atypical in superhero comics.

Could be-- Drawing somebody in a suit is very difficult for so many people.

But drawing Batman in that cool pose is very easy for some.

And it's interesting to hear that you're pushing students to think about that in those directions.

Now, the one thing that I'm curious about is, comics are known for being-- It's sort of a team sport, but everyone does their part separately by themselves for the most part.

And you talked about the long hours that your students will have to work on their projects each week.

Are you giving them some life lessons on how to balance their schedule?

Maybe after classes, you take a break here, and then you do a few hours on these projects and go to bed at a normal time.

Or are you just kind of saying, well, in this industry, if you go to bed at 3:00, so be it.

- I'm not a big proponent for pulling all nighters.

It's also very personal to each artist, or each student.

Some folks have different methods of working that just work better for them.

I don't recommend pulling all nighters and not sleeping.

It doesn't work for me, I can tell you that.

I need to stop drawing at a certain time.

I like to spend time with my family.

We were joking a little bit before.

I like to have movie night on Friday night with my kids and eat pizza.

So, I know that I have to schedule things a little bit differently.

And we do-- We talk about scheduling.

But like I said, it's very personal to each artist and however they need to do their work.

I think that a lot of folks like to think that they need to pull all nighters, and that they need to push themselves to the extreme, but I don't recommend it.

Because I feel that a certain point, you're not doing your best work.

There will be times when you are you're stuck on a deadline and you need to get the work done.

And, yeah, you might work a little bit later, but I don't recommend doing it all the time.

- I suppose if you are always pushing yourself to the limit, at some point, the quality of the work is going to fall off as well.

Because if you're not taking care of yourself, there's certainly no way that you can have that clear focus to get the image right on the page.

So, it seems that you're kind of working with these students as not just on the artist side, but on the personal side.

The chance for you to make an impact on them in many different ways, including that work ethic and maybe thinking about self care.

So, if I were to attend the Kubert School, are we talking these are thousands of students on campus, or is this something where it's a little bit smaller and I can get a lot more personal with my instructors?

- We're very personal.

It's a very intimate setting.

We keep it very selective as to who's coming in.

We're not a gigantic school, nor do we want to be.

We want to make it so this way the people that come here have a great experience and that they're learning, and that they're actually getting that interaction with the instructors.

We limit the size of our classes, no more than 10 students per class.

So, you're really getting that interaction with the instructor, and you're getting that feedback.

And we take a personal interest in our students.

We're on a very personal basis.

We know everybody by their first and last names, and they know all of us the same way.

And we're always available.

If the instructor or the student needs to get in touch with one another, they always can.

And my door is always open, except for right now because we're doing this interview.

But otherwise, if anybody ever has a question, they're always welcome to come and see me and ask whatever they need to, and I'll be more than glad to help them in any way that I can.

- One of the great things about the Kubert School is that you have a lot of famous alums, at least in the world of comics.

And they all seem to want to give something back to the school.

And I know that you have folks like Lee Weeks, who will come back and do a master class.

Or at least artists like Ron Randall, who will always mention, well, I went to the Kubert School, and I learned this.

So, how do you work with those big name alums, and work with the folks who are sort of getting their feet in the door?

So that way you keep in touch, and keep that camaraderie and community growing from semester to semester, year to year.

- It's funny.

I think anybody that has gone to the school will tell you it's almost like a boot camp.

It's very intense.

And while you're here, and if you're able to graduate, it's a really rewarding feeling.

It's a great experience.

And everybody has their own stories.

So, when you go to a show, when we can go back to shows, and you see other alumni of the school.

It's a great experience to go up to them and say, hey, I hear you went to the Kubert school.

I went to the Kubert school as well.

What was it like for you back then?

And it's a very unique experience, and you're able to bond over that very easily.

But it's just-- It's such a great time, it's unlike anything else out there.

And so, for anyone that wants to come to this school, if you're questioning it, definitely check it out.

It's worth it.

Because if you really believe in this, and you love this industry, or you want to get into the art related field, especially commercial art, this is the place to go.

- I've seen some of the work that your students have done, not only as professionals.

But as working on projects for other publishers.

I know that you've been working on Green Hornet for, I think, it's Dynamite.

So, how did that come about?

Because that's a great opportunity for students to work on something that not only is great academically, but is published and appreciated by a larger audience.

- So, Green Hornet was a project that I had been working on for a while.

Or pitching, let me put it that way.

And so, it went through.

Nick Barrucci said let's go for it.

So I said fantastic.

And we put together the great project.

And I was able to work with some alumni from the school, and some other instructors.

There was no students working on the book.

But we do get a lot of projects that get brought to the school.

And we have core services department that helps to find work for our students.

Dynamite has been great with sending us different sketch card projects for our students to do, or we have different companies that will reach out and they try to get different things.

A lot of our instructors, if you need a little bit of help sometimes, they can actually reach out to the students, or alumni in particular.

We don't like to overload our current students.

We don't think that that's a great idea.

They already got a lot of classes.

But the ones that graduate, we like to approach and say, hey, we've got some great projects coming our way.

I might need a little bit of help.

I think you'd be a great fit to help us out on this.

If they have the free time, if they're not working.

We get tons of different things that come our way.

And we always make sure to route it out to the students, because we want them working.

That is really important to us.

We want the students to be working.

- One thing I know from my point of view as an instructor, as a professor.

I teach television production classes.

And I know that what I see in students will rekindle what I love about visual storytelling on the screen.

And I'm just wondering-- You are a professional.

How does working with students help recharge your batteries?

- I love being around the students.

Because it's very easy, I guess, to become kind of jaded at times.

With work.

And, oh, it's just work.

It's just work.

But I remember being a student and going to a convention.

Now if I go to a convention, sometimes you might be like, I just want to go home.

But when I was a student, I remember going.

And you'd meet all these different artists and these people that you look up to.

And you get fired up.

You wanted to get home immediately.

You didn't want to stay at the show.

You just wanted to get home, and you wanted to start drawing again.

And you get that feeling and you get that same energy from the students.

They're so excited to be working on this.

Or we bring in special guest.

We've had Ken Lashley, and Todd McFarlane, and Lee Weeks teaches one of the master classes.

And Andy Kubert teaches another one of the master classes.

Or we have a bunch of different companies that come for our third year students, and they do different portfolio reviews.

We have DC, who actually comes out to the school, and Marvel.

Just go down the list of all the different companies that are out there.

And they all come and they interview.

And you can feel that energy.

And it's really exciting.

And it's great to be a part of.

And you also hear the different things that they enjoy.

They come on in, and they want to talk about WandaVision vision, or they want to talk about Zack Snyder's Justice League.

And it's easy to get caught up in that and remember just how cool this is.

We're doing something that we all really love doing.

How great is it that we get to hang out and draw for a living?

This is what we do.

This is our job.

That's amazing.

How can somebody not be excited about that?

- It's absolutely true.

I mean, it-- I was saying before, I mean, if I had it all to do over again, I probably would have gone into comics rather than television, which would spare our viewers having to look at me every week.

I mean, honestly it's easy to see why somebody would want to come to the Kubert School.

You have the enthusiasm of somebody who has a real desire to make an impression on future generations.

So, I'm imagining that this is a full time-- I mean, it's obviously a full time career for you.

But do you still find ways to work in comics, either as an artist or as an editor?

- Editing, I don't mind doing little things.

Drawing wise, I still get freelance work that comes in.

Green Hornet I did while I was over at the school here doing this.

But my number one priority is ensuring that the students are getting the best education that they possibly can.

The drawing aspect of it is, I take in different jobs, I like to see what's out there.

I'm also really-- I'm picky.

I'm picky, I'm sorry.

I like to see what's coming my way.

And I have to make sure that what I'm doing makes sense.

Because everybody has their own personal sort of things that they have going on in their lives.

This school is a huge priority for me.

My family is a huge priority for me.

I love drawing and I love drawing comics, but maybe I would prefer working on my own book.

Maybe I want to do that instead.

I have the ability to do that.

But if a project comes my way and it's something that I feel could be a really great project, or it's good for everyone, let's take it on, let's do it.

But I still am able to do work, yes.

- And it seems as if, when you do get that opportunity, you are enjoying it more than somebody who might be saying, well, darn it.

If I don't get these 22 pages done this month, the rent's going to be due.

And I've got to stay up till 5 o'clock this morning, and then have a cup of coffee, and then get right back to it.

So, it's nice to have that dependable place, the Kubert School, as a means to get you through perhaps what could be a difficult time.

If you were forced to do a monthly book, you don't have quite that same security.

- I mean, it really comes down to the project.

In terms of, if the right project presents itself, I would jump at them doing a monthly.

But like I said, the number one priority is really making sure that everyone that's here is taking care of.

That the students are getting the best education possible.

That we're really paying attention to what's happening.

That we're keeping the school up to date.

But even when it comes to drawing different things.

We just did a wonderful ad campaign with DC Comics.

Where if you go into any of the-- Check out the books over the course of the month of April.

I'm not sure when this is going to air.

But if you were able to see any of the books from DC Comics in the month of April.

If you take a look on the back cover of every single one of their books, it's a step by step process each week of how a comic page comes together.

So, it starts off with the penciling, and it goes into the inking, coloring, and lettering, and has the finished product.

And I was a little apprehensive about drawing it.

But after discussing with a few folks and having some great conversations with some individuals, they said do it.

Draw it.

Have fun with it.

So, I did.

And it was a really great experience.

And the ability to combine two of my favorite things in this world, the Kubert school and Superman.

Come on.

That was a great thing.

That's like hitting a home run first time at plate.

So, that was really great.

- And I see we have about five minutes left in our conversation.

You mentioned that all of your classrooms have Cintiqs for your students to use, and you've got updated computers.

So, I'm not asking you to give me the secret recipe or something like that.

But technology is something that's very fickle.

It's going to be good for a year or two, and then it needs to be upgraded.

And there's only so much life you can get out of each machine.

So, I'm wondering-- You're obviously doing strategic planning.

So, how much of that is consuming your day, and how much of that is keeping you from the fun stuff of dealing with the students and watching their progress?

- So, I teach two days out of the week.

I never stop thinking about the school.

My wife will tell you.

She thinks about it all the time do.

She's here every single day, just like I am.

And we love the school.

We really believe in it.

We believe in what Joe started.

And we just want to see it continuing to grow.

So, I think about it every single day.

We talk about it every single day.

But it's because I love it.

If you love something, you're going to want to talk about it every day.

So, I love being here.

I used to joke, and it's not really a joke, but I would say it's my favorite place on the planet.

I love being here.

It's better than Disney World to me.

And it's such an inspiring and creative environment.

There's nowhere else like it.

- If I'm somebody at home and I want to apply to the Kubert School, or maybe take part in some of your Saturday sessions, how can I find that information on the web?

- Super simple.

Just visit www.kubertschool.edu.

That'll bring your right to our website.

You can follow us all over social media, we're on every single platform that you can think of.

Just look up the Kubert School.

We update things daily.

We always have more information, and we love to spotlight our students and showcase their artwork.

We love to showcase even our alumni as much as we can to get stuff out there and let you guys see all the wonderful people that have come through.

If you're looking to apply, visit the website.

Just go right to kubertschool.edu, like I mentioned before.

And click on Apply Now.

It's right there on the front page, very easy to find.

And just fill in the information if you're thinking about coming to the school for our upcoming school year.

- And I guess my last question will be, I'm assuming if I'm a student interested in the Kubert School, I'd be able to apply for financial aid and other grants and stuff?

- 100%, you are correct.

We also offer the Joe Kubert Scholarship to incoming freshmen, or first year students.

So, that's also something else that you would be able to apply for.

- Well, Anthony, I'd like to thank you so much.

It's been a journey to get to our interview today.

We had some technical problems last month.

We had some technical problems today.

But we did get through a great conversation.

I'd like to thank you so much for giving me so much of your time today.

- This was great.

I had a great time talking with you.

And I thank you so much for asking such great questions.

And this was all-- It was just fantastic.

It was really enjoyable.

Thank you very much.

- I'd like to thank everyone at home for watching Comic Culture.

We will see you again soon.

[music playing] ♪ MAN: Comic Culture is a production of the Department of Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.