JUSTIN: I'm joined with, living legend, Adam Kubert.
ADAM KUBERT: A living legend. [CHUCKLES]
JUSTIN: Welcome.
ADAM KUBERT: Let me check my pulse.
Yes, I'm doing well.
Thanks. JUSTIN: You're doing great.
ADAM KUBERT: I'm doing great. Yeah.
JUSTIN: I mean, you're here.
And I'm here with you.
So I know I'm in the right place.
ADAM KUBERT: I think I am, too.
JUSTIN: Excellent.
Well, if someone is not familiar,
first, shame on you, not-familiar people.
But can you tell us about your start with Marvel?
ADAM KUBERT: Oh, my start with Marvel was back in '92.
I think.
I actually started drawing with--
through Bobbie Chase's office.
Spirits of Vengeance, number 1 was my first job.
JUSTIN: Wow.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
JUSTIN: Um, I mean, what a great first job.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
Yeah.
And the interesting thing was, I signed an exclusive contract
in '94, and I'm still under it.
JUSTIN: Wow. ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
JUSTIN: Incredible.
ADAM KUBERT: Except for a three-year stint
someplace else.
JUSTIN: I understand. ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
Yeah.
JUSTIN: Well, thank you for not mentioning it.
ADAM KUBERT: OK. [LAUGHTER]
JUSTIN: Um, so I think a lot of people
know you for work with Wolverine.
But what are you working on, currently?
ADAM KUBERT: I'm currently working on--
and I think they just announced that today, somewhere,
or, at least, I hope.
Dark Web: Dusk, number 1, which is a bookend--
the first part of a bookend event.
There's Dark Web: Dusk and Dark Web: Dawn.
So Dark Web: Dust, the 30-page issue
that kicks off the Dark Web event, Dark Web: Dusk-- or--
I'm getting [LAUGHING]
JUSTIN: Yeah. Dusk.
Dawn.
Sure. ADAM KUBERT: Dawn.
Dusk. And I don't even--
which is first? JUSTIN: I get it.
Yeah.
ADAM KUBERT: The chicken or the egg?
But um, so the second part of the event is Dark Web: Dawn.
JUSTIN: Dawn because it's like overnight.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah. It's overnight.
JUSTIN: Because it's dark. ADAM KUBERT: Thank you.
JUSTIN: Yeah. ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
JUSTIN: I'm here to help you.
If you need any more mnemonic devices--
ADAM KUBERT: Thank you, Justin.
Catch me if I fall, thanks.
JUSTIN: Any time.
So I think a lot of fans know you for your,
like, super iconic covers and, you know, your specific style.
Has your style evolved for this new project?
Or is it, I mean, I feel like we're
always constantly evolving. ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
Yeah.
I think, as an artist, you want to constantly do better,
you know, and try harder.
That's what I do.
And that's really how your style evolves.
Yes, with this particular project,
I am trying something new because that's
what I get enjoyment out of.
I'm trying something new.
I'm using gray tones, tell the story
a little bit differently than Wolverine.
The Wolverine is a very dark book.
This is also dark but in a different way.
And I'm trying some different things.
JUSTIN: I love that.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
JUSTIN: What is your creative process like?
And I love the minutia, right.
Like, for me, the house has to be clean,
and I have to be highly caffeinated,
and then, maybe, the creative engine will start.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah. Yeah.
JUSTIN: For you?
ADAM KUBERT: Well, for me, I start with the script.
I thumbnail everything out.
I work on, about, 10 pages at once.
So I go through, thumbnail them all.
Then, I go through, and I rough them all out.
Then, I go through and pencil them all out.
And I go through and ink them up because every time I look
at a page, especially if I haven't seen it in a while,
I'll see the mistakes quicker when I come back to it.
JUSTIN: Fresh eyes.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
Look up with a fresh eye, So that's pretty much my process.
JUSTIN: Wow.
Incredible.
And I mean, do you need caffeine or anything?
Or is it just, like--
ADAM KUBERT: Oh, we all need caffeine.
JUSTIN: OK, got it.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
Caffeine is the first thing I have when I wake up.
JUSTIN: Oh, man.
That's so special. ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
Yeah.
JUSTIN: Um, so I know that comics are, kind of,
like a familial trade for you.
Can you talk about that?
I mean, having, kind of, this, like, dynasty of comic blood,
how did that happen?
And what is it like?
ADAM KUBERT: I was born into it. JUSTIN: Right.
Well, I, like, want to know what your group chat looks like.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah. Yeah.
JUSTIN: You know, is it just like, hey, check out this line,
bro? ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, you know, with my brother, I mean, we go back and forth,
growing up, you know, I'd show him my stuff.
But there was a healthy form of competition.
With my dad, he was the grand poobah, you know.
I would-- I could come to him with anything, you know,
whether it's artistic or personal.
And we discuss it.
We just-- had I had a really great relationship with my dad.
So you know-- and I also just have to mention John Romita jr.
We have something in common with--
you know, same kind of-- we're going
to be doing something, maybe at New York Comic
Con, where I draw a sketch.
He draws a sketch.
And our fathers both did that same kind of thing.
It was for Hero Initiative, where they did a drawing
on the same piece of paper.
And I was just talking to John at the convention,
say, he's behind it.
And and it hasn't happened, yet, but we're looking to do it.
JUSTIN: I can't wait for that. ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
JUSTIN: Maybe I'll see you in New York.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah, it would be a lot of fun.
JUSTIN: We'll get a nice slice. ADAM KUBERT: Yeah.
Yeah.
JUSTIN: So, lastly, my final question.
You know, you've delighted the masses
from wherever you do your work.
But now, you're out here, in the wild, San Diego Comic Con.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah. Yeah.
JUSTIN: What's it like connecting with fans that,
maybe, never thought they would ever get to meet the creator
of such wonderful images?
ADAM KUBERT: You know, I love meeting the fans.
I love the interaction.
I love that they love the same thing that I love to do.
And I'll chat with them all day long.
So I'm the type of person that I love getting out.
And I love getting into the thick of it with them
and just going back and forth.
You know, I'm as excited to meet them as they are
to meet me, believe it or not.
JUSTIN: Wow.
ADAM KUBERT: You know so.
JUSTIN: Yeah, um--
ADAM KUBERT: I enjoy it.
JUSTIN: It's hard to believe that such wild images can
come from a person that's so down to Earth.
ADAM KUBERT: I don't know.
JUSTIN: Well it means a lot to us.
ADAM KUBERT: No comment.
No, I appreciate that but, you know.
JUSTIN: Yeah.
Well, thanks so much for being here.
ADAM KUBERT: Yeah, Justin. Thank you.
JUSTIN: Yeah, I really appreciate--
splendid meeting you.
ADAM KUBERT: It was great chatting with you.
JUSTIN: I hope to see you on the floor
with some of those adoring fans.
ADAM KUBERT: Same here.