Comics go to college—RIT opens Kubert Comics Lounge and Gallery

Comics fans have a super friend in Rochester Institute of Technology and a new place to pay homage to legendary DC Comics artist and educator Joe Kubert.

The Kubert Lounge and Gallery opens to the public this fall at the Cary Graphic Arts Collection in RIT’s university library. Marvel Comics artist and RIT alumnus Adam Kubert ’81 (medical illustration) donated his father’s archive to inspire young artists.

The grand opening of the Kubert Comics Lounge and Gallery—6-8 p.m. Sept. 21 on the RIT campus—celebrates the donation and ongoing collaboration with Adam Kubert.

A moderated conversation between Kubert and British writer Nikesh Shukla, two of the creators of Spider-Man India, will be held at 6 p.m. in RIT’s Ingle Auditorium. A signing and tour of the Kubert Lounge and Gallery will follow at Wallace Library. The event is free and open to the public; however, attendance is limited and registration is required.

The gallery in the Kubert Lounge will exhibit, “Spider-Man India: The Cover Art of Adam Kubert,” and feature his illustrations for the comic book series. The show will run from Sept. 21 to Dec. 15.

Kubert is known for illustrating Wolverine, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, and Spider-Man. He recently illustrated the five covers of the Spider-Man India series. The animated feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse introduced Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India to fans everywhere.

The Kubert Archive includes process work and finished art, and a singular piece of comics history—the drafting table where Joe Kubert drew Sgt. Roch, Hawkman, Tor, Tarzan, and the Green Beret, among other characters.

Adam Kubert donated his father’s archive to RIT’s Cary Graphic Arts Collection for students and scholars to learn about his craft in a hands-on educational setting.

“My Dad was part of the Golden Age of comics, which these days is fairly important,” Kubert said. “I want to make his things available so people can learn how he worked and the tools he used, and what better place than at RIT, where I went to school? I’m hoping the creativeness washes over as many people as possible.”

The personal effects on the drafting table on display at RIT are exactly where the late Joe Kubert left them. RIT archivists recreated Kubert’s work surface from photographs taken of his office at the Kubert School he founded in Dover, N.J.

“Joe Kubert’s drafting table is a tangible piece of comic books history,” said Steven Galbraith, curator of the RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection. “It gives you a real sense of how he worked as an artist. Even his pencil shavings remain.”

The comic book originated in the United States in the early 20th century and is the focus of the relatively new academic field of comics studies. This discipline explores the art, narrative, technology, and social and cultural significance of the medium. An immersion offered at RIT in comics studies focuses on the history of cartooning, comics, sequential art, and visual storytelling, and the practice making comics and cartoon art.

To learn more about the Kubert Lounge and Gallery at RIT, contact Steven Galbraith at skgtwc@rit.edu.