Artist, Creator, and Kubert School of Art Owner/President Anthony Marques | Best Worst Idea Podcast Episode Three - The Best Worst Idea with Frank Hannah

Episode Transcript
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Frank Hannah (00:00):
Welcome to the best worst idea podcast. My name
is Frank Hannah and I'm yourhost. This is the place we
discuss the creative process,and how everyone can benefit
from living more creatively.
My guest today is AnthonyMarquez. He is someone who
really embodies the best worstidea philosophy. Listen to this

(00:21):
from the keyword school website.
When it comes to the history andart of comic books, Anthony
Marquez is a prime example ofeverything there is to love
about the art form, a graduateof the iconic Joe Kubert School
of cartoon and graphic art. Heworked as an editor for numerous
publishers such as DC Comics andDynamite Entertainment. And as

(00:43):
an artist who was able to bringnew and exciting visions to life
for beloved characters such asBatman, Green Hornet and the
Ghostbusters, but it didn't stopthere. No, sir. Mark has also
owns and operates the historiccomic shop, do E's comic city in
Dover, New Jersey. And inaddition to this, he became an

(01:03):
instructor at the Joe KubertSchool, before eventually
deciding to become the owner andpresident of the institution.
There he works with instructorsto usher in the next generation
of comic book careers.
I mean, what can't this guy do?
It's my pleasure to welcome himto the show. Welcome Anthony
Marquez. That's the first timeI've ever had anybody read a

(01:26):
bio.
I'm like, Wow, this just coverseverything. It's like I I have
to say the reason I wanted tohave you on this podcast is
because I allowed him to I'mjust in awe of, I don't know
what to call it. I think it's, Ithink it's just more than
ambition, because you don't seemlike somebody who would, you

(01:47):
know, step on somebody else'shead to get a head out to get
ahead in the industry, you youare known by everyone to be like
the nicest guy. So, to me, Ialways kind of looked at you
every time I every time you'dhave like an announcement. It's
like I remember, first one whenyour your wife was pregnant with
your first child. And I waslike, Oh, that's great. Well,

(02:09):
congratulations on your your newproduction or your new creation.
It's like, well, who knew thatwas going to be just the
beginning of the story? Youknow, so I just think I like
just being

Anthony Marques (02:19):
a nice guy. You know, I love comics. You know, I
mean, really, I mean, from theminute I was a probably brought
forth into this world, you know,it was already it was in the
genes. It was there. I love it.

There are other millions of comic book nerds
that love comics, you know, Imean, they don't that doesn't
mean they necessarily are ableto, you know, marshal the amount
of effort it takes to do you'vedone. But anyway, before I get
ahead of myself, you live in NewJersey? Yeah, yeah, let you New
Jersey. Did you grow up in NewJersey?

Yeah, um, I was born in New Jersey, for a short
period of time. We lived inVermont for a little while, we
had a house up there. And wewent up there for a little bit.
But for majority of my life, Ihave lived in New Jersey, I
guess I would say my formativeyears. So we had a great time. A
mom and dad are really wonderfulpeople really supportive.

They would they would have to be if we look at
Anthony's origins story, whatwas your upbringing, like you
you said you had reallysupportive parents, which a lot
of times is the opposite of whatpeople who are very creative are
because they're trying to fillsome kind of void or lack that
wasn't there whenever they weregrowing up. So tell me about

(03:32):
that. Tell me about your familyabout what it was

like for little Anthony? Well, we'll just need
to do an li l apostrophe, yes.
But for little Anthony, it waspretty great. I'm not gonna lie.
My parents, you know, my dad wasworked in construction, great
guy, really believed in hardwork, and that you could achieve
anything that you want to do aslong as you go after it. My mom
was a stay at home mom, and shewas just, she's is still like

(03:58):
the sweetest lady you'll evermeet in your life. She's really
funny and just full of energyand was also a really great role
model of how to kind of approachlife doing the right things. And
it was just, it was a goodplace. I have two brothers. I'm
the middle child. I have anolder brother that's 10 years
older than I am, who is aprofessional opera singer, and

(04:20):
he's just the most talentedperson in my family. He's
absolutely incredible. You know,just to see that sort of talent
come flowing out of somebody isamazing. Growing up, my younger
brother and I were very close inage. We're about a two year
difference. We both love to justcreate stories and characters
and I kind of hit it a realsweet spot in terms of you know,

(04:43):
we had the 89 Batman moviegrowing up, and I was about
like, five years old and thatcame out. Oh my god.
Ghostbusters and Ninja Turtlesand you know, and then in 1992
it was the Death of Superman.
Did you know that was just likemind altering to it to a kid and

(05:04):
then at that point in time,that's when we kind of were
moving. So, you know, it wasreally still into comics. And I
just started to really latchinto it. And I remember when we
were up in Vermont, there waslike nothing around, we lived in
a really, really small town. Andso my mom would literally drive
us 40 minutes out to like thisdrugstore next to Ames, which is

(05:25):
like a Kmart almost. And so wewould go out to the Ames next
one was this drugstore. Andthat's where they would have
this one spinner rack. And wewould go and pick up the comics,
and my mom dragged me out thereevery single week, so I can get
them still. Now to go back, andI just keep on devouring them.
And then once we moved back, Ikind of just kept on reading, we

(05:45):
had a great local comic shopcalled Steve's comic relief. And
I would go and I would just keepon reading and drawing. And it
was funny, that's when I startedflirting with the idea of, hey,
you know, I saw that there'sthis place called the Cubert
school, and they have drawingclasses on Saturdays for kids.
And I remember my dad beinglike, that's like two hours away
from where we live, and there'sno way you're doing. It's just

(06:08):
not feasible, you know, but justto give you the the gist of what
it was like, as a kid. I mean,that's what was lacking, I was
just drawing all the time to mybrother, and I would come up
with our own comics. And I wouldjust draw those always and it
was just nuts. It was just agreat time, you know, for to be
a kid. And I think a lot ofpeople that are around my age,

(06:28):
you know, I'm 38. So around a 40point range. I think growing up
in the 90s was a lot of fun. Itwas really interesting. And then
once we got a little bit older,he got really real really quick.
That's its own thing. Yeah, Ithink it's interesting,
especially when you're talkingabout something like comic books
in that whole world. Wheneveryou were five years old, I was

(06:52):
working in a comic book store,we, you know, you know, selling
anything, you know, that wasrelated to Batman like, I mean,
there was all kinds of stuffpeople were buying because of
the movie that was coming up.
But the, the idea that you're Iwas working at this comic book
store, and it was like, Okay,well, at some point, you need to

(07:12):
stop being the deadbeat of thefamily, and go and take a job
somewhere and do something. Andso the idea is that this kind of
creative, fun environment is notsupposed to last forever, right?
But you found a way toincorporate it into your entire
life, even as an adult, youknow, so you've got to continue

(07:33):
to begreat a Peter Pan syndrome.

Listen, I am not against that at all, I think in
terms of having that kind ofyouthful outlook, because that's
a big part of what I try andtell people about kind of best
worst idea notion is that you dothings as you get older, and you
and things become less fun,right? Because you assume,

(08:00):
Oh, I'm not creative, I can't dothis, I can't do that. And they
don't understand that.
creativity comes in many, many,many forms. And it's not just
one thing. And that's what I tryand tell people. So the idea
that you can create a youthfulkind of environment for yourself
doesn't necessarily mean thatyou're childish. But it does
mean you're open to creativeideas. Because the older you

(08:23):
get, the more you're like, Ah,I've seen it done it. Don't want
to know about it, don't care.
Whereas when you're younger,everything is like, wow, that's
the greatest thing I've everseen. And instead, now you go to
a movie and you're like, I'veseen it, I think it's kind of
great that that's what you'vebeen able to do. So you're in

(08:45):
New Jersey, right? You've,you've moved to come back,
you're starting to take theseclasses. How old are you when
you started taking theseclasses, these weekend classes?
I didn't get to take thoseclasses. Oh, it was too far
away. So you know, at thatpoint, I was still just kind of
it's all coming clear. It's allcoming clear to me, okay.
Because my, in my mind, I waskind of felt like and we'll get
to this in a little bit. But theidea of of wanting to own and

(09:10):
operate the Cubert school, youhave to say that that's not some
it's almost like a calling. Youknow, it's not it's not an
investment. It's not, it's notsomething you do as well, this
will make me lots of money orthis will secure my family. It's
it's a labor of love. It'ssomething that is that you had
to have spoken to in some way.
And so I can kind of see SonyWell, let's go back. So you're

(09:32):
you didn't get to take thoseclasses. But you you understood
at that point that there is aplace you can go where you can
explore this aspect of yourlife, right, this x aspect of
your personality and yourcreativity.

Yeah, I mean, I was just something that I
thought was really fascinating.
And it was something I alwayswanted to do, but I was really
terrified of doing it. Of justactually even considering
drawingas a, as an actual job, for some
reason, you know, I think it'skind of touches on what you were
just speaking on where, I don'tknow, I just feel like socially
or you know, the way that weare, I feel like maybe if for

(10:11):
people that decide to go intothe arts, there's this real fear
that, oh, it's not a real job,like, you know, Ryan's doing
this, you know, and it kind ofcan chip away at some of that
enthusiasm that you have,probably when you're younger.
And you know, you could comelike I say, my family is
extremely supportive. But justsocially, you kind of feel that

(10:31):
kind of chipping away at thearmor that we all have a child
and child enthusiastic armor,and we're going to call it. So I
was just kind of scared of that.
And I was like, well, maybe Ishould do something else. And,
you know, I graduated from highschool, and I kind of flirted

(10:52):
with some different ideas. And Iwent to my local community
college, and I was going there,and it was great. I was having a
fine time. And I was like, Well,I guess, like, don't be an
English teacher. And I didn'twant to be an English teacher,
though, I just didn't overlyenjoy that idea. So I stayed
there. And then once I finishedup, I left, and I decided, You

(11:13):
know what, I think I'm justgonna kind of travel up and down
the East Coast for a little bit.
Because my friends in differentspots, and I went down, and I
would go to Florida a lot, thatseemed to be like, my, my main
place.
And I would just kind of justhave some fun, I think, when
you're 18 years old, 19. Andyou're just trying to figure out

(11:34):
who the heck, er, I don't know,she just rushed into a decision,
I think it's a good idea to kindof play around and see what you
like, it's kind of like drawingin a way you got to sketch you
got to do some rough, so you gotto see what you like. And then
once you see the lines in therethat are enjoyable, you can kind
of refine it and then make agood decision for yourself.
Well, so yeah, and I thinkthat's a good way to, you know,

(11:57):
to frame the creative process ingeneral. But this, the idea
that, you know, you know, thatif you do a sketch, and it
sucks,

that's not the end of the story. You know, that's
where you start. And, you know,all you have to do is watch any
number of tutorials on YouTubeof people that are doing some
version of something on whetherit's digital art, or whatever.
And you're seeing them a race,in a race, in a race in a race
and to get what they need orchanging. And so nothing comes
out whole, in a perfect way. AndI think that I think that's

(12:31):
awesome that you, you know, seethat maybe that's something you
realize now as you as you'reolder, that that's what you were
doing. But, you know, I thinkfor me, when I, I think there's
there's this great thing whereyou want to encourage young
people to explore, and you wantthem to, to be able to feel like
they can be creative. Butsomewhere along the line,

(12:53):
there's this, we've kind of lostthis, this other half of it,
which is telling people thatthey're amazing when they're not
necessarily amazing. Like it's,it's fine to to give people the
encouragement to explore and becreative. But there's also the
the other side of it, which is,okay, you need to do this to get
better, and you need to do this,and you need to do that. And

(13:16):
that failure isn't the end ofthe world. It's actually a
really good thing. As opposed tosaying, This is amazing. You
know, I think it's the best wayto grow. You know, if you're not
failing, you're not trying. Soyeah, it's really the only way
for you to grow is to fail.
Did you ever? Did you ever goahead? Did you ever watch Family

(13:38):
Guy?
Oh, yeah. I'm a big fan. Okay.
Yeah, so me too. There's agreat, I'm sorry, I totally
don't know what you're gonnacall out on it. And I'm like, I
come across as a fake fan. Oh,no, no, no, it's, it's not even
I'm gonna I'm not even going totest you, or anything like that.
It's just that there's they doall these great cutaways. And
one of them I used to love,while I still love is where, you

(14:00):
know, it's the Beatlesrecording, and Ringo comes in.
And he's like, Hey, guys, Irecorded this new song. And they
go, that's great Ringo, and PaulMcCartney takes it and he walks
over to a fridge and goes, we'regonna put it right here on the
fridge where everyone can seeit.

(14:21):
And so it's fine to say, hey,great job, but like, let's
continue. Creativity cansometimes come from a lack of
self esteem, you know, whereyou're feeling like, I'm not
good enough. So I'm going to tryand try and try. And then no
matter what it is, you end upflexing that muscle so much that
you know you become a pop singeror you become an actor or an

(14:42):
actress or somebody becauseyou're trying to fill this lack.
And so it's an imbalance but atleast it's something that you
know, you're never good enoughso you're always going to try
and get better. And the otherside of that is you have these
people with way too much selfesteem. They have all of this
belief in themselves and none ofthe talent
because they feel like theynever everything was always

(15:03):
great. Because no one ever toldthem. No, that's not good.
Because it's not about likeputting someone down. It's more
about saying no, no, this is howyou get better.

You have to be really self aware. Yeah, is I
think the most key trait that,you know, if you're going to
have anything, I think thatthat's where I kind of got it
from was from my parents inparticular and growing up
because they were very real,very real people. And, you know,
being able to identify what yourweaknesses are, I think is very
important trait. And that's whatI mean, by being self aware is

(15:33):
able to identify, are you reallygood? Are you as good as the
person that's putting the bookout right now? Are you as? Are
you worse than everyone you haveto be able to identify like, are
your faces? Do they look likecrap? Can you fix that can do a
better job? What can I do tomake it better? What do I have
to study? Do I have to put inmore hours do I need to try
harder? So if you kind of gointo just thinking that you're?

(15:56):
You're in for a very rudeawakening, because I can promise
you that you're not? Yeah, Ilisten, that's great advice. You
sound like somebody that shouldown a school of art.

What was your big comic book, click inspiration?
Who was the one that like if youhad an artist who looked at

Dan Jergens, I loved Dan Jergens. Grandpa, I
thought that he was just, Imean, he was, you know, he drew
the Death of Superman, that wasa really put the the final hook
in the in the mouth, you know?
Yeah. And I mean, Jergens wasjust so great. I loved his work,
especially when reading wasthinking over his work. I just
thought it was great. And thenas the years kind of went on,

(16:37):
when I was in high school,towards the end of the, you
know, my junior year, senior, Iprobably kind of got a little
bit away from drawing as muchjust because, you know, I was
trying to play sports, but I wasincredibly injury prone, and it
never really worked out verywell.
And, like I said, I just wasn'tsure if it was a great idea to

(17:00):
do this sort of a thing if goinginto art was really worth doing.
So then went to communitycollege, did what I had to do
there, went and hung out a lotdown in Florida. And then I
realized I need to get a job, Ineed to do something else. So I
started actually doingconstruction work. And I did

(17:22):
that for a little while. Andthat was a really great gig too.
Because you kind of I enjoy it.
I respect it. But I alsorealized that it wasn't for me,
right? You know that that wasnot meant for me to do. And I
think that that's also anotherreally great thing for a person
to go through in their life isto kind of do something and
realize, you know what, thisisn't for me, it kind of

(17:44):
reinforces that when you do getto do the thing that you want to
do. It makes it more special,and you definitely latch on to
it pretty quickly.
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, Ithink you.

I mean, I know, I worked a job before I started
writing professionally. And itwas, and I was good at it, but I
hated it. And I knew it wasn'twhat I wanted to be doing, which
I think made it more miserablefor me. But, you know, having a
work ethic is certainlysomething that is important, you
know that, you know, okay, I'lldo this. But you know, it's

(18:19):
usually in service of getting todo something else, you know,
that you that you love. So I canI can understand the idea of
like, is this the way to go?
Because as you know, now, I'msure back in 1989, when people
were buying ridiculous amountsof copies of comic books,
thinking that they were allgoing to be gazillionaires later

(18:40):
in life, it was this veryspeculative market that no one
was doing the math back then,you know, the idea of like spawn
number one comes out, andthere's 8 million copies that
they get printed, and everyone'sbuying 10 copies. And if there's
only two or 3 million comic bookreaders in the world, all of

(19:00):
them now have two or threecopies. So it was a madness that
overtook people. And it back inthe those times. I remember that
of books, if you're reading abook for DC and it had, you
know, 85,000 copies a month, DCwould like cancel it. Let's say
this is not working. But now,that would be that we're doing

(19:24):
great. We have 85,000 copies.
But anyway, my question to yougoing back is that as you were
drawing and getting better, likewhen did it become an IF versus
when like is there's this maybeif I can possibly draw comics
for a living or work in theindustry? When did it become?

(19:48):
It's not a matter of if it'llhappen. It's a matter of when
it'll happen. Do you rememberthat point? Yeah, I think I
think this is really the thatpoint was so

Around that time when I was doing the
construction work, I mean, a lotof the guys on the job are
great. I would draw all the timewhen I was there, I had really,
really started picking updrawing a lot at that point. And
around that summer, I had meta lovely lady who would
eventually become my wife,Jackie. And I remember

(20:20):
being out one night, and I wasdrawing a lot. And she was like,
you know, you really need to getlike a drawing desk set up. You
know, you gotta have something.
And how's it going? Yeah, sure.
And I remember coming home onenight, and up in our room, we
were living together, she hadput together a whole drawing

(20:43):
desk area for me, she puttogether the desk, you know, she
surprised me with everything.
Oh, it's just kind of just thatbelief that like, somebody else
believes in you, too. And it'slike, you know, yes, I
understand. So it's great whenmom and dad leaving, but just
having somebody else to kind ofgo out there and be like, hey,
look, I believe Ryan can dothis, you know, I think you've
got it. And I remember that wasa really special moment for him

(21:06):
that I got a little emotionalthinking about that. But that
was a really special moment forme. And I was like, You know
what? It was? Like, I think if,you know, she believes in it,
and I believe that, then I cando it. I think I think we can go
out there and do it. So that waskind of the final nail in the
coffin for that of like, Hey,Barry, any doubts that you have.
But now you just got to go afterit. And at that point, right.

(21:29):
You know, I had already appliedto the Kubert School. But I
didn't have the money. Icouldn't come that first year.
So on top of it with all that,you know, and now you know, I'm
trying to do this. I had leftthe job doing construction work,
and I needed to make money. Sothen I was doing I was
bartending at night, saving upevery single penny I could. So

(21:51):
this way I could come to theschool the following year. I'm
still drawing and trying to justget better on my own and try to
enter and your parents must havejust been shaking their head.
You're like I'm bartending so Ican go to Comic Book school.
You know, they've been in mind,they love the love the idea. I
remember coming up and doing theinterview. And it was it was

(22:13):
awesome. I got to beat Mike Chenwho was here. And wow, it sat
down with him. You know, he gaveme a tour of the school, which
actually wasn't where it isright now was actually a
temporary facility because theywere doing construction work on
the building. Wow. So I wasn'tit wasn't even actually at the
real school, you know, so I hadto go there and do their thing.

(22:33):
But yeah, just seeing that deskbeing put put together. And just
feeling that sort of like yet.
She supports me, she loves me,she believes in me to do this,
that really hammered at homethat I could go forward and and
accomplish something. Well,that's amazing. I think a lot of
people would, would love to havesomebody, you know, that's close

(22:53):
to them that's supportive. Butyou know, where you really
believe they're not just blowingsmoke up your ass because right?
They want to make you happy,they realize this is who you
are. And that this is somethingthat needs to be nurtured and
needs to be brought out. Andthat's great. Because it says a
lot that that was what kind ofplayed out. Because

(23:16):
the reality is people get to acertain age and it's like, just
No, you get a job, and thenwe're going to get married. And
then we're going to have kidsand we need to buy a house. And
so you're going to you know,there's no flights of fancy
here. You you need to just getdown to it. And so then what
year did you end up at theschool? The following year, I
was able to attend. So worked mybutt off, was able to get to the

(23:40):
school. And I remember comingthat first day, sitting on the
steps, I was super early, and Iwas so nervous. And because I
was like, Oh, well, you know,I'm a decent artist. But you
know, well maybe like, you know,this place is going to be just
filled with people that are justway better than me. It's going
to be like an embarrassment.
You're gonna say you have nobusiness here. Why? Yeah. But I
think that's a very common fear.

(24:06):
You know, and I think sharingthat and I hope people hear this
and they're able to realize, allright, yeah, you know, I'm
feeling that sort of thing to gomatter what school you go to,
whether it's an art or whateveryou're trying to do. But once
those doors opened, and we allwent in, we sat down and we got
to really start working. It'sjust it's a great atmosphere to

(24:26):
be in to be surrounded by otherlike minded individuals that
want to achieve the same thingsthat you want to where to have
talks and discussions about thesame things that you want to and
you just have, you have a lot offun. It makes for a really great
creative environment. And theschool was incredible. I mean,
first year I got to learn withsome really incredible
instructors in second and thirdyears, the three year school.

(24:49):
Oh, it's gonna ask you like howmany years? Yeah, and it was
just that was fantastic. I lovedmy three years as a student at
the Cubert school. It'sextremely
The hard I do not make any youknow if ands or buts about it,
it is difficult. It is verydifficult. It's very intense,
you know, it's five days a weekyou are drawing every single day

(25:11):
you're drawing when you go home,you're gonna probably be up
really late at times having todo the work. But when I
graduated, I felt that myartwork had improved so much. I
mean, from from day one to, youknow, your your last assignment
in third year, there's a drasticand dramatic change

in just how much more publishable if that, if
that makes sense that your workbecomes well, yeah, cuz I think
a lot of people, I mean, I evencount myself, like, I like to
doodle. And I like to draw. Andso I would go on to, like I
said, YouTube, YouTube certifiedart art school, where I would,
like, Oh, let me see how to drawthe human head. And let me see

(25:53):
how to draw this and draw thatand you do it. And you're doing
it over and over and over again,but you're not. And it's fine.
And maybe you get a certainlevel of acuity to drawing the
human form or what have you. Butit's not the same as being in a
school or being around otherartists or teachers that say,

(26:13):
no, no, no, let me show youright and right, and giving you
that information and time tolearn the ways they kind of
overcame the same problems or,you know, a new way to visualize
it, or what have you. So youcan't really beat that, I think,
and that's something that I wantI find when I watch these videos

(26:36):
to kind of learn how to drawthis or draw that. And it's just
fun for me, but it really is notthe same. You know that because
I would want someone I wouldlike for someone to reach out
through the screen and say, Oh,no, no, no, that you're screwing
this up. This is what you needto do. But yeah, so what a great
experience. And when you thinkabout the alumni that came out

(26:57):
of the school alone, and atleast the ones that, you know,
resonate with me, like the RickVeatch is and the Tim Truman's
and even beset Alex Maleev. Imean, these are, like legends.
And that's the same thing ofprobably the people that we're
teaching, you know, throughoutthe years. I mean, it the alumni
list. I mean, you have toremember the school has been

(27:20):
open for over 45 years. Yeah.

I mean, Nikopol Attano, over at DC has names and
every single issue of DC Comics,because, you know, he's one of
the main guys there. He's akeeper alumni, Rob Clark, who is
in charge of production overthere. He's an ex qB. You know,
Lee weeks Andy Kubert. AdamKubert. You know, if, like you
said, Rick Veatch Amanda Connor.
I mean, there's, it's a laundrylist that just keeps on going.

(27:47):
And that's just for comics. Youknow, we're not even talking
about you know, Bill pressingwho's over at Pixar, a bauta.
She was over at Nickelodeon orWarner Brothers. I mean,
there's, there's way more thanthat. It's an every single facet
of comics and entertainmentindustries. It's really, really
incredible. Yeah, it's, it'sunlike anywhere else, it's so

(28:10):
unique. I love talking about theschool because it is special.
It's a really incredible placewhere, you know, you come here,
you're not you're not doing mathin English, you know, you're
coming here to, to learn how todraw, you're learning how to
tell stories. You're coming hereto be become a better creator.
And it's, it's really incredibleand special. And, you know, I

(28:34):
told people for many years, andI still tell them, it's my
favorite place in the world.
It's located in Dover, NewJersey, you know, and, you know,
a close second would have to beDisney World.

Yeah.

Yeah, but I love it. I absolutely. And that
makes sense. To me. That makessense to me. Because there has
to be this luck. I'm thinkingokay. Well, you know, it's, it's
one thing to say, Oh, I reallygot a lot out of the school.
Like I have friends that havegraduated from the School of
Visual Arts, and they havetaught there and, and that's an

(29:13):
entirely kind of the same butdifferent. But that's not
necessarily the same as youknow, I think you really this
really, like solidifiedsomething in you. So would you
say to that as a result ofgetting through the school is
what led to you working at DC?
Oh, 100% 100%. So what happensat the school? You know, it's so

(29:36):
funny. It's like, I feel likefor every good thing that kind
of happens. There's like kind ofa negative that comes before
it's really funny.
I guess it just keeps balance ina weird cosmic keyway. So, you
know, I came here and then whatthey do is is in third year, you
have portfolio reviews and youmeet with every company you can

(29:59):
think of itIt's out there. And I mean, they
all come and they're basicallycoming here to cherry pick who
they want to hire. Right. And Iremember one time in particular,
I don't want to say a company'sname, but was one of the big two
will say that, actually, I'lltell you two quick, big two
stories. I won't say which oneswhich, but so I came in, I was
positive, I was positive, I wasgonna get hired.

(30:24):
I really thought it was gonnahappen. And I remember going in,
I showed my portfolio and I waslike, oh, here comes, they're
gonna, they're gonna give me thegig. And all of a sudden, it was
like, I That's great. Well, youknow, send me some work, we'll
send you like, some samplescripts. And you know, you know,
we'll take we'll take it fromthere. I was like, Oh, this is
horrible.

(30:45):
The worst, the worst thing ever.
And I remember seeing AndyKubert in the hallway. And my
stomach was just in knots atthat point. And, you know, I had
butterflies and so that, and hegoes, You can't
you look, you look a little sickright now. And I was like, I'm
fine. I'm fine. It's all great.
This, you know, three years ofstressful work every single day,

(31:06):
just, you know not to do. Yeah,you know, and then a another
company, we went to did theportfolio reviews with won't say
the names or anything, but Iwent and someone really liked my
work. They were like, hey, look,I want you to do a few pages on
something. Let's get you to drawsome quick pages, we'll get you

(31:29):
set up. And we can do it right.
So I go, Okay, this is gonna begreat. I do these pages, I send
them in, and the person writesback, these look beautiful,
fantastic. Can you do just twomore to complete, like an entire
sequence? And then you know,we'll get your setup. Alright,
great. Do two more pages, sendthem in? And all of a sudden, I

(31:52):
go, Hey, here you go. And hejust writes back? They look
great.
And I go, right back in email?
Hey, you know, you said we couldwe could do something after you
know, I did all these pages. Andthe email I got back was didn't
you get anybody else's contactinformation?
So I mean, you know, that's areal gut punch, you know, you

(32:17):
know, you're a young artistyou're trying to break in. And I
think all young artists, youngwriters, anybody that's in this
field, I mean, you're reallyputting your heart out on your
sleeve every single time you'rereaching out, yeah, you're
expressing your desires so badlyto want to work in this. And
then to have that sort of areaction. I mean, that's just,
you know, that's in that ittakes the wind right out of your

(32:38):
lungs, you know, all the air isout. And, yeah, absolutely. I
mean, yeah, it sucked. But youalso build up those calluses, as
well, I think that's kind ofpart of it. I'm not saying that
it's healthy, that peoplerespond that way. But it
happens, it's a reality. And youdo need to have a thick skin

(32:59):
about it, or at least, you know,because there will be people
that they aren't of interest, orthey aren't interested in what
you're doing. Or maybe theydon't like your style, or
whatever it is. And there's norhyme or reason. And there's
other people that, you know, aremaybe trying to say, well, you
maybe you're just not quitethere yet, because I've heard
that a lot. When people gettheir portfolios reviewed, they

(33:22):
might say, well, you know, it'sgood, but you're just not there.
And all you hear is I'm not goodenough, you know, but yeah, the
trick is, you kept going and yourealize that, okay, they're
gonna tell me no, and then I'm,I'm going to keep trying,
because it really does thin theherd. I mean, I know back in the

(33:46):
early 90s, before I was any kindof writer, and I was a huge,
huge fan of,

of the vertigo comics, because I was less
superhero fan than I wasvertigo. And I used to send in,
you know, proposal afterproposal after proposal to the
vertigo editors. And guaranteedI would get back these letters,
that would be they were theywere, they were not, some of
them were formed letters, butthen I would get others that

(34:15):
were typed out. And basically,they just said, this just isn't
good enough, you know, and atthe time, I'm like, I can't
believe this. Andand, and then I would, you know,
I remember talking to our mutualfriend Scott Lobdell and I
remember saying, you know, I canwrite better than the crap
that's coming out now. And he'dsay, Yeah, but you know, the,

(34:37):
the goal isn't to just writecrap, that's a little bit
better.
It's fig what up? And I said,okay, okay. But you know, so you
just keep putting thoserejection letters on the wall.
Back when they'd still send outletters now it's I'm sure it's
emails or whatever. But yeah, Iwould just keep them and then

(34:59):
eventuallyYou stopped taking it so
personally and you and you justsay, okay, because we we kind of
went past this if or whensituation, then you know, you're
just gonna keep going and you'regonna keep trying. And
hopefully, you end up somewhere.
Yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean, Ithink it's, I want to say this

(35:22):
like, Yeah, I mean, I startedfeeling extra pressure. At that
point I, you know, when I was inschool, when I was a student, I
got engaged in my second year,to Jackie, we got engaged. And
then, in my third year, Iactually got, we got married. So
I wasn't even, I hadn't evengraduated yet.

You know, I was married in third year, we put
off our honeymoon until Iactually graduated. So we are
making your life like, so muchharder on yourself than it
needed to be, weren't you?
But it's what I wanted to do,though. No, it's fine. Yeah,
it's, it's a challenge. Becauseit's enough, you know, but when

(36:01):
you add other people to yourYeah, your world in your, in
your, in your

obligation to those people, right, right. It's
like, no, no, they're in yourairspace now. And you have to
take care of them. And you haveto make sure that, you know,
it's an us now it's not just me,yeah.

So we do go out. And thank God, I will say,
though, when I was doing theportfolio reviews, a company
came by, and their name was madat design. And they gave me a
job, they said, you could startsoon as you get back, as soon as
you're ready to come in, start.
So I graduated, and I was ableto go right over there and start

(36:40):
doing some small work, you know,I did some spider man coloring
books, and like Disneyprincesses and things like that.
And that lasted a little while,it was great. I mean, I was
having a really good time, butit was really still freelance
based, you know, I'd have totrek into New York. So that was
nice. But you know that it'sexpensive to take the train in
every single day. And then whatpretty much happened was a

(37:04):
position opened up at theschool, for the events
coordinator. And I took on thatjob. And I started basically
going around to all thedifferent shows and traveling
with Andy, Adam and Joe andgetting to kind of see firsthand
how to conduct oneself at a showin the right way. You know, I

(37:25):
had already done some smallershows or some decent shows. But
I didn't really understand howto like really put myself out
there. I learned a lot from it.
That was a really great gig.

Yeah, I mean, cuz aside from that, you're also
it's like, it's networking.
Because as I as I kind of joke,but I honestly believe it, it's
like, you're very, you reallycome you're a nice, super nice
guy, people can see that you'regenuine. And so that I think if
people just get to know you,they're gonna say, Oh, wait, and
he has talent as well. Well,that's great. You know, this was

(37:59):
a guy that I think is easy towork with. He's easy to deal
with other people, etc. So IThat doesn't surprise me. So So
of course, you're doing that.
And then that leads to that'swhat leads to the DC job. Right.
So like I said, there's usuallysomething a little little bad
that happens.

But I remember before, I don't know if I want
to say any names, so I'm goingto try to keep it
that's, I just feel bad. Becauseit was coming from a good place
what was said,but this kind of goes back to
you got to kind of take yourlicks man, you know, you're
gonna, you're gonna get hitknocked down a few times, but

(38:42):
you got to get, you got to keepgetting back up. And someone
that I really, really admired,you know, really respected and,
you know, was an idol at thatpoint really,
pretty much sat me down. I waslike, Look, if you were going to
get a job drawing, it would havehappened already. Oh, I don't
think it's going to work out. Ithink, you know, you're a good

(39:06):
guy, basically, all the thingsyou were just said. But he, you
know, he said, I think you'd bea really good editor. And you
know, there's a position that'sopen, you should apply. And I
think you should really go afterit.
And I said, Okay, great. Youknow, what, are you saying that?

(39:28):
Yes, yes, I will do that. And,you know, I applied I wound up
interviewing. It took about sixmonths.
Before before I actually gothired at DC. Wow. You know, I
interviewed each group I metwith everybody, you know, all
the way up. And they were great.
I loved it. And you know, andthen when I found out that

(39:50):
actually got hired, I mean thatwas incredible. That was a
really good that was a reallyrewarding moment to feel like
hey, wow, you are reallyaccomplished something
You know, I'm at DC, I wasworking in a Superman group, I
was working on the Supermantitles and Teen Titans and all
these really cool characters andgetting to work with so many
wonderful artists and writers.
And it was really awesome. Ithink an editor, being an editor

(40:15):
is a wonderful job. You know, Iwas just telling that to
somebody the other day, andthey're like, You're nuts.
But I think being an editor isabsolutely incredible. Because
it was just, you were saying, Isthis somebody you were telling
them? Or it wasn't good enough?
Never good. But, you know, itwas just, you know, being an

(40:39):
editor you're you're you're muchmore creative than people think
you are, you're really involvedin every aspect of it from you
know, the art to the writing allthe way to solicits and
production and all the way up. Imean, you handle everything, and
you're involved, or every singleperson on every single book. So

there's also the the right, the hand holding, you
have to do I know when I wasworking briefly at DC, and I
work with you on? Like, it wasprobably, maybe super Almay
comics was actually in comics.
Yeah, I totally remember thestory. And, and so, you know, I
know, you know, I didn't, Ididn't have I didn't work my way

(41:19):
up the, you know, the ladder ofcomics, I came from film that
was kind of what happened forme. And it was just a great
opportunity.
And I know that there was timeswhen I'd call up, are we we talk
and it was kind of like, okay,yeah, no, no, it's like you,
you, you're very kind ofdiplomatic and very, you know,

(41:42):
supportive. And when things seemto not be going the way I wanted
them to go, you're like, Yeah, Iknow, I know. I know. I don't
understand it, either. But Idon't know. Because I know, I
probably like a lot of peoplethat have worked for big
companies like that, you know,you assume that they're all just
for the love of art. And really,it's it's just market share and

(42:06):
money. And there's all thesethings that are just a part of
it. And so our job, you know,it's yeah, you're playing with
their toys. And at the end ofthe day, it's their rules, you
know, so I know that might seemlike, you know, I'm just
throwing out corporate speak,but it's, it's the truth. You
know, if you want to work inthat world on those characters,

(42:28):
it is what it is, you know,they're going to give it to you.
But I think that's also whyyou're seeing such a boom, and I
can't even call it the boom,because boom has been going on
for so long. With, you know, thecreator of materials and the way
that people are getting theirbooks out there. So Oh, for
sure. For sure. I mean, what Irealized, yeah, no, I mean, the
thing is, for me, I was I feltlike I had opportunities to do

(42:52):
things that that I wouldn't havenormally. But I never my my my
dream of kind of becoming, youknow, a popular and or
successful writer on that levelof comic books never really
happened, which is, which istotally fine. But anyway, enough

(43:14):
about that, that nobody wants tohear.
Well, it's kind of great. And Ithink his at the time when I
first met you, I thought, Oh,he's you know, I didn't know any
of this background informationabout you. I didn't know
anything. You know, all I knewwas, I think this really great
guy. And then, and then I sawthat you did do some art. And
I'm like, Oh, he has a reallyunique style. It's, it's, it's

(43:36):
not like every other person haskind of a classic style. I think
he would say, I don't know ifthere's a way to call your art
style.

Yeah, I mean, has that animated thing going.
Now it does. You know, when Iwas a student, I was super
detailed. I was really intoreally going nuts with detail.
Okay. But then as what happenedwas, is when I was eventually
DC, you know, they came out andsaid that they were moving to
California. And that alsohappened to be the day that we

(44:05):
found out, you know, Jackie waspregnant,
and everything else with ourfirst child. And I was like,
holy moly, you know, what do wewhat do we do here? Yeah, yeah.
Okay, go ahead. Sorry. No, goahead. Good. Okay. So so the
thing is interesting about that,to me is and I remember

when people were starting to transition over to
California,which kind of happened slowly
and they were the people thatokay, I am going to move in and
the people are like, No, I'm notgoing to move. And there were
the people that were alreadyprobably here and I remember
thinking at the time OhAnthony's not gonna be coming
in. He's probably going to beleaving the company that and

(44:47):
then then you went on, I thinkto work for dynamite. Yep. And
at the time, and I'm like, oh,at some point you're now your
your your wife is pregnant.
point after that, did you say Iknow what I'm gonna do? I'm
gonna buy a comic book store.

(45:09):
Let me see, um, like when you'resitting in the wheel of bad
ideas at home.
You know, I'm thinking, youknow, this is crazy. I mean, it
was like, when I heard about it,I wasn't like, that's the worst
idea ever. I mean, I'm joking.
But just in terms of what wouldbe the most prudent thing to do.

(45:29):
Given your situation, maybe thatwasn't it? Right. But it's but
you stuck to your guns. And youYou did what you felt was like,
where your heart told you, youknow, and I think you must have
seen some way forward for it tohappen. Like, how did you come
to that?
So to get to that point, let'ssee. So I was at DC, they told
us that they were leaving to goto California, I actually did

(45:52):
teeter totter on whether or notI was going to go at one point,
I did say, yes. Okay. We hadtalked about it. And I didn't
think it was right, that thefamily wouldn't be able to take
part in her life at a young age,I didn't think I thought that
was very selfish. So

I decided to stay. And I actually took on my
first job was actually drawingthe shadow for dynamite. And I
went, I remember doing somestuff, I was doing some work at
Dark Horse, I don't even thinkthat story ever was published,
which is also a real kick in thestomach.
And then, but the duchateau, onecame out, then a member dynamite

(46:39):
had reached out about coming inand doing an interview to see if
I would have interest in editingthere. And I came in, and I was
doing some minor, like, youknow, little, little art jobs
for them. And they had asked,you know, would you basically to
skip forward a little bit? Theyasked, you know, would you have
interest in working here? And Isaid, Yes, you know, it'd be

(47:00):
great. But I want to draw, Ineed to be able to draw, I'm
coming here, though. Because atDC, if you're an editorial, you
were not allowed to draw and youwere not allowed to write. You
had to just be an editor. Well,could you can you work for,
like, so if you were to DC, youcouldn't write or draw for any

(47:21):
other company, either? Correct.
So you weren't allowed to work,you weren't allowed to do
anything, you know, I'm justgonna say creatives, right, but
basically produce any artworkfor them, or write for them and
get a credit in any of the bookswhile you were there.

And I hated that.
Because there was tons of timeswhere I was doing the layouts
for the books where I would goback in and I would fix things
and have to do this or that.
And, you know, I didn't thinkthat that was fair. So

then eventually, when I went to
dynamite, we did the interview,and I said, Look, I'll come but
I'm gonna come here, I want todo it as a writer, I mean, as a,
as an editor, artist, I want todo both. I want to do both
things. And they said, Sure. Andthey were great. Like I say,
you're working, there was reallyenjoyable time. And then when I
was there, I was working on tonsof books. And I actually kind of
burnt myself out a little bit.

(48:12):
Yeah, and I just kind of wantedto take a step back for a
minute. And, you know, Jackiewas like, Well, what do you want
to do? And I had come across oneof my good friends who own
Dewey's comic city, and he waslooking to retire. He didn't
even want to do it anymore. So Isaid, you know, I would be very
interested in working outsomething in order to acquire

(48:37):
Dewey duties. And we got totalking and we made it happen.
And so that worked out great. Iwas very happy. And that kind of
helped to recharge thebatteries. And then at that
point,Dewey's was doing great, we have
a wonderful store manager, John,who's down there, always, and
he's absolutely incredible. So Ifelt, you know what, maybe I

(48:58):
don't need to be here, everysingle game. I reached back out
to dynamite. I said, you know,I'm feeling a lot better. I
would like to come back. Andthey said, Sure. So I went back,
and I was back to editing abunch of books, I was drawn
stuff still for them even duringall that. And it worked out
great. I had a really good timethere. That's insane. Like no,
no sane person would decide thatthis is a smart thing to do. Not

(49:19):
because it's that you can't besuccessful, but just that in
terms of in the abstract saying,oh, I want to own a comic book
store. Then I want to go backand edit and draw up like well
pick one, right? And that'susually how people see things.
They don't see a wider kind ofview, you know, that you can I

(49:40):
think if you if you look atthings right, like I think it's
very easy to see. Why are youdoing so many different things
at once I go. Why not? You know,just because you think it's
strange doesn't mean that Ithink it's strange, you know,
so, you know, I always I mightnot physically be
in one spot, always, because Ihave to do one thing, or I have

(50:04):
to go somewhere this or that.
But you also work with peoplethat you trust, you have to have
a good support system. You haveto have, you know, I'm very
aware of everything that's goingon every single day of every
aspect of each business. Andwhat's, you know, what are the
numbers? How are we looking?

(50:24):
What's the outlook? Right? Whatare our projections here? What
do we have to do? What do weneed to change? So I'm always
aware of all of that, as long aswe're hitting our, I don't wanna
say quota, but basically are ournumbers as we go forward. I'm
okay. You know, I can, thatallows me more freedom to do
more things. Now. So if you hadto, just to interrupt you here

(50:47):
in a second, yeah, go ahead. Isowning a comic book store? a
profitable business? Yes.
Because our shop is profitable.
Now, what I see in a lot ofshops, and you know, in terms of
the comic books, it's almostlike, your hat, the way I look
at it is is like 711, right?
You, you have to havecigarettes, that you sell for

(51:10):
close to nothing in terms ofprofit, so that you can, so you
can sell other stuff burnt tobring them in, because everyone
wants to have that. So you needto have this thing that doesn't
necessarily light the world onfire anymore in terms of sales
and profit, so that you can sellevery other ancillary ancillary

(51:32):
thing. Is that an overexaggeration, or do you feel
kind of like that, you know,partly true, or so just to kind
of describe how our shop works,you know, new comics, that's, we
sell a lot of new comics, youknow, as they come in, or sell
on them, you know,back issue business, it's big,

(51:53):
okay, it's a big business. Andthat's kind of like, you know,
if you're selling breaking evenon the cigarettes, and you're
making all your money on thesoda, back issues or your soda,
you know, okay, it's, we're, Ithink you're killing it.
Especially if you can acquirecollections that have real keys
in them. I mean, you know,you're talking about the
speculator speculator marketbefore about that was going on
in the early 90s. I thinkthere's still a huge speculator

(52:16):
market, you know, I think peopleare always looking to see
whatever movies coming out, andthen they go nuts, trying to
find, you know, these charactersbecause they find books to
skyrocket. I think that's a veryinteresting thing. Because if
you know, because a lot of timesyou'll, you'll find a little
comic shop, like a few littlecomic shops by where I live. And
when you go in there, they willhave new comics, like, I have

(52:39):
one guy, I know, that his, his Idon't call it a gimmick, but his
way is that he will, he willhave every solitary single
variant cover that they just putout. So like, that's a trap. I
think that's a trap. And maybeso right. But that's his thing.

(53:00):
And so he's known for that. Sobut because, you know, things
only sell what they sell, youknow, if, if there's a comic I
want and then, but then it'ssold out. It used to be, oh, I'm
going to have more next week, orI'm gonna have right nowadays,
it's like, yeah, we sold out ofit, who we sold the five copies

(53:23):
that we bought. Yeah. And thatwas enough, because they don't
want to be holding on to all ofthis extra inventory. And even
though so but I think if you'rea bigger store, right,
obviously, you have to have acertain level of customer base
that knows this is what you do

to feed that right. So

I mean, the the weird part with us with Dewey's
was, it was very wellestablished to right, you know,
so, the customer base was there,you know, so when I look at a
business or from kind ofinterested in something, I look
to see, you know, is itestablished? Does it have that
customer base, can we make itbigger, you know, how do we how

(54:06):
do we keep on improving it? Andso, do we already had it, the
scary part with Dewey's was, andwith the school and everything,
and I don't want to touch on theschool yet, because I know you
probably want to bring that up.
Sure. But was with COVID? Oh,yeah, particularly, because now
there are no more new comics,right? You're not getting your

(54:27):
shipments from Diamond anymore.
You're still paying rent, wewere in a different location. So
what we wound up doing was atthat time, we did have the
school I had the building, and Isaid, You know what,
let's let's move Dewey's. We canprotect it, you know, we'll
circle the wagons and we'll justprotect everything. And so, we

(54:50):
brought Dewey's over to theschool. I was gonna say, I bet I
bet that would be the way to doit like okay, here's Dewey's,
but it's in the school. Yes, sothat's exactly what we did. We
brought over,you know, we also have the the
cupid art store that's alsolocated at the school, that's
its own store as well. And sonow they're located in the same
area of the building. So youhave a comic shop and an art

(55:12):
store, which is really uniqueand really cool. So I definitely
with everyone check it out.
Because it's just, it's adifferent thing to go through.
But it's been great. I mean, youknow, the students love going
down to do ease, we use itactually as a tool at times that
brings students down. And wetalked about how to find
editors, and we talk about, youknow, you're looking at the

(55:36):
artwork that's out there andidentifying whether or not
we're, if you're as good as theperson that's doing these books,
you know, who to reach out to,you know, all the different
people that are in there, butDewey's has been great. And so,
I mean, at least it's not likethese disparate kind of
businesses that don't kind ofconnect on some level with each

(55:57):
other. That's what I loved aboutwhat you've you've done is that
you've not just created a littlemini empire of different things.
You've, you've said, Hey, I havethis holistic view of my
creative world, which is, okay,here's the school that teaches,
here's an gives back, here'sthe, the the stuff that I do

(56:19):
artistically, here's the storethat sells what could be the,
you know, the fruits ofeveryone's labor kind of a
thing. So I think that's reallyawesome. And I, I just have to
ask in a little time we haveleft is what, okay, on how did
you you can just hear the like,unbelief, disbelief in my voice?

(56:42):
How did you come to the pointwhere you said, I know, I'll
Cubert school? Like, how doesthat work?
Well, I had heardbasically, through the grapevine
that it was going to becomeavailable.
And it goes back to what I wassaying before, where I love this

(57:03):
place.
Everything that I've been ableto do, as well, a lot of the key
moments of my life havehappened. While I was here, I
love I love this place,everything I learned everything
that I do, was really kind ofbounded in there. For my
professional stuff from here.

(57:23):
And the idea of it ever goingaway, we're kind of just turning
into something.
I don't know, it's not as grandas it is, was really strange to
me. And so, and, and was itlike, was the word on the
street, that it was just goingto go away? Or what was kind of
close? Or was going to justwasn't really sure, I mean, you

(57:47):
know, there's differentdifferent ideas of what it could
become? Or what it would do. AndI didn't like any of them.
Right? You know, and, you know,I love what Joe created here.
And it's it is really special,because this is a place where
people that have similar wantsand needs and desires. And this

(58:10):
is where they come. You know,this is a very special place. It
means a lot to me, you can go toall those other schools that you
were talking about. You can goto regular college, but it's not
the same. No, it's so unique.
And I think if you talk with anyof the alumni that have gone
through here, and experiencedit, they feel the same way. You
know, it's you wear it, this isa very proud badge of honor. You

(58:33):
know, when I go to a show, and Isee a cube root alumna, and we
talk about it, you know, it'ssomething that you're very, very
proud of, I can'tI remember going home and
telling Jackie and being like,hey, look, I think we should
really look into this. And, youknow, thank God she didn't
divorce me right there.

Listen, people have divorced for for less. I
mean,so I just I think it's great. I
mean, that's why I'm, I'm reallyin awe of you. Because the fact
that you, you make these are thekinds of things that people
dream about doing, you know,it's like I'm going to it's like
what you see in movies, youknow, I'm gonna save the school,

(59:18):
or I'm good to go. And you'veand you've done it. And I mean,
I remember reading comic booksand seeing, you know, the Kubert
School ads all the time andthinking, wow, wouldn't that be
so cool, you know, I never wasserious enough to to look into
actually going and doinganything like that, because it
really wasn't my thing, but theidea of it was just awesome that

(59:40):
you would have this school thatthis is what they're teaching
you.
That's amazing. So I think I soI think a lot of people probably
you know, kind of the oh geezand the comic book world that
either are alumni or at leastunderstand what the school is.
We're probably quite happy tosee somebody who really wanted

(01:00:03):
to keep it what it was, withoutyarn, probably still bringing it
into the 21st century to, youknow, trying to find ways so
that it can grow and besomething that offers, you know,
opportunity for people.

Anthony Marques (01:00:20):
That's something that I'm, I'm really
proud of, and I love talkingabout. So I hope you don't mind
if I talk about this for once.
No, no, this I like I said, thisis great. But you know, when we
took, I don't wanna say tookover when we came in to the
Cubert school. You know, therewas definitely things that we
wanted to update we wanted tobring into the schools program,
you know, so some of the reallygreat things that we did was we

(01:00:43):
created the Cooper school onlinestudies program. And so now for
the first time ever, if youlived in, you know, Indiana, or
you lived in England, orwherever, anywhere around the
world, you could actually takepart in these live classes, you
know, how you were talking aboutYouTube? Right? How you could
watch those sorts of things, butyou're not getting that
interaction with the instructor?

(01:01:05):
Well, with these classes, youcan you actually get real
feedback, the class sizes arelimited, we don't just take in
everybody to do it, you know,REITs really, wherever signs up,
you're going to do it when thatclass sells out. It's done, you
know, and we're moving forward.
And those have been really,really incredible and
successful. And it's just beenso special, and it's opened up
the doors for us to also bringin instructors from all over the

(01:01:27):
world. So Joe Prato teachesthere. We just had Fulham, as
you know is over here in NewYork, we've had Marissa Napo
Marcos Han Tucci, we're over inItaly. And we have people from
all over the place. And theneven the students from all
around the world taking it. Wehad Dan to do teaching, which
was absolutely incredible, areally great class, Tom Mandrake
gender, so you know, high five,the great colors,

(01:01:52):
teaching, you know, the coloringclasses, and there, this is
fantastic. On top of that, wegot full approval by the
Department of Education toactually offer our full time
program the actual Monday toFriday school, online as well.
And that's live as well. Soyou're able to take part with
your classmates interact withthe instructor, get that

(01:02:13):
feedback that you want, actuallydo the full time program. I
mean, we've gone out to so manymore shows now. We're constantly
on the hustle, we've updated theschool, all the electronics,
each classroom now has sinnedTEKS and scanner printers like
you know, we've really tried tomake it so that each classroom
operates as its own studio, youknow, so they're able to do the

(01:02:36):
work there. They have everythingthat they need. Sometimes things
get broken, but we have to fixthem.
You know, so the lightboard getsbroken, we bring in a new
Lightboard. But

Frank Hannah (01:02:46):
it's just awesome.
I mean, I think it's great. Iappreciate it. No, no,
absolutely. So if you want tomake news here today, you can
tell me what the next big thingis for Anthony Marquez like what
is what is it going to be now.

So last year, what we do is we launched our
first ever Cubert schoolintensive, and that was a month
long program. And it hadwonderful instructors. And we
did that right here in NewJersey at the at our main site
at the our school. Well, wedecided to start branching out a
little bit. So now what we'redoing is we're actually
launching our first everintensive outside of the state

(01:03:25):
and we're doing it in Florida.
So this year, for the first timeever, we're going to be doing an
intensive down in Orlando,Florida. So anybody can take a
peek at Cooper school that eduand look at it. We have Lee
weeks teaching Klaus Janson, JoePrado and myself. And it's gonna
be a month long intensive, whereyou're really going to learn the
ins and outs of comic book,making the art process, how to

(01:03:45):
put it all together, we havesome really wonderful guest
speakers who are also going toshow up, we want to keep those a
little bit of a surprise. Butit's going to be a wonderful,
wonderful event. And that'sreally a big step for us,
because we have our eyes ondifferent locations as well. And
we're looking to expand. So thisis the first step, and then
we'll continue to do so as wemove forward.

I think that's amazing. I, you know, it's
almost nothing shocking anymore.
And so if I, you know, find outnext week that you're buying,
like a comic book distributioncompany, or something, I would
not be shocked at all, justbecause, you know, you do bold
things and I think that's whatis what should be encouraged. I

(01:04:29):
really do believe in the thingnotion of like, leap and then
net will appear or be bold andmighty forces will come to your
aid. And I really feel likeyou've you do those things. And
it's more than just kind oftalking the talk like you really
do that. And I and I think it'samazing and that's why if I'm if

(01:04:50):
I'm gushing at all it's reallybecause I'm so impressed with
the world you've created foryourself. And and the fact that
it's helping other people andgiving back to people in a way.
That's just, that's justawesome. So yeah. So that's
pretty much all I have for you.

(01:05:15):
I just wanted to give you anopportunity to tell the world
like what, what it is that makesyou tick, and I, and I think
we've kind of got a bit of that.
But anything else you'd like toadd? Before we close?

Sure, sure.
Just say if anybody's interestedin the Cubert school, be sure to
visit the website, Cubertschool, that edu, we have a open
house coming up on April 9. Soyou're more than welcome to come
to the actual school and take atour to be able to meet with
faculty and staff and studentsand get some cool artwork. And
we'll have some wonderful salesgoing on and do E's in the art
store. If you're interested inthose intensives Be sure to

(01:05:52):
check those out online as well.
Follow us on Instagram orFacebook. We're all over the
place. You know, just look upCubert school, and you'll find
us for sure. As far as me I havesome really cool exciting comic
book news coming up. I can't sayit right now just because it
hasn't been announced. But it'sit's really huge. And I can't

(01:06:13):
wait for it to be announced.
It's I think I can see it's withDC so I'm really excited about
that because it's kind ofbrought everything full circle.
Way to go. All and I just can'twait. I'm going nuts um, I love
every single day I get to workon something so cool and be here
at the school on top of it andjust be able to share with the

(01:06:34):
students and just have it have agreat time and my kids at home
and you know my wife and it'sjust a it's a great, great thing
and I'm just so thankful for allof it.

Well, on that note, we'll close. Thank you so
much Anthony. Awesome Frankiemuch appreciate it. Thank you so
much. No problem.

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Artist, Creator, and Kubert School of Art Owner/President Anthony Marques | Best Worst Idea Podcast Episode Three

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Artist, Creator, and Kubert School of Art Owner/President Anthony Marques | Best Worst Idea Podcast Episode Three