Bob Lubbers

Born Robert Bartow Lubbers in 1922, he began as an illustrator for his school newspaper. In his teens, he played trombone in a big band five nights a week while studying during the day with George Bridgman and other instructors at the Art Students League. For Centaur (aka the Comics Corporation of America), Lubbers drew such features as the Arrow, Reef Kincaid, Red Riley and the Liberty Scouts. After Centaur folded in 1942, he signed on as art director at Fiction House, where he drew Firehair in Rangers Comics, Camilla in Jungle Comics, Señorita Rio in Fight Comics, Captain Wings in Wings, In 1960–1967, he drew Secret Agent X-9 (as "Bob Lewis"), and he contributed to ''Li'l Abner'' during the 1970s. Comic books In addition to DC Comics' "The Vigilante" feature in Action Comics, he drew Westerns for Pines (Standard/Nedor) comics in the 1950s. He briefly drew comic books for Marvel Comics including work on The Defenders #61 (July 1978) and The Human Fly #15–16 (December 1978 – January 1979). Lubbers is sometimes mistakenly said to have drawn for DC Comics during the 1980s. A young inker named Bob Lewis did work for DC during that period, but he was not Lubbers using a pseudonym. ==Reprints==

In 2001, when his work was collected in the 100-page Glamour International: The Good Girl Art of Bob Lubbers, comics historian Paul Gravett reviewed: :Bob Lubbers is not the celebrated cartoonist he should be, but thanks to a legion of Italian admirers, he is now getting his day in the sunshine in his 80th year. The latest edition of the long-running Italian magazine Glamour International No. 26 (2001, $34.95) pays tribute to his Good Girl Art in a deluxe, bi-lingual 100-page, 12" x 12" inch square showcase, edited by the respected authority Alberto Beccattini. Lubbers himself writes the commentary tracing his fascinating life and 40-year career in comics, accompanied by photos, sketches, a host of brand new colour illustrations and covers, plus some specially colored panels of his Firehair, Camilla and Captain Wings comic books from his Fiction House days in the Forties and from his string of newspaper strips, Tarzan... Long Sam, The Saint, Secret Agent X9, Robin Malone and ''L'il Abner''. Bob credits being in the right place at the right time for keeping him busy, jumping from one series to the next or juggling several at once. But this modesty overlooks his constantly fresh and lively draughtsmanship, his crisp storytelling skills and his particular lifelong love affair with the female form, qualities that have kept him in constant demand... Writing about his experiences in the comics industry, his encounters with stars, presidents and models, his passions for playing music and golf, and his current success at devising crossword puzzles, Lubbers comes across as a genial, big-hearted man, who has always enjoyed his life and developing a variety of talents. This book concludes with the most thorough checklist of his work to date, 11 pages meticulously compiled by Beccattini with help from many experts. ==Awards and exhibitions==

In 1998, Lubbers was honored with the Yellow Kid Award at Rome's Expo Cartoon Festival. Lubbers received an Inkpot Award in 2002. Sunday strips by Lubbers were displayed in 2003 at the Tarzan! exhibition at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. In 2016 he was inducted into the National Cartoonist Society's Hall of Fame, one of only 16 cartoonists to receive that honor. Lubbers died on July 8, 2017, at the age of 95. ==References==