Rudy Nebres turned eighty-five yesterday. Raise your goblets and tankards high, sword-brothers, in honor of one of the comic art greats.

Rodolpho D. Nebres (pronounced “NEH-brez”) was born in the Philippines on January 14, 1937. Rudy showed an early talent for drawing. His parents sold nearly everything they owned so that he could attend art school. Nebres repaid those sacrifices in spades, quickly becoming a standout in the small, but thriving, Filipino comics scene.

His big break finally came when he was thirty-five, as part of the 'Filipino Wave' that enriched American comics art during the 1970s. Joe Orlando and Carmine Infantino of DC Comics visited the Phllipines in 1972 and recruited Nebres to do a few stories for them. John Romita, art director for Marvel Comics, showed up a year later and talked Rudy into slinging his brush at the House of Ideas.

What followed was a flood of pencils and inks from Rudy in Marvel black & white titles like The Savage Sword of Conan and Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. If you read Marvel's b&w magazines in the 1970s, Rudy's art was ubiquitous and unmistakable.

Big John Buscema was an early and lifelong fan of Nebres. He is said to have stated more than once that:

"Rudy Nebres is my favorite inker."

Contemplate that statement for a moment. Buscema had been inked by the likes of Tom Palmer, Alfredo Alcala, Tony DeZuniga and Ernie Chan. Out of all those talented guys, John chose Rudy.

Neal Adams, another comics art legend, was also an early admirer of Nebres:

“[Nebres] has got to be one of the nicest guys in comics. He’s very humble, almost too self-effacing. He’s humble to the point that I want to hit him in the head and say, ‘You’re better than you think you are. You’re great.’ He’s that humble, but he puts better lines on the page than any artist or inker I know.”

Are you starting to get the impression, maybe, that Rudy Nebres is an artist whose work is at a higher level than most?

As Mike Pascale over at the Inkwell Awards website says:

'Rudy Nebres is a stylist of the highest caliber. John Buscema called him, “one of the greatest inkers one would ever want to see.” Anyone reading comics from DC, Marvel, Warren and other publishers in the 1970s and ’80s knew when Rudy was the artist (inker or penciller). His lush linework and superlative skill with pen and brush stood out no matter whose graphite lines were underneath. So distinct was (and is) the Nebres style that many fans (including this writer) bought anything he inked, regardless of the penciller.'

Nebres' style is instantly recognizable. To me, it most resembles the work of Esteban Maroto and Brocal Remohi, both being Spanish artists born half a world away from the Philipines who rose to prominence at almost exactly the same time as Rudy. Something in the air...

Rudy believed/believes in the American Dream. He moved to the States in 1975 and currently resides in New Jersey. Check out an excellent article from 2012 here.

Besides being wildly talented and a good guy, Rudy is prolific. He's done it all: S&S, superheroes, horror. I could easily--and will do at some point--blog entries on his illustrations of REH's and ERB's characters. Maybe a post on his horror work as well. The gallery below runs the gamut. Enjoy!

One of Nebres’ personal highlights was being chosen to ink Buscema on Marvel’s magazine version of the Weirdworld series, “Warriors Of The Shadow Realm,” one of their first painted comics stories, in Marvel Super Special #s 11-13.

Happy birthday, Rudy.