( CNN ) -- Joe Kubert , the DC Comics artist who started a school to train future illustrators , has died at age 85 , a school official said Monday . Kubert died Sunday of multiple myeloma , a cancer that attacks bone marrow , said Mike Chen , the academic director of the Kubert School in Dover , New Jersey . He was one of the creators of the long-running `` Sgt . Rock , '' which followed a U.S. infantry squad in World War II , and `` Enemy Ace , '' which told stories of both world wars from the perspective of a German fighter pilot . `` We 're very saddened at the loss of our founder and our guide , '' Chen told CNN . `` He was the heart and soul of the school . If it was n't for him and his wife Muriel Kubert , there would be many , many cartoonists in the field both here in the United States and abroad that would not be in cartoons . '' Kubert started the school in 1976 and was still drawing for DC up until his death , contributing to a recent series of prequels to the 1986 graphic novel `` Watchmen . '' In a statement issued Monday , DC co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio offered `` our prayers , our sympathy and our deepest appreciation for everything he 's contributed to comics over the course of his life and career . '' DC , like CNN , is a division of communications conglomerate Time Warner .
Kubert helped create the DC Comics character Sgt . Rock . He started a school for comic artists in 1976 . Kubert died Sunday of multiple myeloma .