Yesterday, you may have heard about this weenie-tot who was a dick to Rob Liefeld. I’m loathe to link it quite honestly, because I think it shows the worst side of comics fan culture. It’s one thing to pull a Michael Moore with someone who’s a public official, and it’s another to harass a guy who made a lot of popular comic books 15 years ago.
So what did they accomplish? Well, they got some giggles, and they got some notoriety for a couple days, and they showed that some fans of comic books are utterly without respect for other people. Tee hee.
But what about Liefeld? I’m not really a fan of his work, but even I can admit that Liefeld got more people into and excited about comics than most of the people who walk this earth today. Liefeld had a big hand in getting us to a point where there are companies like Image Comics, and by extension others publishing creator owned work, and most importantly, Rob Liefeld created comic book fans who buy books from comic stores and publishers. For that, I have no choice but to say thank you.
So in that respect, I have to say thank you to some others who are doing the same thing. You may not be the biggest fan of Jeph Loeb’s most recent work, but he gets asses in the seats. I might not love the comics that come from the pen of J. Michael Straczynski, but for every fan who comes into a shop to check out his work, there’s a chance they might pick up something I love, thereby generating more sales, and making a healthy comic book industry. Thank you for that Joe!
We’ve made a lot of jokes about Tyrese Gibson over the last week. Well, specifically we were making jokes about the street team methods used to sell copies of Mayhem #1 on the con floor in San Diego. But the fact remains that he did it. He got people who never came into comic stores to come into comic stores. Even if it was just one shop, and of those hundreds of people lined up outside, only one comes back inside, Tyrese did that. He used his celebrity, and he grew the comics audience. For that, I have to say thank you.
The emails we get that I am most proud of are all along the lines of “I stopped buying comics, and just started again, because I listened to iFanboy” or even the vaunted “I never bought a comic book before watching an episode of iFanboy.” I try to write back and express our extreme joy at the notion, because that’s the best thing we can hear (other than “here’s your check!” which I’m still waiting on). Everyone who works on this site loves the stinking holy Hell out of some comic books. I’m pretty sure Rob Liefeld feels the same way.
So it’s definitely likely that I’ll think twice before labeling myself the “uber-douche” and making bad jokes about people who just want to make comics. Does that mean the content itself isn’t up for grabs? Hell no. I’ll tell you what I think of the work. That’s why we’re here. But it’s so much more rewarding to everyone to talk about the things we love in comics, and why, than it is to just bag on someone who has a problem drawing feet and pouches, but brought more eyeballs into comic shops than most of us likely ever will.
And thank you yellow hat guy for making me realize it.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
Great piece, Mr. Flanagan. I have to say that reading that guy’s article made me chuckle a bit, but yours made actual joy well up inside of me.
For this, I say "Thank you, Josh Flanagan and iFanboy"
Well said, man.
When I heard about it it pretty much had the same effect on me. I felt offended for 1. being represented by such a low person and 2. more passionate in the way I think about comics and those who create them. I may not be a fan of everyone out there, but the industry would be in a far worse place without some of these guys, as you put it better. I don’t think it came down to an issue of comics, but an issue of respect(or in this case a severe lack of) and knowing how to deal with human beings. So yes, thanks to everyone, big and small, loved or hated, for continuing the lifespan of this medium I love.
Check out Liefeld’s Hawk & Dove mini. It’s one of the first things he ever did and it’s actually quite nice.
I really wish Mr. Liefeld would have kicked that guy in the nards.
Way to bring the house down on MAY…I mean may-hem. 🙂
Your right on the money, even though I would prefer to make fun of Jeph Loeb then praise him. Just enjoy writers/artists early work and you’ll see why they are famous in the first place.
So does this mean you guys have to apologize to Chuck Austen?
I just know Leifeld is sitting in an Armchair infront of a fireplace, drinking some fine wine, watching a yellow hat slowly burn in his mind saying to himself: "It’s enough if I imagine it" knowing that it is not enough and must some day take vengeance.
Guys like that are the reason that some creators don’t even go to cons
I completely agree, it’s OK to dislike the work, but to personally trash the man who made the work is ridiculous, rude and completely offensive. I’ve felt this way for a long time about stuff like this for a long time, and I think you did a fantastic job of articulating how I’ve always felt about issues like this. Great piece.
Excellent stuff Josh.
I don’t know who to attribute this quote to, but someone somewhere said that "comics fans treat the characters as if they’re real and the creators as if they’re made out of paper."
Well said. I’m the farthest thing from a Rob Leifield fan, in fact I tend to be pretty vocal of what I think of his work, but I wouldn’t seek him out at a con to try and belittle him.
Some people’s kids, man…
The owner of my LCS was pretty pissed about this whole thing and I agree with him and you Josh. I am not really fan of Liefeld, or Loeb for that matter. What really got me angry was that the guy demanded an apology for a comic that he didn’t happen to like. It’s this shitty false sense of entitlement that comic fans(and generally fans of anything) feel that they have that they can go around and belittle someone like this.
Great article Josh. I was wondering if you guys were going to post something about this shitstorm.
Rob Leifield help influence an entire decade worth of artists. That’s more then enough reason to respect the man. Do we giggle sometimes on how cheesy some of his work is/was? Of course. But then again we laugh at some artists today who could possibly be the next Rob Leifield.
Plus the man created Deadpool. So how can I hate the man who did that?
Bravo!
Mr. Flanagan I believe a rousing, well-placed “SO SAY WE ALL!” is definitely in order from the whole of the iFanbase after such a great statement as the one you’ve written here. It’s an article such as this one that really sums up the kind of fanbase I’m excited and proud to be a part of here at iFanboy, and I thank you, Josh Flanagan and the rest of the team at iFanboy for working hard to make iFanboy the awesome place it is.
How many of us would have had anything nice to say about Leifeld before this incident, or if it had never happened? I’m not trying to troll or flame, I just think it’s interesting that it takes something like this to jolt us back into humanity.
Ifanboy in podcast #1 had a slight "Yellow Hat Man" vibe to it. It went away somewhat shortly after.
Thanks for the article, one because you are right and two now all that Leifield/yellowhat stuff on twitter yesterday makes sense to me now.
I hate what that guy did and I think it’s very low and classless BUT would have been funnier if he asked him to sign the copy of How to draw…
I fully admit that I’ve matured over time as I came to learn the people behind the pages are real, and most of the time incredibly sincere people.
Is it Wil Wheaton who says you can base your whole life philosophy on "Don’t be a dick"? It’s sad how often that needs to be reinforced. Well said, Josh!
And "word" to what B says in the comments, as well. "Acting like fictional characters are real and real people are fictional" is the diagnosis for most of what’s wrong with fandom.
Sorry Josh, I can’t really get on board with this. First of all, did Liefeld and his ilk specifically really do that much for comics? Or would their contemporaries effects have been greater if not for them. I also think that the damage they did to the perception of comics and the low quality of comics that they expected existing fans to read (which we did, God help us) outweighs any "asses in seats". For every Rob Liefeld there are ten Whilce Portacios and Jim Lees and Erik Larsons and Eastman & Lairds and Frank Millers etc., and each one of them has produced far more important and impressive work than the writers and artists that we constantly harp on.
Well I thought it was funny.
@B: I don’t think it’s that we’re all prasing Leifeld here, but more discussing something pretty awful that happened to him. You don’t have to be a fan of his work to think he was treated very badly and feel bad for him, and dislike the ones who did it.
Great article.
5 out of 5 MAY-HEMS!!! from me.
@actualbutt: But were any of those ten Whilce Portacios in a Bugle Boy commercial? 😉
You know, if you don’t like a creators work, just don’t buy it. Harrassing him is just mean spirited and makes you smell like deuche. Bad form on those guys’ part.
@B – Good point, I take back everything bad I ever said about the man.
I think this is a warm, fuzzy testament to how much comics can affect people, positively or negatively. It was a little out of bounds what the yellow hat guy did, but he did it because he had a strong opinion and felt the need to express it. Does the price of admission give fans to express negative opinions, like in sports? Or are we handcuffed to only expressing admiration?
@ActualButt – I do believe that this article is about showing people respect rather than their artistic talent.
I joked earlier, but it’s definitely true that some people have never learned what is rude and what isn’t. If Leifeld was in another profession such as waiter, barista, etc; and Yellow Hat Person did something analogous to him, it would seem more heinous and most people would have considered him to be a bigger jerk.
Do you guys think what that guy did in the video is the same as a "comic fan" threatening Frank Miller for killing off Electra?
I cannot believe the arrogance of the guy. I think it still stems back to some Fanboy’s feelings of entitlement and ownership of the medium. Did anybody hold a gun to his head and tell him to buy those books 12 years ago? In my experience if you are kind and polite to creators they return the same, for instance Joe Kelly gave me a signed issue of I Kill Giants #1 because I brought him the trade to sign. I’m not sure if I can say this or not, but here goes: That guy’s a dickbag.
On a side note, yes, I did get back into comics because of iFanboy. I think that I can speak for the base when I say that you guys make reading comics better. Thanks.
@TNC Didn’t he also create Shatterstar?
There’s a big difference in speaking critically about work, one way or another, and not knowing how to behave around other humans.
The work should always be up for debate. No question.
Well said. I can’t believe what that guy did.
At the end of the day (I hate that saying) these are real people trying to entertain us by doing what they love. If they fail to entertain you, that’s too bad. But that’s not an open invitation to personally insult them and spit venom at them.
And to top it all off; don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in person.
Mayhem
@drakedangerz – Mayhem
I gather that this was making the rounds yesterday, but I didn’t see it until this was posted this afternoon. I appreciate this article as an antidote to any high-fiving that these prize winners have been engaging in since the day they decided to embark on this little journey into dildohood.
My worst fears have been realized. People are not becoming more accountable for anonymous online behavior; they’ve started bringing message board behavior into the real world. (Thanks, Borat!)
Great article, Josh. I totally agree.
Your argument could be said for libraries as well. Do I think that James Patterson’s stuff is that great? Not really. Do I like the fact that people come into the library in droves to check his stuff out, find other stuff while they’re there (including comics), and increase our circulation? Yes. Being rude to get a laugh from your buddies at someone else’s expense is just wrong-headed.
I was in Chicago and Rob stayed at the same hotel as I did. He ate dinner at the table behind me, I said "hi" to him and he said ‘hi" back. I told my 8 year old son who he was and he thought it was cool that he made comics and was sitting at the table behind us. I told him that he doesn’t draw feet well and he wasn’t my favorite creator, but that I respected his success.
In the end I personally don’t think anyone owes anyone an apology for what they create, you can like it or not that’s your call. In the end my son thinking he was cool because he got to draw Marvel comics was enough for me. I have no ill will towards him.
I think that as long as you’re not spitting in his face or getting physical with him, I’m sort of OK with it. This guy who confronted Liefeld sounds like a douche though, without a doubt. Yeah, Liefeld is not a good artist in many people’s eyes, but this guy probably knows some of his friends who ate it up! He was a major player back then. But that was like a decade ago! Calm down.
I know that people who grew up with 90s comics see Liefeld as the ultimate joke, but he’s also just a dude. If you don’t like him, don’t support his work.
From what I read on this guy’s site, he was probably a fan and he didn’t like Liefield giving him the cold shoulder. That was his real motivation for this whole confrontation.
@Josh- I agree completely, the work should always be up for debate whether liked or disliked. I ran into Jeph Loeb at a con a few years ago and told him that I didn’t really get an issue of Action that he did, and he explained what he was trying to achieve with that issue and admitted that it didn’t live up to his intent. I was respectful and didn’t attack him personally and he was quite friendly to speak to and we talked about it for about 10 minutes. If you don’t like a person’s work to the point that you want to ask about it, then ask, just don’t be a dick. It makes us all look bad.
When it comes to Loeb, I can’t help but think that he sells the characters, and the characters sell the books, not his writing. Beautiful art, characters we want to read about, it sells. Red Hulk looks great, it’s an easy buy, no question. The writing is merely ok.
In the case of Liefeld, he was drawing the characters, people liked it and bought it. He seems nice.
Well done, Josh!
Awesome article, Josh.
I think we all need to have a "Hug A Comic Creator" day, and do exactly that. Just be sure to take a shower first.
Great article. It really hits home and I think it’s one of the reasons Liefeld still works today. When I read the other story all I could think was you don’t have tobuy the comic if you don’t like it
@patio – there are other ways to express things. Less dickish ways.
@B – does it matter? I think the praises came as a backlash to a dickish gag, to show that it wasn’t justified and that more respect for the man was needed. It doesn’t mean liking the guy or his work.
@ActualButt – but is he accountable for that? He created work he liked, got payed by the companies to do that, and had his work bought by comic readers who some enjoyed. If people don’t like things they don’t need to read it – after the fifth Liefeld work someone should understand if he likes it or not. Also people’s preceptions are to blame. I can’t understand how anyone can seriously criticize him for offering an excuse to lazy preconceived people.
I’m no saint and I make fun of the guy’s work and will continue to do so probably (and other people’s works) but that’s going too far. Also people started making fun of him for petty reasons. Every little anatomy choice or line he added is under scrutiny and I’m not a fan of that requirement. We got tracers and photoshoppers and collage makers because people wanted photo-realistic art.
i stopped reading this half way through because i had heard enough. Thank you for writting it and thank you for making a life out of comics. (cheers)
I do not condone what "Yellow Hat Guy" did. It is way over the top. However, I also don’t think we should ignore the harm Liefeld did to the industry. I was lucky enough to be out of comics during the (apparently) awful 90’s, so I didn’t experience this first hand, but wasn’t Liefeld a key player in that mess. Not just his work, but his behavior, as well. I think it is perfectly acceptable to critique a person (and not just his/her work), if what that person did was detrimental (Bernie Madoff, for example). Again, I DO NOT condone what this guy did, but let’s not treat Liefeld the way the media treated Michael Jackson when they Sainted him after he died.
Thank you, Josh, for a thought provoking article.
@Jimski Wow, right on the money. At least with message board behavior, I can tell myself, "They don’t actually conceive that as another human being that they’re talking to. It’s just letters on a screen." I wouldn’t think, "Don’t walk up to somebody who never did something to you and insult them to their face" was even open to debate.
My feelings on how Liefeld is a doofus remains unchanged, but I don’t think that would make me straight up insult the guy to his face.
You know what it was? A majority of this yellow hatted douche’s personal interactions have probably been in chatrooms and forums, and thus he forgot how to properly and politely interact with people. He though he can the the brave one and get lulz when in reality he looked like a cowardly douche.
It’s so silly to villify a human being because of a own personal opinion of his or her creative expression. Sometimes it can be difficult to live by this edict with your Micheal Bays and Rob Liefelds ham fisting beloved properties, but we just have to remember that the original works that made us fall in love still exist. By not buying these things your personal world can be a beloved happy place where Marvel characters have feet, robots don’t hump legs and Gugans don’t exist.
(I know I’ve told Conor, but in the event that you didn’t know, Mr. Flanagan, IFanboy is what got me into comics. I’ve always been a geek and was familiar with a lot of the characters, so I thought comics might be something I’d like… but I just never made the leap until the show popped up on the Rev3 site. A pleasant show with relateable hosts, and a hugely helpful community set me on the path to sinking… 30-40 bucks into my LCS everyweek. Wait. Why am I thanking you all again?)
You know, around June-ish, I remember seeing a link to a video of Rob Liefield going on the Tonight Show. He wasn’t the best on camera, and at the time he was 20 something but he was on the Tonight Show. I think it was to promote Youngblood selling out it’s entire print run. In all honesty, when in the past 20 years can you recall another current comic book writer being on an interview show because of their singular book? Regardless of your opinion he did get people into comics. Hell some people even like his art. It’s a bit sad that when I type his name into google the top suggestions for a search are "… worst drawings," "40 worst," "can’t draw," "plagiarism" the last two are suggestions for Youngblood and his Wiki.
Here’s a fun example from my first NY comic-con. I was hanging out near the DC booth, and I was talking with a friend when we randomly walked by Mark Silvestri. I said his name out loud and pointed while my friend made a derisive sound. Silvestri must have heard me and he walked over and said "I didn’t think people knew what I looked like!" He was really cordial, I said I loved his Uncanny work and we chatted for a few seconds. My friend was flabbgergasted and said nothing the whole time. Afterward, he said "Crap. I think he hates me!" Mere minutes later, we ran into Paul Dini, who was immediately dismissive and actually shooed a couple fans away from him. I thought this was odd because Dini seemed so chill in interviews and other appearances. I found out later that earlier that day he had to endure a fan lecturing him about how he could have "better ended" Batman Beyond. All it takes is one fan being an ass to ruin it for a creator.
Also, don’t ever try and pitch your art portfolio to Mark Millar while he’s signing books in a comic shop. He will curse you out and it is quite hysterical to the person standing behind you.
Great article Josh, and not to give the yellow hat jerk further press for what he did but he wrote a follow up response to the backlash that ensued and basically semi-apologized / didn’t. I have no respect for that guy even if he didn’t like that guy’s work.
Wow, that sucked. I would never in a million years do that to someone.
@stuclach – y’know I love ya, man, but I saw that "don’t underestimate the harm Liefeld did to the industry" chant on the link that Josh provided, and I have to admit it bothers me a little.
In fact, in response to that, many people were saying, "don’t blame Liefeld, blame the publisher!" I have a little problem with that, too.
People can say they don’t like Liefeld’s art, but they can’t blame the comics industry on him. He was merely a hired gun when he got started. You can try to blame Marvel for hiring him, but let’s be honest: Rob Liefeld would not have gotten work if his artwork didn’t appeal to people. His artwork appealed to readers of comics in the late 80’s and early 90’s. It’s as simple as that. In fact, I’m not a fan, but I do remember buying an issue of Marvel Age that had a preview of Rob’s character designs for the big changes coming to the New Mutants. And I remember that the designs, at the time, were really exciting and dynamic and not like anything else out there. It was pretty cool to see that. His artwork lost its hold on me shortly thereafter, but I do remember its impact at the time.
You can’t blame Rob for starting Image with his friends. You can’t blame him for breaking away from Image. You CAN blame him, as a business man, for making bad moves and not delivering books. But you can only blame him and his publishing company for that. And if people didn’t like his properties, then he would go away. But people DO.
This whole yellow hat thing is ridiculous from the start because it’s based on a stupid premise — that Liefeld somehow OWES it to this guy for ruining HIS comics. It fails to acknowledge that Rob simply supplied a commodity that people wanted. Or, at the very least, that a publisher THOUGHT people wanted. It’s not like Rob was one thing before Heroes Reborn and then changed his style for that series. He was who he was before and after. He delivered all he was supposed to deliver: his style to Marvel’s characters.
I think the idea of handing Liefeld ‘How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way’ is actually a funny one. This guy kind of harassed him though, the demanding for an apology is just stupid, and this guy got all weak in the knees over it just to leave the bag there and run away. Had he a pair on him, he ought to have went straight up and handed him the book, yet he and the commenters on his site are all praising him as the comics version of Martin Luther (if Martin Luther waited over a decade to nail his letter to the church door, that is).
@KickAss (my nemesis)
I think Loeb tend to sell books based on name recognition. Some of it is coasting on previously acknowledged good work like Loeb’s Marvel color series (which I never read) or some of his DC work like Long Halloween (which I didn’t much care for) and some of it is the buzz that Marvel puts around Loeb. As for Liefeld, you’re right, but I add the asterisk that people liking it in the ’90s was a sign of the times, much like 75% of music in the ’80s and stupid, immediately cliched phrases throughout history.
Such a weird subsection of fandom we’re in. Just the fact that it’s even possible to walk right up to Rob Liefeld and do something like this says so much. Hate Michael Bay? It’s not like you have plentiful opportunities throughout the year to just walk up to him and demand an apology for Bad Boys 2. Love Michael Bay? Same thing, you can’t just walk up to him and for a price have him make a little short-film for you. Comic fanboys take for granted how accessable the creators are. Not just that you can meet them but have honest-to-goodness conversations with them and possibly get a one-of-a-kind work of art. For that reason alone, they deserve our respect, whether or not they can draw feet.
SDCC08 was my first ever convention of any kind, and I remember on Preview Night meeting several of my favorite creators, but what struck me the most was seeing Liefeld. I was like "Dude, that’s Rob Liefeld right there! He’s just sitting there playing with some pencils!" And I don’t like his work at all but I was fascinated by the fact that a figure as "famous" and controversial as him was just hanging out there right in the open.
I was there. I drank the Kool-Aid in the 90’s and was standing in line after paying my five bucks to get Mr. Liefeld’s autograph. Yes I showed his work, and praised him to people. And having completely gone over to the other side, I bagged up my copies of Youngblood #1, and stored them away while I imagined their price going through the stratosphere. I don’t get mad at him/them now. But he WAS treated like a comic book God for way more years than any of us. He made a lot of money too. That’s why I dont get pissed if someone obviously invites him to laugh at himself, and he gets all hurt by it. If he indeed did.
He can’t really expect people to bow and genuflect in front of him all the time. He has to realize that some fans roll him into everything that was bad with the speculator era. He has to realize that there are people that have longboxes full of his Image stuff that are now using those books as kindlking to start the fireplace. I can’t really believe he is such a bad sport. Maybe he is not. I wasnt there and cant get in to his head. But if he is, he needs to stop taking himself so seriously. He is not sitting there having rotten veggies, and stones thrown at him. He is there to make money, or to promote other books and companies that he is involved with in order to make even more money.I dont know if he was getting paid for what he was sketching that day, but the fact that someone asked him for a sketch shows praise by definition.So this guy showed up and lampooned him. Laugh at yourself Rob. It would show a feeling of good sport. How would that aticle have played if Rob actually smiled at the guy, and hand wrote an apology for the aforementioned series? His ego (and his wallet) after all these years, should be plenty padded by now.
No. I wouldnt go out of my way to do what the above mentioned fan did. In the scope of things I would rather go out of my way to compliment a creator whose work I enjoy now, than to blast someone whose work I used to enjoy but now, not so much. I would just rather be involved in a positive exchange than a negative one. But his ego (and his wallet) after all these years, should be plenty padded by now. Shouldnt it?
I’m not a big fan of Liefeld, Loeb, or Claremont these days but they are stil pillars of the comics community that have contributed alot. I don’t know if they deserve a bunch of praise but they are due for some respect.
I’d really like to think that this whole incident will mark the day that internet-snarkiness-brought-into-the-real-world jumped the shark. Probably not, though. But I hope so.
@Edez It’s just gonna get worse. Soon people will be speaking in snippets of 140 characters and when you go to the ER instead of helping you the doctors will just announce "FAIL!"
@daccampo – Your love is reciprocated. I didn’t mean to imply that Liefeld was solely responsible for the ills of the industry during the 1990’s, but my understanding of the period (which admittedly pales in comparison to your own) leads me to believe that he did some things (as a business man) that were negative for the industry (you pointed out some of them in your post). I also understand that some people loved/love his work and I can’t fault them for that. I certainly don’t fault Mr. Liefeld for much of what he did (his job), which is what Yellow Hat was doing, but I also want to make sure we don’t gloss over the cons while gushing the pros.
I was just getting a very hypocritical vibe from this thread and wanted to try to stem that without being derogatory. Calling Yellow Hat a bunch of names for his actions isn’t far removed from what Yellow Hat did to Liefeld.
@Unoob — there’s big difference between expecting people to "bow and genuflect" and expecting people to simply behave courteously. And this isn’t even about Rob expecting anything from anyone. It’s about all of US expecting people to behave with a modicum of human decency.
BTW, there’s really no indication that Rob was put out at all by this. In fact, his side (via Twitter) makes it sound like the "prank" didn’t even have its intended effect. By all accounts, Liefeld did not behave badly at all through any of this, so this idea that he’s taking himself too seriously or is a bad sport is really a distortion of the facts. Anyway, The point is that it’s not OK for people to behave like that, regardless of who it’s directed toward. It shouldn’t matter if you replace Rob Liefeld with Stan Lee or Geoff Johns in that situation. They are all professionals and should be treated with equal respect.
Wow, you are right Jash. That guy is a prime example of comic culure at its worst. Pepol like him damage the media with there self-righteous jackassery. I suppose all things have there dick head fans who embarrass us as a whole but its still makes me mad MAYHEM!!
@stuclach – fair enough. I think yellow hat (and others) want to pin every comic they don’t like on Liefeld, but I think the only thing you can really fairly say about his business was that once he left Image, he started several different companies, and then started not delivering books, cancelling solicitations, etc. That’s a business problem, and I’d say that’s fair to criticize. I think my only problem is when people point fingers at Liefeld over "Heroes Reborn" without acknowledging that there was a consumer culture that bought into that and approved with their wallets.
@daccampo – I absolutely agree with you concerning his actual artwork. Again, I wasn’t a comic consumer at the time (I got out in the late 80’s), but if there was demand for his work (and it appears there was) and money to be made doing it, then I cannot fault him in any way for taking advantage of that. That is what we, as humans, do. We maximize utility and that is all he was doing.
Also: I don’t think I have ever even seen a single page from Heroes Reborn.
@chlop – THere’s no doubt there was a lack of class in this whole encounter. But I appreciate the humor of giving Rob Liefeld How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.
I remember picking up some of Heroes Reborn when I was first becoming interested in comics, putting them down, and drifting away until Ron Garney on Silver Surfer drew me back in. Those HR books just… overwhelmed the senses. With muscles.
On the article, I think it is very funny.
I would never do it, because I am not a prick, and any friend of mine who did it would recieve a slap to the back of their yellow hat.
But funny, none the less.
Excellent article Josh.
I still have fond memories of my first Marvel subscription, Liefeld’s X-Force. For a kid growing up seeing a character like Shatterstar really got me interested in the comics universe and has kep me reading to today. So even though someone may not care Heroes Reborn, there’s still a lot of us out there who are in comics today because of his work. A hearty thanks to Mr Liefeld from me as well.
I’m not sure what’s worse- what this guy did or those on the blogsite praising what he did. Some are saying, "It’s just saying to his face what we all say inside the LCS," and, in a Misanthrope kind of way this is true. But there’s a reason why we do it this way and don’t insult the folks to their faces- there’s a thing called a Social Contract, and if we don’t follow it we eventually turn into Michael Douglas in Falling Down.
I’m also tired of Liefeld/90’s bashing. Yes, there were some bad things that came out in the 90’s. But let’s also remember that this was the decade when creator-owned work hit mainstream acceptance, and if it wasn’t for guys like Liefeld and Lee flexing the muscle of their cults of personality to bring some changes in the industry, I really don’t think we’d see the creator focus that has made industry stars of guys like Brubaker, Cooke, Johns, et al., and given them the power to do whatever they want because publishers know that they bring a fanbase with them. Also, in the case of Heroes Reborn, that was a decision in a series of decisions made by a company run by a guy who didn’t know the difference between a six-panel page arrangement and his own arse. It was near the nadir of the death spiral that led to Marvel’s bankruptcy, and frankly that ain’t Rob’s fault. That he didn’t finish the job, that’s another issue, but then do we know why? Without that, let’s not throw more stones.
Finally, thanks to the iFanboy crew and the membership for reminding me that the majority of comics fans are not douchebags like the Man in the (tiny) Yellow Hat.
@Daccampo
I thought I made it clear that I did not know what was going on in his head. I said that if he was pissed off, then he shouldnt take himself too seriously. In fact I am sure I did I used the phrase "If he indeed did" and "I wasnt there and cant get in to his head. But if he is, he needs to stop taking himself so seriously"
And the guy didnt run up and question Rob’s heritage, or insinuate untoward things about his mother. The kid didnt run up and say "Eff you man! I hate you! You should fall in a puddle of Ebola, and wash it down with a nice warm bullet!" The nature of the fan’s "joke" from what I saw was NOT to say "All your work is the SUCK dude!", it was more "This one piece of your work sucked." Like I said, it was a sarcastic way of saying he didnt like the Heroes Reborn stuff.
And it could have been ANY creator up there. You put your work out there and hope people like it. To insinuate that they are above negative criticism is affording them a reverence that should be granted to Heros. Not caped, flying ones, but people like Nelson Mandela, or a brave firefighter or cop that rescued people lives in the line of duty.
I can’t see why this is an issue. Like I said. I wouldnt have done it, but I am not going to carry the weight for the implied ‘sins’ of one fan. Nor should the creators think that all fans are like him. After all, a man with as much success as Rob has everything in his life because of fans. And some of those fans are just like the guy that lampooned him.
My point is that Rob does not need defending. We shouldnt be sitting around saying "poor widdle Wob Wiefeld", someone made fun of the piece of crap that was the series in question.
They obviously bought it and didnt like it. The person made it clear that he didnt like it. Millions of other fans have put up all the bucks and all the praise that Mr. Liefeld should need to tide the horrible transgression that was inflicted upon him by this heinous individual.
The thing is that this fan chose to creatively convey the message that the series in question, in his opinion, was crap. It’s criticism. If he didnt take offense, no harm, no foul. If he did, he needs to get over it.
@daccampo I would argue that the "consumer culture" didn’t buy into Heroes Reborn from day one. Sure neither of the four properties were selling at the point, but obviously a reboot should have resulted in more than 13 issues for each. Indeed, the reboot was dead before issue 6 shipped. It’s not Liefield’s fault, at all, but the success of Spawn #1, Youngblood #1 and the others did result in the #1-craze of the 90s. What’s funny is that, to an extent, that craze has only recently ended with Marvel’s propelling their rebooted titles back to their original numbering. (Oddly enough Uncanny X-Men is the only title that never rebooted at Marvel…). Still, you’ve made a very accurate argument… he’s not the bane to comics that we make him out to be. There do seem to be only a handful of readers on iFanboy that bought comics through the 90s.
@stuclach Heroes Reborn was a hit and miss series. Iron Man and Fantastic Four were interesting new takes that could have rivaled the Ultimate books. Avengers and Captain America… were not.
@AmirCat All this Mayhem talk is starting to sound like a Fight Club styled cult.
Anyway, as I commented in the Yellow Hat Child’s post, what he did was immature and unnecessary. The way I see it is, creators are like politicians and your money is your vote. By buying whatever comic it was that he was upset about, her himself fueled Rob Liefeld’s career. And with this stunt, he’s made himself look like an ass and Rob Liefeld into a hero. Not what he was expecting, I’m sure, what with him skulking away to try and process all the "awesome" of his actions.
But we can thank the Yellow Hat Child for giving us a prime example of what not to do at a con!
His name is Robert Liefeld…
@PraxJarvin – How were the books recieved at the time? I assume they sold well since we are still talking about them.
@Prax – sure, I was kinda leaving out that aspect. I do believe it bumped up sales. But the point here is that Marvel thought it would boost sales, and they had a reason to believe that. They didn’t just pull it out of nowhere. So, yeah, maybe the consumers rejected it, but they had previously bought into it enough that Marvel thought it would do something. Yeah, I see your point, I was intentionally generalizing just to show that Liefeld wasn’t somehow forcing his artwork on us. We were actively participating in that exchange (at some point, even if we rejected it later). And once we reject it, what happened? Marvel put Busiek and Perez on Avengers and did a very classic take on the Avengers — almost a complete reversal of what had come before.
Of course Liefeld could take a lighthearted approach to this idiot. In his shoes, I’d like to think that I would, too. But that isn’t the crux of either the article or the discussion. The point is that under no circumstances is this behavior okay. It’s just not. Yes, it’s possible to laugh it off if you are feeling particularly good natured, but you can also shake off some jerk cutting you off or doing some other jerk thing. You can, but should you have to?
And on the topic of Liefeld, I don’t mind his feet or ankles, really. Christ, do you SEE some of the artists that are employed? The only terrifying, horrifying example I can think of is Boobs-Cap, and I’m sure even Liefeld has made a joke or two about that in his life. I was a kid reading comics for the first time when Liefeld was in his heyday, and I didn’t really understand that artists and writers changed books after runs, or anything else creatively. I just knew I liked the X-Men and Spider-Man, and I read any and all books associated with them that I saw on the grocery store shelves. Liefeld’s work was among those books, and it was part of what made me a comic book fan today.
P.S. I still don’t know what’s wrong with pouches. No one bitched about Jim Lee’s Cyclops having pouches, and it just makes sense for some characters.
After reading the article and going through the comments on the site of se
Not to bash on josh’s article. The message is clear and I understand what he means.
But isn’t it odd we’re kinda defending Rob Liefeld here….after he made some pretty bad anti-gay remarks earlier this summer? I’m confused whether to like the man or not.
@Unoob — my point there was that it’s not about what the creators can or can’t take — it’s about what people should do and how they should behave. Just common decency, ya know?
And it wasn’t "criticism." It was a prank. And even if it was meant as criticism, the way they treat it on the website is as if they "totally pulled one over" on Rob. You can’t read that and tell me that that’s the same as them going up to the creator and offering a valid critique of the man’s work. It just ain’t the same.
Again, I’m not really arguing with you. My point is only that I’m looking at the people’s behavior, regardless of who it was directed toward. The behavior was stupid and asinine, no matter who it was directed toward.
Also: sorry if I misinterpreted your words about him taking himself too seriously. Didn’t read that carefully enough.
@stuclach Like I said, the books were cancelled before issue 6 shipped, so that should give you a good litmus of well Marvel though they were doing. I believe the #1s sold very well, and then #2s…. not so well. It’s been… yessh… over 10 years since, but I recall Marvel doing a lot of apologizing for it. At the time, Heroes Reborn was sort of complained about less than Onslaught was. I really didn’t follow any comics news or review sites at the time, so I only know what I’ve gleaned since in that regard. It was generally assumed that Jim Lee’s Iron Man was pretty good, and might have been the only HR title to remain, especially because Tony had been killed in the main marvel universe a few months before Onslaught.
I start collecting comic books again because of iFanboy. Without them, I wouldn’t know the unforgettable experience being in a con. Thanks iFanboy. =)
@daccampo
I hear ya bruddah! I just cant see people rushing to his defense. Mr. Liefeld will be fine. We boo ballplayers, and musicians at a concert, if they suck that night. Comic artists are entertainers after all, and I don’t feel the least bit sorry for him. To his credit, by not responding to this guy, he really turned it into a non thing. I am not buying the fact that this guy makes all fans look like idiots. Idiot individuals are out there, and they are a part of all fandoms.
I keep asking myself, if someone at a book signing handed their DVD copy of Batman And Robin over to Georgr Clooney, and asked for an apology for it, would we feel sorry for him? Or would we chuckle about it?
@TNC- Don’t think of it as backing Liefeld so much as denouncing someone else’s behavior towards him. We’d (hopefully) do the same if it was another creator. Now, if someone had confronted him about homophobic remarks, it might be another issue, but still there’s a right way and a wrong way.
@PraxJarvin- I think it’s hard to separate the quality of the product from other trends in the industry at that point. This was 1995, when speculators were starting to realize that their comics weren’t worth the hundreds of dollars they were expecting them to be and many were getting out and moving onto other pastures. Even today, #1’s often sell through the roof, then the sales typically fall off, sometimes steeply. And it wasn’t like Ron Perelman, Marvel’s owner at the time, really gave a damn what they did. As long as the package had their names on it, it didn’t matter that it was full of crap on the inside. He just wanted the cash generation that their names would cause, because Marvel was sucking financial fumes at the time (they’d just bought Fleer and Skybox and Panini Stickers, which were all bleeding money, as was Marvel itself). Again, not Rob’s fault; he was a hired gun brought in to do a job, he had a fan base Marvel thought would come with him, that was it. We can critique the quality, but that it came out in the first place is Marvel’s problem, not the creator’s.
@Unoob- no, I think someone owes Clooney an apology for getting him involved in that mess.
@Unoob — Well, that’s true what you say about ballplayers and musicians. Somehow that all seems less personal to me — this seems more personal to me. Maybe that’s my own prejudice, though. Although I don’t boo ballplayers or musicians, either. 😉 And if someone told the same story on their blog about doing that with a copy of Batmand and Robin with either George Clooney or Joel Schumacher, I would think it was just as Jackass of a move. 😉
Totally doesn’t sound like I need to clarify, but as I was driving home, I thought of an analogy to what I’m talking about, and it amuses me, so I’ll share:
If Liefeld is, say, the quarterback in the football game of social interaction, then, yes, he goes out on the field and he knows he might take a hit. There are rules, and he knows what kind of hits he’s likely to take, but he’s also aware that someone might foul him. Yellow hat, in my mind, is the guy who hits the QB from behind after the play is over — just to hurt him. It’s petty, and it’s not part of the game (of social etiquette). And, yeah, it’s up to Liefeld to shake it off and keep playing or whatever. But we’re the refererees in this game, so within our rights to call a foul on the player. And that’s all I’m doing. I’m calling a social FOUL on Yellow Hat. 😀 I’ve no doubt Liefeld is fine. But I don’t want to make excuses for Yellow Hat or validate his punk-ass behavior.
@BC1 I think you missed something. I didn’t pin anything on Rob or other creators. All that I said was that the success of #1s like Youngblood and Spawn which sold over 1000000 copies each, created the speculator boom. Stu asked me how Heroes Reborn was received at the time, and as I recall the #1s were a big hit, financially but not critically, and the sale rates for #2 definitely showed that. Along with delays and major shakeups on the creative teams of all four, the books were doomed before they’d really even started. In this instance the perceived quality of the books resulted in death of the books. Like I said, Iron Man still maintained good sales and was, briefly, thought to be kept around, but they decided to nix it and realign everything to a classic take.
For me, I just ask myself what kind of person I’d want to be. How do I want to be known and thought of?
And I know, not like that.
and yet some people hang on your every broadcasted word in anticipation of negative critiques of film and print. i think it was hilarious. rob’s gonna have to accept that he’s made some mistakes along the way.
I’ve never read anything Liefeld has written. I know he is someone people like to go out of their way to point out that they’re not fans of his and I know the reasons they’ll give for that, but I don’t know first hand much about Liefield (Except that he went on and on on twitter about how he liked Transformers 2, but even that wouldn’t make me do anything like this ;D )
I could name creators I’m not fans of, but there are reasons these people are paid professionals in this field. They work hard and they sell comics. Also, I’d imagine, they LOVE comics.
Even if I actively dislike the body of work of a creator I figure at least we have one of those three things in common (and the other two, I respect) so how can I really say or do anything to them?
It’s just all kinda sad that an already "forwned upon" interest like comics has to have so many splinter groups within its own fanbase.
Come on guys, group hug time. We’re all in this together 🙁
@PraxJarvin- I see your point. My contention was just that the book quality, or other factors, may or may not have been the issue, but more the trends in the industry as a whole. That may have brought the doom on the books more than anything else.
I agree that what the guy with the hat did was disrespectful and inappropriate.
However, I also found disrespectul to the fans to charge $300(!!!) for a full figure sketch ($400 if Deadpool) as Liefeld did in Chicago…
Great article. What a dick.
@odino1 How is it disrespectful for him to charge what he feels is fair for his time? Did he force you to buy a sketch from him? Did he call you names and browbeat you until you handed over 400 bucks? If not, than I don’t see where he was being disrespectful.
"rofl"
Why is JMS mixed up this nonsense?
Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, first six trades of Amazing Spider-Man, some of that Squadron Supreme, the Thor relaunch.
The dude can write some stories.
is it still ok to make fun of TNC though?
@daccampo
I get it. And originally my analogy was If Halle Berry got handed a dvd of Catwoman and asked if she would apologize. The reason that analogy would’nt work is that I would SO volunteer to be the shoulder she cries on!
The following is actual dialog fron the Unoob household while watching Catwoman:
Mrs Noob: Honey. Do you think she’s pretty.
‘Noob: Yes. She’s kind of pretty.
Mrs Noob: Honey. Would you leave me for her?
‘Noob: Leave you?! Honey. I would Kill you for her!
We no longer own Catwoman….. or any other Halle Berry movies.
Mr.Liefeld needs to make a "funny" comic, his lapoonish stlye would fit better if the comic is supose to be funny. Just my two cents.
@ScorpionMasada – Seriously? You’ve never heard the throngs come after me for not liking JMS? I’m not a fan.
@FACE – As was clearly delineated, I’m all for critiquing work. That’s not the same thing.
@Hawkboy: ok, disrepectful is maybe not the right word… I guess outrageous is more appropriate…
I think it’s worth keeping in perspective that the reason we know about this guy is that he bragged about it on the Internet. I imagine stuff like this happens to pros fairly often and we don’t hear about it.
Yeah, I’m gonna have to agree with josh on this one.
If you don’t like someone’s work quite buying their stuff, if others do the same they will go away. Treating people like shit just makes you look like an ass! Thank’s Yellow Hat Douche for revealing yourself to us!
Damn mean old Josh has developed a heart o gold!
I can understand not liking JMS, but lumping him in with Loeb . . .
Who picked that Amazing Spider-Man Civil War tie in a few years back?
Yeah, I gotta say, the guy is minding his business and some idiot has to ruin his day. It’s a straight up act of selfishness and therefore an immoral act. It saddens me that some people will put him up on a pedestals for the 3 days they even remember him.
This is the most important question:
Will you apologize to Chuck Austen? Follow up: Will you go out to dinner with him?
@odino1 Now THAT I agree with!
What did we ever say about Chuck Austen, other than he made terrible comics? I’m gonna stand behind that one.
And yes, I lump JMS in with those people, personally. Because I wrote the article. Your mileage may vary.
I’m fairly certainly I’ve talked about this. Any my supporters are growing!
@josh: If you only know how much he cries before going to bed. 🙂
Yeah, his money filled mattress gets all soggy.
@Captbastrd (My nemesis) – Loeb’s Marvel color books, which you’ve never read, are bad. This from a big Marvel & Spider-Man fan, Spider-Man Blue is the worst Spider-Man story I’ve ever read, out of about 900 Spider-Man comics I’ve read. Daredevil Yellow was bad as well. The art was fine, though didn’t come close to saving the stories.
@josh – yes, i see how it’s different because of your approach, but to assume your critiques have never offended or discouraged a creator at this stage is fallacy.
please don’t get me wrong. i do see that what the guy did was offensive and unecessary. there’s a lot of that in today’s culture. i think MTV makes a majority of their assets from mostly crude shows which emphasize such behaviors (i.e Jackass, Wildboyz, etc.).
i could complain for hours on the classless..ness(?) of fanboys. like the guy who brings 100+ books for George Perez to sign (and he graciously obliges. so i don’t know who to hate more). there’s plenty of blame to go around here.
Everybody hurts.. sometime.
I makes me happy to see so many people in support of this article. I read Mr. Yellowhats page and was in shock that he was getting such support.
There are creators whose work I don’t like, Robert Kirkman comes to mind. He seems like a cool guy in interviews though, and I respect his body of work even if I don’t enjoy. If I say him though and still think "wow Robert Kirkman".
I think alot of people use the internet to annomously slag people off, but it’s nice to see sights like this, and others where the critism is uusally level headed and respectful.
This Yellowhat person is the reaosn I have shyed away from message boards in resent years. Where’s the love?
This was a great article and a very important point is made in it: There is not a whole lot of money in making comics these days. The people who make comics mostly do it out of love for the medium. If you don’t like their product, that is fine. But there is really no reason for all the personal attacks the internet is so fond of. I am the first to admit that I do not like Rob Liefeld’s work. He did a two issue arc on Wolverine a few years back that is one of the worst things i have ever read in my life. But I don’t feel the need to attack HIM over it.
The important question is, when will President Obama offer to buy Rob Liefeld and Yellow Hat Guy a beer and have them over to the White House?
This was a very classy post–thanks for writing this Josh.
Based on RL’s Twitterfeed, the things I can safely assume about him personally is that he’s a super sweet and decent man, a dedicated father, and enthused professional. I know when I was 20, those things would not have mattered to my vanity if I was in a position to create a public spectacle. Now — I cringe.
In the words of Jables, "Don’t confuse the art with the artist."
I’ve never much been a huge fan of Liefeld’s work, but I know many who are/were. I can say without a doubt, as others above had, he seems like a really great guy and has helped a lot of people in the industry realize their dreams. That’s reason enough to like someone.
What’s crazy about all of this for me is that when I stopped reading comics 16 years ago, Liefeld was the biggest thing going. When I returned to comics last year, I fully expected him to be a comics-god that sat on a throne held up by guys sitting in smaller thrones. I guess my question is, "What in the hell happened???"
I’ll respectfully observe that Rob Liefeld has not been a poster child for civility on his own message board, recently. That doesn’t make Yellow Hat Man any less of a douche, but I don’t feel compelled to go on about what a great guy RL is just because someone was mean to him in a way that, as I mentioned above, some fans are probably mean to lots of creators a lot of the time and we just don’t hear about it.
I’m not trying to start a thing here, but I just want to make the point that it’s not an either/or proposition. Liefeld doesn’t have to be a great talent, or a saint, or a huge asset to the industry in order to make this kind of fan behavior reprehensible.
All I said was that he brought people to comics. I didn’t say a thing about his character. He brought people to comics, and that’s a good thing.
@josh I agree with your post. I was just noting some of the comments were turning into character testimonials. Which I’m not arguing with, because I’m sure a lot of people have good experiences with him. But anyway, what’s important is that, like you said, a lot of people like/liked his work, and nobody deserves that kind of treatment from a fan.
@jagstang: Part of Liefeld’s diminishing popularity was exposure. Following Heroes Reborn he went almost exclusively creator-owned and stopped doing projects for the Big 2. Part of it was also a move to "classic" styles and creators to try to bring back fans who’d been turned off by the big pecs/big guns early 90’s work. Alan Davis was doing X-Men, George Perez was on Avengers again, John Byrne was drawing Spider-Man again, and so on. DC had similar trends. Even Image was starting to move away from the defining style of Liefeld/Lee and doing more of the unique material they’re known for today. It was like grunge and boy bands- all had their day in the sun, then folks moved on to something else.
I hate to use such vulgar language, but… What a dick. There is no excuse for such shenanigans. It’s disrespectful.
Say what you will about Liefeld’s work, but that was pretentious. It’s not as if Liefeld’s run on either Captain America or the Avengers ruined the titles forever. If it weren’t for Heroes Reborn, we never would’ve had Kurt Buisek on the Avengers, let alone Avengers Forever, an excellent maxi-series if there ever was. So what’s with the vitriol to purposefully go out of his way to spite this guy who was just making comics?
It would be like me walking up to him, as he were making a blog post, with a book on grammar rules for the several typos in that post, with a list of copy editors he can consult with.
But that’s just me.
-J.
(And, yes, I do realize the irony in calling the man a name, then commenting on how disrespectful he was. But this whole mess frosted my cookies.)
Great article, Josh! I hadn’t heard about that "Yellow Hat" knob before, but after reading the linked article and browsing on the site for a bit it’s safe to say he’s definitely the embodiment of the type of comic book reader that I loathe and try to detach myself from. Seriously not cool. To even take the time to do something like that is just sad really.
"Frosted My Cookies!?!?!?!?" That is frickin awesome. I’m stealing it!
Man I’d like to punch that Yellow Hat dork in the face and I don’t even like Liefeld’s work.
Don’t check out my twitter icon. It may upset you after this article. I will say this, I’m not a fan of Liefeld, but I would never march up to him and demand an apology. First off, what’s the old saying? "If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all?"
Also I was at this con and didn’t hear about this, weird.
Speaking of that Yellow Hat guy listen to the Matt Fraction interview on Aug. 11th on THE BEST SHOW ON WFMU, which is an awesome radio show and podcast. The host Tom Scharpling goes on a rant about it with Fraction:
http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/BS (starts in itunes at 2:42:10 or thereabouts)
That yellow hat guy just needs to apologize. Now the creators are going to be reluctant to interact w/ us regular fans at the cons. All because of this guy who watched too many Jack Ass episodes tried to do something he could brag about, but instead embarrassed himself. To top it off, it wasn’t even funny. Wack sauce.
PAD’s thoughts on the subject: http://www.peterdavid.net/index.php/2009/08/11/random-acts-of-rudeness/#more-3225
@therealsuperjosh : I completely wholeheartedly agree with you my good man. It’s fellows like that guy who really give the fanbase of comics a bad name. It’s like wayne2001bc noted, the guy obviously wanted some buzz and approval from his friends and attempted to earn some by making a complete and utter numbskull of himself across the web. Now he’ll just be looked at like a bad cliche when people recognize him.
well… you could have just called that guy an ass lol.
This is the best publicity Rob has gotten in years.
I bet right now Chuck Austen is emailing the yellow hat guy and twisting his mustache between his fingers…
Josh, great article.
This is my first post on this site and a good opportunity to state how true the words are that you wrote, "I stopped buying comics, and just started again, because I listened to iFanboy".
I have been a fan of comics since I was little in the early 80’s. I have been reading and buying on and off in the 90’s and early 2000’s. I stopped buying around 2004, but have always kept an eye on what is happening in comics.
Life changes such as marriage, kids and job has made it hard at times for me to get back into my childhood love of comics. I have now started buying comics again, and I have that excited feeling again of "I just cannot wait until Wednesday to pick up my comics" and "I just cannot wait till Sunday for the ifanboy POW podcast".
For this, I say "Thank you, to ifanboy staff, and to all the people in the comic book industry. Thank you for re-energizing my childhood love of comics."
@Patman – Welcome to the website and welcome back to comics.
@DuneGig – First rule of Mayhem …. MAYHEM!!!
Second rule of …
good article josh. i’ve never understood people who get so mad about something like that that they hold grudges for years and years and years.
Great article. What that guy did was so disrespectful, im by no mean a fan of Liefeld’s art style but I appreciate the hard work he puts into his work and have to admit Deadpool is one of my favorite characters to have been invented in the past two decades.
Nowhere near a fan of Liefeld (in fact the whole image/Liefeld art style explosion was part of the reason I started moving away from comics in the first place… So he possibly did bring people into comics but I’d argue he possibly drove some away as well…)
But am a massive fan of iFanboy so, um, haven’t quite got back into comics per se but love catching up on your comments. And by the time I buy the trades I’ll have forgotten all of your spoilers so it’s win-win, hurrah.
A lot of people talked about the initial incident, but I haven’t seen anyone anywhere mention the follow-up, which almost gave me hope. It almost looked like he was going to be a man for a second there.
As much as I would love for LIEFELD to apololgise for every bad book he has done , its just not feasible for him to do so . After he has done so many bad books that he would’nt have time to do any new bad books .