Tuesday, August 12, 2008

It Begins Here.

Welcome to my comic book blog, I Love Rob Liefeld.

Yes, you read that correctly. I Love Rob Liefeld.

For those of you who do not know, Rob Liefeld is a comic book artist who was incredibly popular in the early- to mid-nineteen-nineties. Among other accomplishments, he created Cable for Marvel Comics before co-founding his own comic book company, Image, which grew to rival Marvel and DC, the top two comics companies, during the comic book boom in the nineties. He is well-known for an exaggerated art style that emphasizes muscle size and weapons at the expense of proper anatomy, and commonly is criticized for being unable to draw feet.

Many comic book fans hate Rob Liefeld. They hate his drawing, his personality, and his presence at the epicenter of the nineties comic book boom and bust. If you read his Wikipedia entry, you'll find an entire section devoted to "Criticism," with its own sub-sections of "Art style," "Lateness," "Accusations of plagiarism and disputes of credit," and "Personal acrimony related to departure from Image comics."

But, as I stated above, I love Rob Liefeld.

Here is why: he got me into comics.

This is the cover for Youngblood #1, Rob Liefeld's first creation for Image. It stars a team of super-heroes employed by the United States government. They fight people.

(Go ahead and click on the image to see a bigger version. Note the huge shoulder pads, the big gun, the well-placed round mound blocking your view of the characters' feet. All hallmarks of the now-loathed Liefeld style.)

Youngblood #1 was published in April of 1992, when I was fourteen years old and in high school. Notice the ugly gold border? That was added for the second printing of the book, because the book sold out of its first printing. Like everything being published by Image at that time, this book was hot stuff when it came out.

Prior to this, I wasn't really interested in comics. I had a few old ones lying around that I liked, but comics hadn't really grabbed me yet.

Then, at the recommendation of a friend of mine who was into comics, I bought Youngblood #1 and my eyes were opened.

The first issue introduces the team, and they immediately jump into action fighting a group of evil villains.

Relatively quickly, this happens:


(click to enlarge and get a better view of the face-smashing)

When I saw that, I thought it was AWESOME. The energy, the power, the thrill of super-heroes beating the snot out of super-villains. I loved it. (Remember, I was fourteen at the time.)

I loved the whole issue. I couldn't wait to read more. I started buying other Image books. I started buying books from the other companies: Marvel, DC, and another new company called Valiant.

I was in.

Comics engulfed me. Every week at the local comic book store, I would spend every dollar that I earned from my minimum-wage video rental store job. I pored over the pages for hours, reading and re-reading, putting each comic in a bag to preserve it for more reading later. I would copy images from the books. I would talk about comics with my friends. I bought and read as many comics as I could get my hands on. I loved comics.

And I have Rob Liefeld to thank for that. So that is why I love Rob Liefeld.

13 comments:

  1. Sandy: you rock. You know how to write. You write well! This is going to be the perfect place for you to express your analytical skills as a serious lover of comics, comic book writing and art.
    signed, the person who used to drive you to the comic book store.

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  2. Yes. I agree with the crazy lady above me. This blog rocks. And it will probably get to the point where you can meet Rob Liefeld someday.

    I liked Green Lantern.

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  3. Nice post! I'm a Rob Liefeld fan as well. Although I was a comic fan long before the Image days, it was something about Liefeld's work that made me love comics even more. I met Rob at a comic book signing here in Philly when Captain America #1 came out and he was a really great guy as well as an inspiration to me (I like to draw as well). It gets annoying to hear people constantly bash Liefeld, like someone's pointing a gun at their heads and making them read his work. But while they keep talking trash, Rob is a guy who's living his dream making money doing something he really loves. How many people can say that?

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  4. Rob's a good guy - he gave a lot a people a start in the comic business, and Alan Moore seemed to like his creations enough to actually make 'em cool.

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  5. You should come over to robliefeld.net, the boards over there have a lot of liefeld fans, and Rob is on there all the time.

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  6. I saw a comic in Forbidden Planet the other day. The cover had a character that vaguely resembled Marcus from Gears of War. The character was holding a gun. Well... I think he was holding a gun. The gun was there close to the hand. but the hand didn't look like it was doing a good job. I gave it a quick look and discovered that Liefeld did the cover. What a surprise.

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  7. Everything else aside, you have the respect the energy he created in the comics universe when he started at and then left Marvel...nothing like that HAD or HAS happened in comics. It did help ignite a flame.

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  8. Wait, are you Rob Liefeld?

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  9. Thanks for the love friend! Much appreciated! Your blog is very well done!

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  10. Rob Liefeld is much like that President that gets you to vote for him out of ignorance. Years later, when you know a thing or 2, you feel cheated cause you know there is and was so much better out there. That said, he might have gotten you into comics, but he consistantly shows a lack of respect for the people that support him... and hell, for people in general. On the plus side, he's added proof that you don't have to be good at what you do to be successful. Oh, and his face and hair-style is go awful. Peace and love to everyone else.

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  11. Just thought Id add my 2 cents since the above anonymous seemed he had to make some silly comments. Ive been collecting comics from long before Rob Liefeld got on the scene. (In fact from 1995-2000 I worked at a comic store and basically got paided in comics) The difference was that back when I used to read X-Men, Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, etc, they were because I enjoyed the story and the pictures were just icing on the cake.

    Enter Rob Liefeld, Lee, McFarland. Even at Marvel these guys were rockstars. NOT because they were "cheating cuase there was better" or because everything was perfectly positioned but because they made the art detailed and exciting. Thats the timeframe when many people started buying comics strictly for the art.

    I personally never understood the hating on Liefeld thing. Wilce Portacio drew stuff that was WAAY more out of proportion. McFarlands spiderman was popular BECAUSE he would put spidey in crazy dynamic positions. so while Liefeld wasn't my fav, I respect him for what he brought to the table. For that matter I respect this blog for taking that moment in time and recognizing it as the start of a life love with comics. Kudos.

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  12. capt parsons, todd mcfarlane is a comic book artist; i have no freaking clue who mcfarland is. and while the action-y style was exciting and energetic, mcfarlane was also using composition and believable proportion to provide better art. i have liefeld comics. i have signed liefeld comics. but let's face it; he was not ready for the big time when it was thrust upon him, and he has a lot to work on to be a better artist.

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  13. Something cool to read for all the liefeld fans...

    http://progressiveboink.com/archive/robliefeld.html

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