The TV show Heroes is maybe more popular that you might think. There’s even a blog, searching for real people that have ’super’ powers like the people on the show. Check it out if you don’t believe me, some dude’s girlfriend even predicted the Sunami in Sri Lanka. http://therealheroes.blogspot.com/ If you have super powers, check in and drop your story.

Liefeld comparable to Kirby!! That’s a good one, Kirkman!!

Good article, I totally agree with the Kirby comparison!

rubix: i never said Heroes wasn’t popular. i said it was “good but overrated”. i just think that a lot of the hoopla is from people who don’t comics — because a lot of this stuff is far from groundbreaking in comics. that said, i’ve been watching it every week and i do enjoy it

KK: i know right?

miekg: i think you misspelled your name dude

your right, there its fixed :)

Yeah, I’m with Kirkman. Rob Liefeld IS the new Jack Kirby, totally.

Who’s Robert Kirkman?

Oh Robert, you’re the funniest King of Iredeemable Comics ever.

;)

I’m with kirkman here. I agree 100% from the comparison with kirby to the 90s owned by rob. of course he is the 90s. none can speak about this period without having rob liefeld in the sentences. he’s everywhere. good or bad.
for me, he’s one of my favorites, at the top of the list, with many other cool names (sienkiewicz, mckean, jim and jae lee, kubert bros, kirby, romita jr, etc.).

long live king rob !

Comparing Liefeld to Kirby is sacrilege, and I’m not one of those people that speak in grandiose terms like that. I am saddened and confused to see that there are people that like other very good artists and put him in the same category as them.

The difference between Kirby, Sienkiewicz, Mckean, Jim and Jae Lee, Kubert bros, Romita jr and Liefeld is that they are good artists asides from their comic book work. These are artists who actually learned how to draw classically before they started drawing super hero comics.

What it comes down to is that Liefeld does not understand certain basics of artwork. He skipped past that and dove right into super heroes. He doesnt understand perspective, his anatomy is very shoddy, he doesnt understand lighting and shadowing, he doesnt understand the basic principle of comic artwork using only black line art and black blocking to convey mood, he doesnt understand storytelling, and by stroytelling I dont mean how to write a story, rather I mean how to interpret a script with dynamic use of panel arrangement, and design, and composition.

All of the other artists mentioned do, especially Kirby who practically invented, or rather re-invented, all those categories in his early marvel work. If you asked them to draw a regular ordinary person sitting at a desk you’d get several truly interesting and dyanmic interpretations of that. If Lielfeld drew that it would look like a super hero sitting at a box. He may never admit it but in his heart even Liefeld knows this is true.

The shame is that Robert Kirkman, an excellent writer and a comics professional himself (and a personal favorite of mine) should not know these things.

Yes, I am an artist, and I can look at another artists work and speak about it critically. I’ve had the classic training I mentioned and can tell when another artist has or hasn’t. I dont work in the comics field but good art is good art no matter what field you’re in.

I’ll skip on kissing Kirkman’s ass though. Looks like he’s the one kissing Liefelds ass, and wasting his lips.

then you should ask yourself some questions…

you see that good writers and artists like what liefeld is doing and you don’t even think about it ? you may be wrong about what you think about liefeld, just try to see why they like his work and the man.

many people hate liefeld because it’s so hype, so fashion or so easy, they don’t even realize what he is, what he created, what he’s doig, what there’s in his work, pages, etc. he’s an easy target, an easy scapegoat for their frustrations, failures, envies, etc.
maybe it’s time they think twice about why they hate him so much…

question yourself.

rob is a great artist, who sure has his detractors, but he also has many fans, he had and will have. period. nothing can change that, whatever some might like to think or try to do. rob is a great artist who puts lots of energy in his works. and he’s controversial just like many very good and famous artists were or are. he has nothing to envy to others.
and he’s a real cool guy by the way.

Being a cool guy doesn’t make your art not suck nine kinds of ass. This article has really made me think. And what I think is that I’ve bought my last Kirkman comic. On second thought, the fact that Marvel actually printed a comic where Rob Liefeld lays claim to the nickname “the king” makes me think that I’m pretty much done with Marvel, full stop.

Rob Liefeld is the modern day Jack Kirby!?

“Rob Liefeld has done a lot for the comic book industry.” That is a quote from one creator that appeared in my store awhile ago. This quote was not a statement of support of Liefeld’s work, but a nice way to not go on record as saying what we all agree on – Rob Liefeld is a joke, and an untalented hack of a joke at that.

Why am I ripping Rob Liefeld? Because in an upcoming issue of MARVEL SPOTLIGHT, Robert Kirkman, a writer whom I respect claims that “Rob Liefeld is the modern day equivalent to Jack Kirby”

I’m sorry, but comparing Liefeld to Kirby is like comparing a steak dinner at Denny’s to a Peter Luger Steakhouse steak. Don’t worry if you love Denny’s or if you never had a meal at Peter Luger Steakhouse or if you’re a vegetarian/vegan, you can take my word that it is the best steak – Period.

Mr. Kirkman also said that if we hate Liefeld, that we can kiss his butt. Well, I’ll pass on the osculation of Mr. Kirkman’s Glutinous Maximus and continue to hate this no-talent hack! And, as a retailer I’ll order limited numbers of the disaster that Marvel has forced upon us all in the upcoming ONSLAUGHT REBORN books not because of my distain for this arrogant “artiest” but for the sole reason that they will not sell (despite Joph Loeb writing the books).

Yes, Liefeld has fans. I know he does. But so does Barney (The Purple Dinosaur), does that mean we want Barney drawing comic books? (Well, compare Liefeld’s “art” to Barney, and I think I’ll take Barney!). There is a reason this guy is hated by retailers and the intelligent fans in the comic industry. He has no real talent, he has not matured or done anything to gain the respect of those of us that have not only watched his butchering of our favorite characters in the past with his “style” and lateness of delivery of the work, added that he’ll soon destroy more of our beloved characters again. But also he has ripped into Marvel unmercifully in the past in his YOUNGBLOOD books (A hot tub sequence comes to mind with Wolverine and Cyclops performing fellatio on Liefeld’s characters drew the line for me).

Why Marvel would allow this guy to do more work for them besides charity books or covers of Cable/Deadpool is beyond me. I don’t understand their logic here. This guy has gone out of his way to alienate Marvel Comics, and the fans of Marvel in the past. To me, he’s never “grown up” like others did in the after effects of the speculator crash in the late 90s. And his art is just garbage!

Last year, when DC COMICS allowed this hack to add his “talent” to two issues of TEEN TITANS, they were the worst selling Titans issues to date. As a new store at that time, we went from selling close to 30 copies of Titans to selling 12 of the first issue, 3 of the second. Thankfully, DC was gracious and allowed returns of the books! By the way, Titans is over 30 copies a month now, thankyouverymuch!

When I want a comic with characters with no feet, wrists, or necks and grimaces on their faces as if they’re holding back the aftereffects of a night of Mexican food and too much beer. Not to mention glowing eyes, disproportioned bodies and faces, with every pose looking the same and we must mention a billion ink-lines, Rob Liefeld is the guy for the job. But, as a retail store owner, and fan of this industry first and foremost, Rob Liefeld is about as close to Kirby as the piles left by your pet on the lawn to a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I have nothing against Rob Liefeld personally. To me, he is just one of many people working in comics, some of whose work I like and some of whose work I don’t. However, to compare him to Jack Kirby is just absurd. All I have to say in response to Mr. Kirkman’s statement is this:

When Liefeld produces comics of consistent quality for 50 years, make this statement again.
When Liefeld creates or helps to create characters and concepts that are continuously published for 4 or more decades, make this statement again.
When many of Liefeld’s creations are easily recognized by people who have never read a comic book, make this statement again.
When Liefeld demonstrates that he can work in comics genres as diverse as superheroes, westerns, romance, sceince-fiction and horror, make this statement again.
When Liefeld can draw as many as 4 or 5 books a month, on time and of top quality, make this statement again.
When Liefeld inspires multiple generations of artists and writers to try to break into comics, make this statement again.
When Liefeld’s work graces museum walls as part of an exhibit called “Masters of American Comics” make this statement again.
When Liefeld is considered the most respected and inspiring artist in the long history of comic books, make this statement again.

‘Nuff said!

Personally, I’m not a fan of Rob Liefeld. Having said that, however, I’m disappointed by the crappy response Robert Kirkman has received for his statements.

No matter what any critic tells you, there is no absolute, factually correct definition of “good” when you’re dealing in the highly subjective world of art. Certainly you can claim that Liefeld doesn’t have a grasp of anatomical basics and you’d be right. So what? One’s personal taste might dictate that that doesn’t matter. You can claim that Liefeld hasn’t had the lasting influence that Kirby has had in the industry, and you’d be right again. So what? There’s no accounting for taste.

Although it really frustrates people who live and die by the credo that yes, there is an objective definition of quality in artwork, the only thing you’re basing your definition on is the OPINION of the critical community. These are still just opinions. There is no hard, measurable system for quantifying how “good” any piece is and I honestly think a lot of critics just pretend there is to validate their own completely arbitrary opinion.

“I’m absolutely right that certain artwork is good and other artwork isn’t. I’m basing this assertion on the fact that people who studied art in college agree with me.” That’s simply a flimsy argument. There is no one concrete way to define quality in artwork other than to go with your flock.

In Kirkman’s mind, Liefeld is the next Kirby. I strongly disagree, but who cares? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and again, no matter what critics say, all opinions are of equal validity. All opinions are of equal validity because there’s nothing solid or concrete to base a factual definition of art upon. Shit either flips your switch or it doesn’t. It doesn’t matter how many books you read, how intensely you study art history, or how versed you are in the topic… all aspirations to validity in the field of artistic criticism are subject to being based on the random opinions of somebody else.

If you want to talk art theory, then you’d be exactly right in stating that Liefeld sucks. Hard. But that doesn’t seem to be Kirkman’s argument. Kirkman’s argument is that Liefeld has left his signature stamp on the artform (which he has) and that Kirkman digs it. How can you argue with that? If you think Liefeld sucks, then that’s fine, but you can’t discredit Kirkman for stating his opinion.

And if you lose so much respect for Kirkman over this incident that you refuse to read his work, you simply need to get a life and stop taking this so seriously. Comics are supposed to be fun.

If it looks good to you, it looks good.

I’ve said similar things to Kirkman in the past about Rob’s work, difference being I didn’t have a large enough forum to get it noticed obviously.

When I look at comics today, alot of them are drawn technically accurate, and they’re also very dull to look at.

If you’re working on a monthly book, you’ve got a certain amount of time to do each page, but you can’t give equal focus to every element on that page: Storytelling, composition, anatomy, perspective, design, style etc.

So as an artist you pick what your gonna give attention to, and what your not. Conciously or otherwise. The big thing right now is to be technically accurate and all that, but I see as much of a trade off there in exchange for I’m seeing alot of dull and stale pages which I find uninspiring. I take a look at Rob’s page, and yeh I see a bunch of mistakes, but I also see alot of stuff I wouldn’t get with another penciller, because the things they focus on are different.

It’s not as if I can’t make out what Rob’s tried to draw. If you can tell what a child’s drawing, you can defo tell what Rob’s been drawing. So quit whining, take a chillax, sit back and enjoy a comic book for what it is. If that doesn’t take your fancy, meh, you don’t have to buy it.

Rob’s artwork sucks in some ways, but it’s cool in others. The dude has a passion for the business too which makes me respect him alot.

I on the other hand always have trouble seeing why everyone likes Jack Kirby.

:o

And yes, I did just cuss Kirby’s work.
Art is just opinion afterall, and we can all have our say.

Ah, but I like Liefeld’s work. I like it alot.

I don’t like comic book artwork that looks as if it’s come from an A&P college textbook. (Sorry, Alex Ross.) It’s stiff. It’s boring.

Don’t care for the good girl guys, either. (Apologies, Al Rio.) You want artwork that sucks, well, you’ve just found it. Top-heavy girls always appeal to the lonely guys. I’m just not that lonely.

I want something that shows passion, excitement, flair. Something that is distinctive and true to that particular artist only. And if the artist has to sacrifice exact proportion to deliver the goods, I’m all for it.

That’s why I like Frank Miller. Sam Kieth. Ashley Wood. And, most definitely, Rob Liefeld.

The art field is subjective, but a bad drawing is a bad drawing, period. “Who cares if his anatomy isn’t correct” I care, so does 95% of the people out there. We are putting money into a so called “professionals” pocket. People wouldn’t get a guy of the street that liked films to direct right? Same thing should be said about Rob Liefeld. Not everyone can draw comics, thats just the way it is. It is a place for professionals, and Rob Liefeld is still an amateur after a pathetic 20 years in the industry. He hasn’t improved. In fact, he has gotten worse. So all you people out there that are praising Liefeld as Great, shame on you because he is slapping you, me, and everyone else in the face with his complete ineptness to improve.

quoting sleeper “I’m absolutely right that certain artwork is good and other artwork isn’t. I’m basing this assertion on the fact that people who studied art in college agree with me.” That’s simply a flimsy argument.”

How is that a flimsy argument? People that take art in college, probably animation would know a good drawing between a bad drawing. A good drawing is a drawing that is anatomically correct. By anatomically correct I mean a drawing that is in proportion with itself. doesn’t matter about the size or style. You can draw a fifty foot alien with a giant head, but its arms always have to be a certain length in order to look “correct”. This is for “appeal” wouldn’t someone want there drawings to appeal to other people? Liefeld is an amateur artist. His artistic talent is not big enough to understand the proportion of things. When someone can’t understand proportion of the human body, it is usually the case with everything they draw. Example, Has anyone seen any landscapes or background drawings in Liefeld’s work? I rest my case.

For him to say ” that is my style” then ya, its his style, doesn’t mean his characters all have to be 15 heads high or arms attached to the chests, ect. His style would look kinda cool if it was drawn properly.

[...] writer Robert Kirkman, now a partner at the publisher Liefeld helped found, Image Comics. Kirkman has compared Liefeld with a comic artist whose bombastic style has been co-opted and mimicked in tribute by [...]