Роб Лифельд: Американдық комикстер авторының өмірбаяны мен шығармашылығы

American comic book creator

Robert Liefeld ('/l//aɪ//f//ɛ//l//d/; born October 3, 1967) is an American comic book creator. A prominent writer and artist in the 1990s, he is known for co creating the character Cable with writer Louise Simonson and the character Deadpool with writer Fabian Nicieza. In the early 1990s, Liefeld gained popularity due to his work on Marvel Comics' The New Mutants and later X Force. In 1992, he and several other popular Marvel illustrators left the company to found Image Comics, which started a wave of comic books owned by their creators rather than by publishers. The first book published by Image Comics was Liefeld's Youngblood #1. Liefeld has been called one of the most controversial figures in the comic industry for his drawing skills, business practices, and controversial comments.

Rob Liefeld was born on October 3, 1967, in Fullerton, California, the younger child of a Baptist minister and a part time secretary. grew up in Anaheim, California. Liefeld's love of comics began as a child, which led early on to his decision to be a professional artist, a practice that began with his tracing artwork from comic books. As a high school student, he took basic fundamental art courses, and attended comic book conventions at the nearby Disneyland Hotel, where he met creators such as George Pérez, John Romita Jr., Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, Mike Zeck and Marv Wolfman.

After graduating from high school, Liefeld took life drawing classes at a local junior college, working odd jobs for about a year, including as a pizza delivery man and construction worker, while practicing his artwork, samples of which he sent to small comics publishers, as he was too intimidated to send them to the "Big Two" companies of Marvel Comics and DC Comics. Among the editors he sent art samples around 1985 to Gary Carlson of Megaton Comics. Carlson was working on Megaton #4, and was looking for replacements for artists who had moved on to bigger projects. Liefeld's submission packet consisted mostly of pinups of DC Comics characters like the Teen Titans and Legion of Super Heroes, as well as some sketches of Megaton characters. Some of these earlier pinups are visible on Liefeld's website. Although Carlson thought Liefeld's depictions of his characters was not sufficiently accurate, and exhibited what Carlson characterized as "some goofy anatomy", he found Liefeld's storytelling to be clear, and his rendering style evocative of the influence of artist George Pérez. Although Carlson liked Liefeld's work overall, he felt the young artist was not ready for professional work. Weeks later he received another set of samples that were an improvement, and later still, a four page Berserker story (not to be confused with the Marvel or Top Cow characters of the same name), along with pinups of the Megaton characters Ultragirl and Ultraman. Carlson used one of the pinups as the inside front cover to Megaton #5, The book also featured an entry for Liefeld's own creation, a team of superheroes called Youngblood, the very first appearance of that team in print. Carlson and his colleague Chris Ecker later met with the teenaged Liefeld, who at that point had not yet obtained his driver's license, at the Ramada O'Hare Hotel, which was then the location of the Chicago ComiCon. Impressed with the artist's enthusiasm and the new art samples he showed them, Carlson gave Liefeld a test script in order to judge his ability to draw a page to page comics story. Although Carlson was impressed with Liefeld's layouts, the story was eventually drawn by Gary Thomas by the time it saw print in Megaton #7. which indicated that it would next appear in Megaton Special #1, by Liefeld and writer Hank Kanalz, with a cover by artist Jerry Ordway. However, Megaton Comics went out of business before that could be printed.

Learning from a friend of a comic book convention in San Francisco where a large number of editors would be in attendance, Liefeld and his friend drove several hours to San Francisco, where they stayed with his aunt and uncle. At the convention, he showed editors his samples and offered a package, which consisted of 10 pages of sequential art featuring his own characters. Editor Dick Giordano, to whom Liefeld showed his samples at the DC booth, requested that Liefeld send him more samples. Although Liefeld was apprehensive about approaching the Marvel booth, he did so at his friend's urging, and as a result, editor Mark Gruenwald offered Liefeld a job illustrating an eight page Avengers backup story featuring the Black Panther, much to the 19 year old artist's surprise. Though the published story was ultimately illustrated by another artist, Liefeld was later given character design work by the publisher. His first published story, was a DC Comics Bonus Book insert in Warlord #131 (September 1988). Editor Robert Greenberger recalled that Liefeld "was discovered by my office mate, Jonathan Peterson, who was scrambling to find something for him to do. I had the Warlord Bonus Book slot coming up, so to keep Rob from finding work at our rival, I tapped him for that." Next came the five issue miniseries Hawk and Dove for DC Comics, the first issue of which was published with an October 1988 cover date. That same year, Liefeld drew Secret Origins #28. Shortly thereafter, Liefeld began doing work for Marvel Comics as well, his first assignment for them being The Amazing Spider Man Annual #23. which underlined the increased popularity and clout that his stint on the title had earned him. which included an onscreen 800 number that viewers who worked in unique jobs could call in order to appear in the company's commercials. After calling the number and leaving a message describing himself and his career, Liefeld appeared in one of the commercials, in which Lee interviews Liefeld about his career and his creation, X Force. Liefeld and several other popular young artists including Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, Whilce Portacio, Jim Valentino and Marc Silvestri left Marvel in 1992 to form Image Comics. Each co founder formed his own studio under the Image banner, such as Liefeld's Extreme Studios. Liefeld's superhero team series Youngblood, which is partially a derivative of a 1991 Teen Titans series Liefeld had proposed to DC Comics, was the first comic Image published. He appeared on an episode of The Dennis Miller Show to promote the book. The series' first issue met with negative reception from fans and critics for the unclear storytelling effected not only by Liefeld's art, but by the book's flip format, which some readers found confusing, as well as the book's poor anatomy; incorrect perspective; non existent backgrounds; poor dialogue and the late shipping of the book, a problem that continued with subsequent issues. In an interview in Hero Illustrated #4 (October 1993), Liefeld conceded disappointment with the first four issues of Youngblood, calling the first issue a "disaster". Liefeld explained that production problems, as well as sub par scripting by his friend and collaborator Hank Kanalz, whose employment Liefeld later terminated, resulted in work that was lower in quality than that which Liefeld produced when Fabian Nicieza scripted his plots on X Force, and that reprints of those four issues would be re scripted. Writer and Comics Buyer's Guide columnist Peter David pointed to Liefeld's scapegoating of Kanalz as an example of Liefeld's failure to take responsibility for his project, and evidence that genuine collaboration with good writers like Louise Simonson and Fabian Nicieza, which some of the Image founders did not appreciate, had previously reflected better on Liefeld's art. In 1996, Liefeld's and Lee's studios signed with Marvel to re envision several of the company's core series, an event called "Heroes Reborn." Liefeld was contracted to write twelve issues of The Avengers, co written with Jeph Loeb, and was to pencil twelve issues of Captain America. Due to disappointing sales, Marvel terminated the agreement after six issues, and reassigned the two series to Lee's studio, one of the most controversial episodes in Liefeld's career. In early September, Liefeld issued a press release stating he was resigning his position at Image and leaving the group. Nearly simultaneously, the other Image partners issued a press release stating that they had fired Liefeld. His resignation came only minutes before the second meeting that would have forced him out.

After leaving Captain America, Liefeld attempted to buy the rights to Fighting American, a similarly patriotically themed 1954 character from Captain America's creators, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. The still living Simon and Kirby's widow agreed to a figure Liefeld felt was too high, and he created a new similar character, Agent America. Simon threatened to sue, and the parties renegotiated a deal acceptable to all. Marvel Comics then sued Liefeld, who was allowed to use the character but not have him throw his shield weapon, a distinctive trait of Captain America. Liefeld also hired comic book writer Alan Moore to revive many of Liefeld's creations. Moore wrote a few issues of Youngblood and Glory, but his most lauded work for Liefeld was on Supreme, for which Moore won the 1997 Eisner Award for Best Writer. Awesome's initial releases included new properties like Kaboom!, created by Jeff Matsuda. Awesome ceased operation in 2000 due to the departure of its primary investor.

In the 2000s, Liefeld returned to his former characters in the X Men franchise, providing pencils for the occasional cover and/or interior of Cable and X Force until the early 2000s, when both were canceled. In 2004, he reunited with Fabian Nicieza for an X Force limited series and illustrated the early covers for Nicieza's Cable and Deadpool. In that same year, Liefeld formed Arcade Comics and once again announced plans to revive Youngblood. These involved reprinting older material and providing the art for two new series Youngblood: Bloodsport with Mark Millar and Youngblood: Genesis with Brandon Thomas. Although the former only published one issue, Liefeld expressed hopes to finish the series. Liefeld and writer Jeph Loeb returned to the Heroes Reborn Universe with Onslaught Reborn, a five issue limited series that premiered in November 2006. It met with poor reviews. In 2007, Liefeld and writer Robert Kirkman collaborated on a revival of Killraven. Although five issues of the series were finished, the project was cancelled without any of them being printed. In July 2007, it was announced that Rob Liefeld and Youngblood would be returning to Image Comics after years of self publication. This new partnership marks the first time in a decade that Liefeld and Image would collaborate on a project. This Youngblood series was written by Joe Casey with art by Derec Donovan and Val Staples, and covers by Liefeld. It debuted in January 2008. Liefeld took over writing and art duties with issue #9, though that would be the series' final issue. To commemorate the event, and the 15th anniversary of Image Comics, the 2007 San Diego Comic Con was headlined by the Image Founders panel, where all seven of the original Image Comics founders appeared on stage together.

In July 2020 IDW Publishing released the first issue of Snake Eyes: Deadgame, a G. I. Joe related series co written by Liefeld and Chad Bowers, and penciled by Liefeld, Adelso Corona, and Neil Vyetake. Around that same time, Liefeld began a podcast on iTunes, Spotify and Podbean called Robservations, in which he talks about different topics pertaining to the comics industry. Liefeld debuted on his Instagram account a proof of concept trailer for Bloodstrike, based on the Image Comics series he had debuted in 1993 as a spinoff of Youngblood. Bloodstrike features a squad of assassins, each of whom is a super powered operative who died in the line of duty and was resurrected by a secret government program called Project Born Again. The short was directed by Philip J. Silvera, who had met Liefeld during production of the 2016 Deadpool film, on which Silvera had served as stunt coordinator and second unit director. Over the years, interest had been expressed in the property by individuals such as Akiva Goldsman and Graham King, and production companies such as Netflix, which optioned the development rights, but these eventually expired without any produced results. Liefeld explained in the caption that accompanied the trailer that he released it in the hopes of spurring renewed interest in producing a Bloodstrike film, saying, "When taking a comic book from page to screen there are always hurdles, screenplay, screenwriters, talent that attach and move on. It gets old really fast." Liefeld hoped the film would be directed by Silvera, whom Liefeld said had expressed not only a significant knowledge of comics, but a passion for the characters of Liefeld's Extreme Studios. According to Liefeld, Silvera had also expressed a commitment during the COVID 19 pandemic to make a Bloodstrike film after his commitments at the time were fulfilled, beginning with the trailer. On February 5, 2024, Liefeld announced on Twitter that after producing one final Deadpool comic to be published later that year, he was retiring from writing or drawing the character, stating, "I am retiring from Deadpool. It's official. Yup, after 33 years of not only introducing Deadpool but chronicling many of his most popular adventures it's time for the Deadpool Daddy to say farewell. One of the fun parts about getting older is you can retire from things, so here I am." Liefeld cited his age as a reason for his decision, explaining, "In case you are wondering, why now? That's easy, I'll be 57 at the end of this and my eyes are still functioning, the work continues to be strong, I want to go out with the best effort I can muster. The hand eye coordination won’t be there forever."

Liefeld's name has become something of a lightning rod in the industry. In an interview, Brian Michael Bendis described the polarization of opinion on Liefeld: "There is a great dichotomy There's either some great and generous story about [Liefeld] or you will hear some unbelievable thing like, 'How is he not in jail if he did that?' There is no middle ground." In interviews, Liefeld has compared himself to other popular figures who experienced meteoric success and acclaim early in their careers but near pariah status afterwards, such as LeBron James or Britney Spears, including those who defend his art. The A. V. Club says of Liefeld's critics, "Rob Liefeld is the punching bag of choice for many discerning comics fans. But he's also the man who defined what the 1990s looked like in superhero books, so he's crying all the way to the bank. For every detractor who thinks he's the worst thing to happen to comic books since Fredric Wertham, there are a dozen ravenous fanboys ready to snatch up whatever he does next." Comics writer Grant Morrison credited the Image creators with "rescuing" American comics, explaining that they responded to children's tastes of the time, and brought comics back to their basic superhero roots following the British Invasion in comics and the popularization of titles typified by Vertigo Comics, of which Morrison themself was a part of. Morrison stated that they are an admirer of Liefeld's work in particular, explaining that while Liefeld's art was regarded as "total crap" in the 1990s, many comic book artists today see it as an avant garde abstraction of reality that is as bizarre and individual as Vincent van Gogh. In 2012, Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool said of DC Comics' decision to assign Liefeld the co scripting and drawing duties on three of their flagging New 52 titles, "Rob does have a habit, of course, of pulling out sales and attention like a rabbit out of a hat." In 2013, he was named on IGNs list of "The Best Tweeters in Comics" for both his industry insight and his bluntness.

Liefeld has been criticized for his drawing skill. blockquote|Rob Liefeld has nothing to offer. It's as plain as bacon on your plate. He has nothing to offer. He cannot draw. He can't write. He is a young boy almost, I would expect, whose culture is bubble gum wrappers, Saturday morning cartoons, Marvel Comics; that's his culture I see nothing in his work that allows me to even guess that there's any depth involved in that person that might come to the fore given time. Artist Alex Ross drew upon his dislike of the design of Liefeld's creation Cable when designing the character Magog for the 1996 miniseries Kingdom Come. Following writer Mark Waid's instructions that the character's appearance be based on aspects of superhero design trends of the time that they disliked, Ross said of Cable, "That's a character that Mark Waid invented that was really just put to me like come up with the most God awful, Rob Liefeld sort of design that you can. What I was stealing from was—really only two key designs of Rob's—the design of Cable. I hated it. I felt like it looked like they just threw up everything on the character—the scars, the thing going on with his eye, the arm, and what's with all the guns?" Liefeld has also been criticized for drawing figures with exaggerated muscular anatomy, and "gaping barrel chest", as Comic Book Resources (CBR) put it. Timothy Donohoo of CBR observed that the artwork "showcases the extreme and many times highly unrealistic anatomy seen in the comics of the era", and came to be viewed as embelmatic of Liefeld's artwork as a whole, one that subsequently became an internet meme. He revisted the illustration in September 2023, with a New York Comic Con variant cover for Captain America (Vol 10) #1, depicting the Sam Wilson incarnation of the character in the same pose. Posting the image on Twitter, Liefeld commented, "Had to get something off my chest." In October 2023 the original 1996 artwork was put up for auction with Heritage Auctions, the second time it had been made so available. the final the piece was auctioned for $132,000 USD. These stylistic elements were seen as the impetus for Liefeld's initial success, when such affectations were unusual in comics, and helped lend such characters to successfully merchandised products. Nonetheless, the approach later became a cliché and led to a widespread hostility towards the style. Liefeld agrees for the most part with this estimation of his early work, saying, "In the mid 90s we Mortal Kombated everything. I'm as guilty as anyone " Liefeld's friend, Image Comics partner, and The Walking Dead creator, Robert Kirkman, defends Liefeld, saying, "Every figure that Rob draws has a certain energy to it, a certain excitement. Every character Rob drew had seven knives and six guns and shoulder pads and pouches and belts and straps and ammunition. It was an aesthetic that as a kid absolutely blew me away. I idolized the guy Everything he draws is interesting, whether it's accurate or not. A lot of people look at the way Rob draws the human body and they say, 'That's wrong in my eyes.' I would say that these people have no joy in their souls. It's not like Rob doesn't know what a human body looks like, I think Rob looks at a human body and goes: 'That's boring. I can do better.'" with industry columnist Peter David responding to Liefeld's 1996 work on the "Heroes Reborn" Captain America by proclaiming Liefeld the "Ed Wood of comics". Kesel relates:

blockquote|Mike Carlin once said of Rob: "He has it. He just doesn't have it yet." And I couldn't agree more. Rob is one of the most energetic and charming people I've ever met—you can't help but like him—and at the time of [Liefeld's early work on Hawk and Dove] his work showed great potential. But success came far too quickly and easily to him, and he never felt the need to develop that potential. Which is really too bad, because if he did I'm certain he would have left a very different mark on the industry. Not that things worked out that badly for him In Deadpool 2, the character Domino's luck based powers are disparaged by Deadpool: "Luck? What coked out, glass pipe sucking freakshow comic book artist came up with that little chestnut? Probably a guy who can't draw feet! ", a reference acknowledged by Liefeld, who has pointed out that many fan favorite artists used mounds of debris or shadows to avoid drawing feet.

At the beginning of Liefeld's run on the New Mutants, the heavily muscled, heavily armed cyborg character Cable was created for the team, and became a popular antihero, although there is dispute over Cable's origin, with conflicting accounts of credit given to Liefeld, Bob Harras, and Louise Simonson for aspects of the character's concept and origin. For a time, Marvel credited only Liefeld and Simonson as Cable's creators within the Cable & Deadpool series. He also was credited as the sole creator of Youngblood, when documentation suggests that Liefeld's longtime friend and collaborator Hank Kanalz co developed that team with him. Liefeld has also contested sharing creator credit with writer Fabian Nicieza for the character Deadpool. In a 2016 New York Times interview, Liefeld said that he did "all the heavy lifting" in writing and drawing the issue in which that character first appeared, while Nicieza wrote its script, saying, "If a janitor scripted New Mutants 98, he'd be the co creator — that's how it works, buddy. Deadpool does not exist in any way, shape or form without me. I wrote the stories. Like Jim Lee and others, I worked with a scripter who helped facilitate. I chose Fabian, and he got the benefit of the Rob Liefeld lottery ticket. Those are good coattails to ride." Liefeld responded to this accusation by stating that in these instances, which he said were limited to ten, he was offering tribute to the artists of the original pieces in question, rather than plagiarizing, and compared this to the work of filmmaker Brian De Palma, who explicitly used the techniques of Alfred Hitchcock. Peter David responded to this rationale by stating that DePalma himself was criticized harshly by film critics for employing Hitchcock's techniques, and that Liefeld, who has identified himself as a "stickler" for credit, did not credit artists whose work he copied, instances of which exceeded the ten upon which Liefeld insisted. David also stated that some of these artists, such as John Byrne and George Pérez, did not react to this practice on Liefeld's part as a "tribute", and expressed displeasure at the degree to which Liefeld relied on their work.