Comics 411: Thoughts on Rob Liefeld Returning to Marvel

Welcome back! I’m Steve Gustafson and if you enjoy discussing anything comic book related, you’ve come to the right place. Each week we cover something in the industry and I always enjoy your input in the comment section below.

Previously on…

 
Last week we discussed Favorite Comic Book Holiday Stories. Here’s what some of you had to say:

Noodle: “While not exactly comic book but more comic related, Justice League’s “Comfort and Joy” and Batman: The Animated Series’ “Christmas with the Joker” are always watched at my home this time of year.”

Acolyte Of Glorious La Parka~: “The ‘Warrior’ Christmas comic.”

Richard C: “It is old-fashioned fun through the years — which was recently released as a collection w/ information on the writer and artists, as well as listing the issue that it was originally published in: The Best of Archie: Christmas Comics.”

Benjamin Kellog: “The most relevant experience I have with this sort of story would be the “World’s Greatest Super Heroes Holiday Special” DC published through its Walmart Giants line, but since I didn’t particularly like any of those stories, I choose to go back a couple of months and recall a story I do dig. I first encountered this tale in the (also Walmart-distributed) “Swamp Thing Halloween Horror Giant.” It was a riff on a certain classic TV special strongly associated with All Hallows Eve entitled, “It’s the Pumpkin Sinister, Blue Devil!” A couple of lawyer-friendly parodies of Charlie Brown and Linus summon a pumpkin-headed demon from some lower depth of hell and the monster predictably starts wreaking havoc, with our humorous blue hero having to stop it. The references to Peanuts lore are spot-on, right down to the brilliant twist: It turns out that Charlie summoned the orange menace to kill Linus for stealing the “little red-haired girl” away from him! Your mileage may vary, but as a Peanuts afficianado, I had a blast reading it.”

Tayo Jones: “The Leah story from FN Spidey annual 1 was heart breaking. Starman issue 27 was more upli6 but both stories are good.”

So many great comments! Big thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts!

This week we discuss…

Rob Liefeld Returns to Marvel

Love him or hate him, no one draws more passionate reactions that Rob Liefeld. I’ve had a hot/cold opinion of him since the 90s and while I have my problems with him, I can’t deny his popularity and success nor his passion for comics. 

Look, I know full well doing a column centered on Liefeld will draw hits. I find him such a puzzle as there are plenty of artists better than him, better creators than him, and better comic book businessmen than him but he has been a part of some of the biggest moments in comics and always seems to come out on top. 

Even when you think bridges are burned, he builds them back. For example, Liefeld announced he will return to Marvel over a year after his public exit from the company in October 2019. His tweet at the time said: “So, this will be my last original cover for Marvel for the foreseeable future.” “After doing 100 covers the last few years, I’m taking a pause,” he continued. “I’m also not continuing any interiors as I’ve put those on hold as well. G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes and creator-owned are on the desk!”

Liefeld also tweeted on October 8, 2019, “Had a good long talk with my attorney. Time to hold some feet to the fire for some shady practices over at Marvel. Good times to come Robert Iger.”  

Liefeld will return to Marvel to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Deadpool’s debut in 1991’s New Mutants #98.

Plans for the Deadpool 30th anniversary celebration include a Deadpool Nerdy 30 one-shot and 30 variant covers all drawn by Liefeld, featuring Deadpool alongside other Marvel characters, including some of Liefeld’s other creations and co-creations.

Liefeld’s podcast Robservations will feature a five-part ‘Making of Deadpool’ series that Liefeld’s announcement states will “offer insight into how the character was developed from initial discussions with Marvel to character design and beyond.”

This is where I turn it over to you. What do you think about Liefeld and his impact on the industry? His artistic ability? His social media presence?

That’s all the time I have. See you next week!