Looking At The Mystery of Robert Kirkman’s Solid Blood #17

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 our thoughts on Rob Liefeld Returns to Marvel. Here’s what some of you had to say:

Joey Jeffrey: “I really hate how Liefeld keeps latching onto the Deadpool train. Dude the character was another generic rip off of Deathstroke. It wasn’t until Joe Kelly got a hold of him, that he became DEADPOOL.”

Ken Wood: “I just can’t with that picture of Captain America. I just…can’t.
I give props to him because he was behind the creation of Image and Image was my introduction to comic books. Spawn number one was the first comic I ever bought. But Youngblood wasn’t that great. It had potential that it never lived up to. Then he pissed off everyone at Image and got thrown out. He’s probably quite brilliant but also definitely an idiot. He’s a total enigma. I don’t hate him. At all. I’m thankful for some of the great things he’s helped bring us. That’s about it.”

Excollector: “Marvel must be desperate for a nostalgia pop. Whatever he touches, I avoid like the plague. Rob is way too proud of never having attended formal art training and now that people are used to the more modern look of colors and shading the glaring errors in his style stand out starkly.”

Benjamin Kellog: “Funnily enough, I’ve never read a single issue of anything Rob Liefeld has ever worked on, only ever seen his art through secondhand sources (DK guides, Linkara reviews, etc.), and am not on social media often enough to have an opinion regarding his presence there. At the very least, I’m interested in looking at “Heroes Reborn” sometime to see if I can stomach his version of Captain America (I survived the “Ultimates” version, so I feel my prospects are good). At any rate, at least he’s only contributing art to this particular Deadpool return and not writing the thing, so we’ve sorta dodged a bullet there. The podcast sounds like it’ll be an interesting listen, too, considering how big the character became when he was penned by creators other than Liefeld. I wonder what his opinion on all that growth would be?”

Al Lobama: “Shows how much I know. I thought Liefeld was still at Marvel doing Major X.”

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

This week we ask…

What is Robert Kirkman’s Solid Blood #17?
I know this column is a little out there but it’s rare that comic book news these days catches my attention as I have a cynical outlook on much of the news as being a lot of “seen that before”. This one hit a little different. 

Image Comics’ new title Solid Blood #17 is drawing lots of attention thanks to its creative team of Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, and Rus Wooton along with some interior pages that ComicBook.com has obtained. It looks like The Walking Dead character Michonne is involved but don’t expect a Walking Dead spinoff as this comic is from another universe. 

Try to follow me here. Solid Blood is a comic book series from a parallel universe where The Walking Dead never made it past year one, and Mr. Kirkman took a long hiatus from writing comic books, and the character of Michonne never became famously attached to the series. 

The letters page for Solid Blood #17 gave plenty of clues, along with revealing details about a parallel Earth where The Walking Dead was canceled in its first year and Michonne was then used in a different series. Add that to the comments Kirkman had posted in a video last week giving details about the comic book’s discovery. Kirkman explained why Michonne is in the comic, and where she came from. He also references the real-life history of his pitch to Image for a comic called Dead Planet in 2003, which was meant to be the original comic featuring Michonne. The comic didn’t get picked up so Kirkman worked her into The Walking Dead and the rest is history. 

I have no idea if this is a one-off or a part of a much larger mystery but it’s something different and that’s sorely needed in the industry today. Kirkman has enough clout to be able to pull off these types of projects and if it means opening up different ways to tell a story or newanles, I’m all for it. 

Unfortunately I’m seeing this is pretty much sold out on release so not sure if it will have its desired impact but we’ll wait and see. 

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