Rob Liefeld
The Middle Ground #74 | None More Extreme
My first thought when learning that there was going to be a revival of Rob Liefeld’s Extreme Comics line at Image was that I was an old, old man. We’d already reached the point where something so recent was old enough to have a nostalgia hook? And then I realized that we’re more than a decade since the last revamp of Prophet and almost as long since the last attempt at a Glory series. Continue Reading »
- October 18, 2011 @ 04:30 PM by Graeme McMillan
Comics A.M. | The once and future Extreme Studios; Colleen Doran’s digital success
Youngblood
Creators | With the announcement that Rob Liefeld’s Extreme Studios is back in business, former Extreme Studios employee and current Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson reflects on his time with the studio. “From 1992-1998, Extreme Studios was more or less my life. Youngblood, Supreme, Brigade, Bloodstrike, Team Youngblood, New Men, Prophet, Youngblood: Strikefile, Bloodpool, Glory… We put out a lot of comics, and for the most part everyone involved was incredibly young. Rob and I were amongst the oldest at 25. So many of the artists involved in various aspects of production were just out of their teens, and that made the work as frustrating as it was fun. But looking back, the main thing I remember about that time is Rob wanted to share his success with people who loved comics and wanted to make a living in the business as much as he had.” [It Sparkles!]
Webcomics | A Distant Soil creator Colleen Doran, who began serializing the comic online in 2009, notes “my bottom line is up significantly, and my online audience is ten times higher than when I started the five day a week online serialization of A Distant Soil 2.5 years ago.” She also shares advice she received when she started the endeavor that hasn’t worked for her. [A Distant Soil]
- October 17, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by JK Parkin
Quote of the day | Rob Liefeld on how to beat the ‘haters’
Hawk and Dove #1
“Yep, sometimes it gets personal. Case in point–the new Hawk and Dove launched a month back and to put it bluntly, it was the single worst reviewed comic book of my career. Think about that for a minute. The blogosphere came out with knives sharpened, grilling me on a spicket. This is one short month after The Infinite, a book I produce with Robert Kirkman had debuted to the best reviews of my career. What happened?? Well, I read a few of the reviews, the really hateful one’s and they were full of personal attacks and insults. Many, if not all, believed that Hawk and Dove was the first work I had done in over a decade and asked how I could still possibly be employed after all these years? I was drawing the third issue of a sold out comic book featuring characters that had not carried their own title in 20 years, do I let these attacks get to me? Sorry, I have no time and I have deadlines to meet, and arguing with any of these bloggers would accomplish nothing. DO NOT EVER send a negative comment or engage a negative review, its pointless and takes up valuable time. I advocate moving forward and servicing your fan base. Hawk and Dove has sold 50,000 copies to date, twice as much as my last Deadpool assignment. I should focus on the fans that enjoyed the work, not the dissenters who want to distract from it.”
–The oft-maligned artist Rob Liefeld, from a post on his blog titled “How To Beat The Haters.” The thorough post covers his thoughts on his early career, the birth of Image, Heroes Reborn, his three-year “retirement” from comics, reacting to message boards and much more.
- October 7, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | Janelle Asselin exits DC; Del Rey’s Betsy Mitchell retires
Janelle Asselin
Publishing | DC Comics associate editor Janelle Asselin has left the company, reportedly for a job with Disney. She clarifies on Twitter that, contrary to a report, she wasn’t escorted from the building on Tuesday but, rather, left “at my leisure.” Asselin had been with DC since 2008, working primarily on Batman books like Batman and Robin, Batman: Streets of Gotham, Red Robin, Birds of Prey and the relaunched Batman, Batwoman, Detective Comics and Savage Hawkman. [Bleeding Cool]
Publishing | Longtime editor Betsy Mitchell is taking early retirement from her post as editor-in-chief of Del Rey, where she helped create Del Rey Manga. Tricia Pasternak, a former Del Rey Manga editor herself, has been promoted to editorial director. Del Rey was established as a science fiction prose imprint; the manga line was created in 2004 and was mostly shut down in 2010, when Kodansha began publishing its manga directly in the U.S. However, Del Rey still publishes a handful of manga and graphic novels, including xxxHolic, King of RPGs, and Deltora Quest. [Publishers Weekly]
Legal | In a twist that sounds like something out of a comic (or even an ad from an old comic), a witness in the Michael George trial testified he saw someone wearing an obviously fake beard outside George’s Clinton Township, Michigan, comics shop a few minutes before George’s first wife Barbara was murdered inside the store in 1990. [The Tribune Democrat]
- September 28, 2011 @ 07:10 AM by Brigid Alverson
DC’s New 52 art explosion on Twitter
Batman by Greg Capullo
The artists behind this September’s “New 52″ have taken to Twitter, thanks once again to David Macho, revealing a whole lot of art from the new books that are due next month. There are a couple of hash tags to follow over on Twitter … #52splash will show you pages of new stuff from Greg Capullo (above), Scott McDaniel and many others. And as Kiel noted last week, #thenewvillains hash tag that kicked off last week slowed down after last week’s push, but a few new posts have popped up today.
And speaking of villains, I don’t think anyone has shared artwork yet for the villain of the new Justice League title — who it turns out is one of DC’s biggest and baddest, Darkseid.
Check out more artwork after the jump, and watch the hash tags for more!
- August 22, 2011 @ 02:24 PM by JK Parkin
Arizona’s Atomic Comics chain shuts down [Updated]
Atomic Comics' Chandler, Arizona, location
Atomic Comics, the nationally known Arizona retail chain, abruptly closed all four locations on Sunday, shocking staff, customers and industry figures alike. Although the closing of the stores in Mesa, Phoenix, Chandler and Paradise Valley was initially announced last night by multiple employees and creators, owner Michael Malve confirmed the news this morning in an installment of his weekly newsletter titled “My Final Report.”
“As some of you may have already heard, after 25 years of running a successful business, sadly and much to my dismay, I have shut the doors of Atomic Comics,” Malve wrote. “The villain in this tragedy is the economy. I had hoped to be the superhero and triumph over the recession, but sadly the economic downturn of the past 5 years has proven to be unsustainable.”
In the newsletter, which can be read below, Malve revealed he’s filed for bankruptcy, and that he and his family are losing their home, ” as we had secured it against our leases which we obviously have to break.”
“I know there are many people out there facing very similar situations in these difficult times and now I can definitely empathize with them,” he continued. “I have always been and will forever be an extremely optimistic person and will look at this situation as an adventure. I have very high hopes for the next chapter of my life.”
- August 22, 2011 @ 06:37 AM by Kevin Melrose
Beach Ball Comics to host Kirkman, Liefeld this Wednesday
The Infinite
To help Beach Ball Comics celebrate their 25th anniversary, the shop will host The Infinite creators Robert Kirkman and Rob Liefeld on Wednesday. The duo will sign copies of the first issue with an exclusive cover created specifically for the Anaheim, Calif. retailer.
This is one of five covers that together form the image up top; Beach Ball’s special cover features the character in the middle, Bowen. Three additional retailers will each have one of the other covers, while the last one will be available on the Skybound website.
You can find more details on the event and the covers in the press release after the jump.
- August 1, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
Avengelyne returns this summer from Image Comics
Avengelyne
Rob Liefeld announced on his blog today that Avengelyne, a character published by his Maximum Press company back in the mid-1990s, will return in a monthly series later this summer from Image Comics.
The new series will be written by Liefeld and Mark Poulton (Koni Waves) and illustrated by Owen Gieni. Poulton previously wrote the character in an Avengelyne vs Koni Waves one-shot that Arcana published last year. Gieni has worked on several webcomics, including Sore Thumbs and Wicked Powered.
Avengelyne, an angel cast from Heaven who fought demons on Earth, appeared in several miniseries, one-shots, crossovers (including one with Glory, another Liefeld creation) and her own series from Maximum Press, and was later published by Avatar.
- March 31, 2011 @ 06:57 PM by JK Parkin
Robert Kirkman and Rob Liefeld unite for The Infinite
The Infinite
Robert Kirkman is re-teaming with Rob Liefeld, the artist he once described as “the modern-day equivalent of Jack Kirby,” for a science fiction adventure called The Infinite.
USA Today reports the series, which debuts in August from Kirkman’s Image imprint Skybound, centers on a soldier who travels back in time to recruit his 19-year-old self, and others, to help defeat a future world-conquering villain called The Infinite. “It’s a buddy movie with yourself,” Liefeld says.
The two previously worked together on Image United, and had planned to collaborate on a Killraven miniseries for Marvel (however, that project never materialized).
“We both like tech gear, James Cameron, Star Trek and Star Wars,” Liefeld tells the newspaper, “so it’s a big sci-fi fantasy epic, but it’s got a lot of heart.”
- March 7, 2011 @ 04:37 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Archie Drops Comics Code, Marking End of Era
Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval
Publishing | Thursday’s news that DC Comics will replace the nearly 60-year-old Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval with its own rating system was followed on Friday by an announcement by Archie Comics that it, too, will drop the Code. The two were the last publishers to abandon the CCA — Marvel withdrew in 2001, Bongo just last year — which means that as of next month, the once-influential self-regulatory body created by the comics industry in the wake of the 1954 Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency will cease to exist. Before a series of revisions in 1971, the Code prohibited even the depictions of political corruption, or vampires and werewolves, and the use of the words “horror” or “terror” in titles.
Christopher Butcher wonders whether DC’s decision to drop the Code was made with an eye toward the bottom line, while Johanna Draper Carlson offers an overview of the CCA’s history. Elsewhere, Mike Sterling asks whether any retailers ever “experienced any kind of real-world impact of the Comics Code Authority?” And Tom Mason makes some tongue-in-cheek recommendations for DC’s new rating system, including “G – GREYING MAN-BOYS” and “R – REFRIGERATOR.” [Newsarama]
- January 24, 2011 @ 08:46 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Kirby/Marvel copyright fight continues, John D’Agostino dies
Jack Kirby
Legal | New York federal judge Colleen McMahon made several decisions last week in the case of Jack Kirby’s heirs attempting to terminate Marvel’s copyright of his works. The judge agreed with Marvel that it would be premature to make an accounting of how much money is at stake, but rejected a bid by Marvel to throw out the Kirby estate’s main counterclaim. She also ruled that the Kirby estate’s attempt to reclaim original art is barred by the statute of limitations, counterclaims of breach-of-contract and violation of the Lanham Act were tossed, and Disney will be part of the case, even though Marvel said it shouldn’t be.
“In sum, the judge has narrowed the case to its most crucial issue. Both sides disagree about Kirby’s working environment in the 1950s and 1960s when he, along with Stan Lee, conceived many of Marvel’s most popular characters. The judge will soon be tasked with looking at Kirby’s work history and some of the loose contracts and oral agreements that guided his efforts in those years,” wrote Eriq Gardner. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Creators | Artist, letterer and colorist John D’Agostino died Nov. 29. D’Agostino started his career as a colorist for Timely Comics and was head of their coloring department for several years. He also worked for Archie Comics, Charlton Comics and Marvel Comics, and lettered the first few issues of Amazing Spider-Man in the 1960s. Tom Spurgeon offers an obituary. [Mark Evanier]
- November 30, 2010 @ 09:50 AM by JK Parkin
Rob Liefeld kicks off Zombie Jesus webcomic
from 'Zombie Jesus'
Rob Liefeld, creator of Youngblood and Deadpool, among others, has launched a new webcomic on his site called Zombie Jesus.
The strip uses scripture from The Bible to tell some of the story, particularly Matthew 27:51-52: “The earth shook, the rocks broke and tombs opened and many men and women who had died came back to life again. They left the cemetery and went into the city and appeared to many people there.” And then attacked them.
Led by a possessed Judas Iscariot, the zombie hordes invade Jerusalem, with Lazarus the Immortal taking up arms against them. I’m not sure how often it will be updated, but I know I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens next.
- October 25, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Penny Arcade leaps, Liefeld-style, into the game Comic Jumper
The people behind the hit webcomic Penny Arcade, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, are lending their skills and comic timing toward the promotion of the upcoming video game Comic Jumper. In this game, players can jump through different comic-book genres on a path to complete their quests — each time they land in a new comic, the style of the artwork changes to reflect that.
YES.
The game’s publisher, Twisted Pixel Games, enlisted the comickers to work up a comic strip as a companion piece to the video game, and apparently they went all out. For this unique project, Holkins and Krahulik picked the infamous style that Rob Liefeld made famous during his run on ’90s classics New Mutants, X-Force and Youngblood.
“Obviously you can look back on that stuff now and it’s pretty silly but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being heavily inspired by it at the time,” Krahulik wrote in a post on the Penny Arcade site. “Rob may not have had the best grasp of anatomy, storytelling, perspective, or composition but his shit was fucking dynamic and as a young man I ate it up.”
In addition to the comic itself, the pair is also giving away an XBOX 360 decorated with art from this project. The contest is unique, but I won’t spoil it, so check out the website.
- September 30, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Quote of the day | Rob Liefeld, screenwriter
“Nea[r]ly completing screenplay about Image Comics and the 90′s. Can’t wait to cast this baby! My Image screenplay is nice to everyone. Looks at the craziness of 90′s comics boom. I was inspired by BLOW. The movie, not the powder. I’m not sure of the cast, what do you guys think? Who would be the Image 7?”
–Image co-founder Rob Liefeld is apparently planning to do for ’90s comics what Boogie Nights did for ’70s porn. Who would you cast in this thing? “CGI” is an acceptable answer.
(hat tip: Ben Morse)
- September 16, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Quote of the day | Rob Liefeld on Image United
Image United
“It goes without saying that Image United is a massive embarrassment. Damn shame the enthusiasm for the book not shared by all.”
– Image Comics co-founder Rob Liefeld, on the highly anticipated, but delay-plagued, miniseries that features interior art by six of the company’s seven founders
- April 19, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by Kevin Melrose