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Devildart Since: Feb, 2012 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
#26: Jun 17th 2012 at 7:19:30 AM

that probably has to do a little with him working with others its obvious in some cases that hell draw out whats going on but forget a few details and adds them in after everything else is done this normally does ruin the fluidity a bit. for all we know he could be decent in the story department :\ he needs to leave the art side of it though if hes not going to bother improving that much

http://devildart.deviantart.com
Cider The Final ECW Champion from Not New York Since: May, 2009 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
The Final ECW Champion
#27: Jun 17th 2012 at 9:59:31 AM

edit:never mind: He was involved in the creation of some interesting characters(or rather potentially interesting characters). I never saw anything in Domino(long shot, with an eyespot!) but people keep using her for Deadpool fodder and that's funny. I never would have gotten Deadpool's personality out of him either but someone had a vision.

Then there are some that seemed obvious, obvious of what you could do with Tempo, but she died without fan fare, obvious that Forearm should be erased from continuity, but they kept on using him.

edited 17th Jun '12 10:07:38 AM by Cider

Modified Ura-nage, Torture Rack
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#28: Jun 17th 2012 at 6:28:08 PM

He's like the Donald Trump of comics.

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Gray64 Since: Dec, 1969
#29: Jun 17th 2012 at 10:00:29 PM

Yeah, the "anatomy books at the convention" thing was just stupid. What was the intention? To make Liefeld cry? What did the doofus doing that hope to accomplish?

Describing Liefeld as a pin-up artist (though not a particularly good one, as there are some truly great pin-up artists out there) is a pretty good summation. He seldom seems inclined to have his characters doing anything other than posing. His work just doesn't really have any depth; it all seems to be about initial impact; you're supposed to get the impression and move on to the next panel, and not dwell too long over any one illustration.

Daremo Misanthrope Supreme from Parts Unknown Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: If it's you, it's okay
#30: Jun 17th 2012 at 10:59:34 PM

Not to join in the Liefeld bashing(I feel it really over-marketed on the internet), but I can't believe that earlier list passed without noting how he draws legs, and calfs in particular. I have all the artistic ability of a cured ham, and less interest really, yet even as a child, I was all, "Legs don't work that way."

Creed of the Happy Pessimist:Always expect the worst. Then, when it happens, it was only what you expected. All else is a happy surprise.
RJSavoy Reymmã from Edinburgh Since: Apr, 2011 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Reymmã
#31: Jun 18th 2012 at 2:40:12 PM

I would like to understand better why a generation of artists copied his style when it had so many glaring flaws. Was he just the first artist at the right time to capture the sudden demand for what we now call '90s Anti-Hero, giving a new, rougher look to characters?

About cartoony looks: a big part of the problem is that unlike many manga or Asterix, his art tries to go for realism, but then gets the proportions and joints badly wrong. It creates a bad combination that leaps to the eye as just wrong, comparable to the Uncanny Valley.

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Devildart Since: Feb, 2012 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
#32: Jun 18th 2012 at 2:42:31 PM

gray 64: i still say the book thing was probably to tell liefeld to improve and give him material that could help him. we really dont know the actual intentions and as jerkish as it sounds to do that to an artist theyre still a chance it wasnt to do harm. >_> seriously who would spend money on those books if all they wanted to do was insult him they could have easily just looked at an image of his and inform him of every single little flaw. its cheaper and probably causes more damage

http://devildart.deviantart.com
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#33: Jun 18th 2012 at 10:19:19 PM

It probably would have been best if he'd done it in private. But no, he had written about the whole sordid thing on the web, letting people (even some self-admitted Liefled haters, IIRC) fume about it in the comments. If he thought that he'd get widespread support for that, he gravely mistaken.

Do not obey in advance.
Tiamatty X-Men X-Pert from Now on Twitter Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: Brony
#34: Jun 19th 2012 at 12:43:43 AM

[up][up] I'm pretty sure the guy was trolling. He was being a dick, plain and simple.

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.
Jhimmibhob Since: Dec, 2010
#35: Jun 19th 2012 at 9:28:02 AM

[up][up][up]If one goes by the original post, his malicious intentions were hard to mistake.

cfive Since: Jan, 2001
#36: Jun 19th 2012 at 2:15:48 PM

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was just being a jerk.

DS9guy Since: Jan, 2001
#37: Jun 19th 2012 at 2:31:21 PM

With most of the founders of Image (Jim Lee, Todd Mc Farlane, Eric Larsen, etc.), I can understand why their artwork is appealing to people. However, Liefeld is an enigma to me. I have no idea why this guy became popular. Supporters of him mention that his artwork has "energy". What do they mean by that?

edited 19th Jun '12 2:32:48 PM by DS9guy

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#38: Jun 19th 2012 at 8:44:23 PM

[up]TBH, I have no idea.

Do not obey in advance.
NapoleonDeCheese Since: Oct, 2010
#39: Jun 19th 2012 at 8:49:36 PM

I don't think it's energy, because his figures are always very rigid and still. They don't have a sense of motion or fluid power; even a jumping guy looks like he's suspended in mid-air. Again, it's like they're just posing at all times. Mc Farlane was good at portraying nervous, frantic motion like Spidey's webslinging, and Lee can choreographe decent fight scenes. Liefeld... not so much.

Maybe the word they should use is intensity. That, I can see, although it's the kind of clenched teeth intensity a Dragon Ball Z character makes while grunting and powering up.

cfive Since: Jan, 2001
#40: Jun 19th 2012 at 9:01:44 PM

[up]Yes, I'd say intenstity is the word. Every panel of this man's work is oozing with testosterone. Half the time I expect the word bubbles in Liefeld comics to be nothing but "RRRRARGHG-ARG-ARG-RAAAAARGH".

edited 19th Jun '12 9:02:50 PM by cfive

Gray64 Since: Dec, 1969
#41: Jun 19th 2012 at 10:41:05 PM

In the late 80's/early 90's, DC tried him out on a couple of things and he showed a lot of promise. His early Hawk and Dove work, with Karl Kesel as his inker, is actually pretty good. A great many people have opined that Kesel was fixing most of Liefeld's glaring errors, however...And there was as well Liefeld's tendency to rip off other artist's layouts —he took the opening pages of X-Force #1 directly from one of George Perez's sequences from The New Teen Titans (of which Liefeld apparently was a huge fan...Youngblood was originally supposed to be Titans West, and Shaft was supposed to be Roy Harper/ Speedy).

Jhimmibhob Since: Dec, 2010
#42: Jun 20th 2012 at 10:49:34 AM

[up][up]Agreed: for better or worse, Liefeld seldom failed to enjoy himself as an artist. He pretty obviously took a childlike joy in his work that is admirable in itself ... but that obviously isn't enough in the end.

JAF1970 Jonah Falcon from New York Since: Jan, 2001
Jonah Falcon
#43: Jun 24th 2012 at 9:06:50 PM

I looked for a Rob Liefeld thread. There was none. I just found that Captain America (and nude extrapolation) hilarious.

PS. How is Leifeld any worse than Mike Deodato, really?

@Bear Scary: Did you write this?

edited 24th Jun '12 9:16:21 PM by JAF1970

Jonah Falcon
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#44: Jun 25th 2012 at 12:20:15 AM

JAF1970: Unfortunately, no. ^_^ I love that list that Progressive Boink did, though, and was thrilled/horrified to see that they did a sequel.

PS. How is Leifeld any worse than Mike Deodato, really?

Or Ian Churchill? tongue

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NapoleonDeCheese Since: Oct, 2010
#45: Jun 25th 2012 at 10:23:01 AM

I find Deodato to have a somewhat better sense of storytelling and sequential format, actually.

Tuomas Since: Mar, 2010
#46: Jun 27th 2012 at 2:55:49 AM

A funny thing I noticed in one of the examples in the original "40 Worst Liefeld Drawings" article that the writers didn't mention: look at the positioning of Warpath and Juggernaut's right foot. I think Warpath is supposed to look so small because of perspective, but if you look at Juggernaut's foot, it goes behind him. So either Warpath is tiny or Juggernaut has one crazy-ass long leg.

PennyDreadful Since: May, 2010
#47: Jun 27th 2012 at 7:22:33 AM

Liefeld is one of those artists I can't get pissed off about. Personally, I think one of his defining traits (besides the lack of feet) is the "Liefeld Scowl." Nobody smiles in his comics. They're always glowering, yelling, and snarling. There should be a contest at comic book conventions to see who could do the best "Liefeld Scowl." Who else agrees?

cfive Since: Jan, 2001
#48: Jun 27th 2012 at 4:23:40 PM

[up] Yeah, I just can't hate the guy. A Liefeld scowl contest would hilarious.

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#49: Jun 28th 2012 at 10:52:48 PM

So this new Cracked article is all about old comic art cliches. Three guesses who has done all of them. And the first two don't count. :)

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Tiamatty X-Men X-Pert from Now on Twitter Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: Brony
#50: Jun 28th 2012 at 11:08:37 PM

[up] I have one major problem with that article.

It posts an image of a gorilla firing a gun in each limb as an example of something stupid, instead of posting it as an example of something awesome. Because you cannot tell me that it's not awesome. If you can look at that image of Gorilla Man with a gun in both hands and both feet, and you don't love it, then I'm pretty sure it's because you're a robot and thus incapable of feeling emotion. And even then, you should be able to look at that picture and say, "Yes, this is objectively awesome. If I were capable of emotion, I would no doubt be feeling an overwhelming sense of joy."

So, really, the only reason not to love it is because you suck, and you don't deserve the privilege of seeing such pure, undistilled awesome.

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.

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