Those X-Force boys sure loved being shirtless back in the 90's didn't they? So much testosterone! It's almost enough reason for me to like Rob Liefeld. Almost. These scans are from X-Force Vol. 1 #13.
Comments
DAN said…
Okay I admit it, I fully enjoy the joyful juvenile enthusiasm of Liefeld's New Mutants & X-Force work. He forced then-writer Louise Simonson to stop killing and incapacitating New Mutants team members and start writing fun action packed stories again. Then he and later Fabian Nicieza made The NMs into X-Force, an enjoyable "popcorn movie" equivalent for much of vol. 1, plus much later on Jeph Loeb started the whole Rictor & Shatterstar romance. I don't feel guilty about liking this stuff at all, re-reading it makes me feel like an 8 year old again! :)
Wow, you actually admit that you like Liefeld? You're a brave man, my friend! XD Kidding!
I didn't realize that he had such an impact on the changes made to NM & X-Force. I sort of just think of him as an artist, not a writer, but he actually did co-write X-Force. And he gave us Cable, Shatterstar & a whole lot of other characters we still read about today. I should give the guy more credit. Now if only he'd buy an anatomy book & improve his drawing skills, then I'd be ready to worship him as a comic book god. XD
DAN said…
While Liefeld's later Image and Captain America work was unforgivably awful, I've just accepted the idiosyncrasies of his New Mutants & X-Force work because he was so enthusiastic and the stories were silly fun especially for people like me who grew up reading them. What Liefeld can't be forgiven for is that he himself has never really grown and evolved as an artist and storyteller. I think people would think much better of him if he developed better anatomy in his art and wrote more sophisticated stories or just left writing to others with more skill at it. But he's stayed pretty much the same and hasn't matured much, sooo...LOL
I think the problem is that instead of getting better at drawing he seems to be getting worse. Just look at how good his X-Force pencils are compared to the his later work, like the man-boobied Captain America, it seems that he thought people loved his anatomically exaggerated characters and just went overboard. I actually love his Hawk & Dove art as well as his tenure on X-Force, but his later to current stuff is just blah. C'mon Rob, we know you can do better.
I did like (some of) his recent Onslaught Reborn work, but I usually hate his art. Some of his designs could be worked into something that works, though.
As some of his characters have been made interesting by other writers.
I think of him as a 5-year-old "writing" stories. Or playing with his action figures. A 5-year-old could come up with as many explosions, action and even romance as he did. And he would be so excited about it, too. Of course, the 5-year-old would get better with time.
LOL, that's a perfect description for Liefeld. All 'splosions!
Anonymous said…
Even back then, there were things like Stryfe's spiked armor and the pouches. Or how he could never draw Shatterstar's sword right.
It's just that Youngblood took it straight into the Aristocrats! territory with Chapel's AIDS suicide Spawn storyline. (And yes, he roped Spawn into it too! Wanna grab the Savage Dragon too, Rob? While you're ruining good Image properties, I mean.)
Comments
I didn't realize that he had such an impact on the changes made to NM & X-Force. I sort of just think of him as an artist, not a writer, but he actually did co-write X-Force. And he gave us Cable, Shatterstar & a whole lot of other characters we still read about today. I should give the guy more credit. Now if only he'd buy an anatomy book & improve his drawing skills, then I'd be ready to worship him as a comic book god. XD
As some of his characters have been made interesting by other writers.
I think of him as a 5-year-old "writing" stories. Or playing with his action figures. A 5-year-old could come up with as many explosions, action and even romance as he did. And he would be so excited about it, too. Of course, the 5-year-old would get better with time.
It's just that Youngblood took it straight into the Aristocrats! territory with Chapel's AIDS suicide Spawn storyline. (And yes, he roped Spawn into it too! Wanna grab the Savage Dragon too, Rob? While you're ruining good Image properties, I mean.)