OK, why are Rob Liefeld controversies the pieces that get most people to this site? I mean there’s another artist who makes headlines over controversies, Jeffery Scott Campbell. The whole reason I put this post together is see what makes them so controversial. But from what I can tell, Liefeld gets the brunt of the roasting. In case it’s not already obvious; I subscribe to Atop the Fourth Wall. One of the few series that gets a complete look through is Liefeld’s Youngblood. As Linkara’s brand states, those comics get badly burned because they’re so bad. A few of Liefeld’s other works also go into the red. But are they so bad that Campbell doesn’t deserve a mention? Let’s take a look.
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Liefeld is a comic fan who starts out tracing his favorite series. Now there is a controversial technique that a few professional artists use to cut corners. Greg Land gets constant criticism for this. Fortunately, Liefeld manages to step out of that stage and takes fundamental art classes. Liefeld strives to become a better artist over these years and submits to small publishers. For a while though he’s too nervous to try bigger companies. I like to think it’s low confidence that causes Liefeld to focus more on pin-ups than anything else. Pin-ups on their own are great, especially if they say something about the character. But if you’re anything like Liefeld, it’s an excuse to make goofy looking anatomy and poses. Some of these pin-ups even include early versions of his team, Youngblood.
After a few years, Rob gets his chance to show the Big Two what he’s got. Ultimately, it works out and he becomes a character artist. Which brings Liefeld to Hawk and Dove. Liefeld is so enthusiastic about the role he ends up pushing comic fantasies to their limit. This same enthusiasm is a blessing and a curse. For example, in Hawk and Dove’s fifth issue, Liefeld really displays the chaos of the setting. It’s so wacky that people have to cut and paste the images in order to read it. But this was more of a matter of double standards since Erik Larsen did this without controversy. It’s how Liefeld cuts corners by trying to avoid drawing hands and feet according to writer Karl Kesel that’s actually controversial. That same insanity takes center stage with the New Mutants and Cable.
Image Over Substance
Not wanting to keep himself in Marvel’s grasp, Liefeld desires to create more of his favorite moments. But when the company shows how little it values its creators, especially when Liefeld works for a competitor, he and a few others found Image Comics. So Liefeld begins his own studio of “Extreme Comics” with his rendition of famous teams and characters. Youngblood is the first title of Image but his ambitions end up going overboard. To his credit, they are best sellers for a time; unfortunately, they exploit the worst traits of comics. His chaotic storytelling, pin-up focus artwork, and overall poor management practically ruins Extreme Comics. He has to hire Alan Moore to keep his IPs afloat for his equally juvenile “Awesome Entertainment”.
From what people in interviews say, people seem to like working with Liefeld because of his fun-loving personality. Unfortunately personality can only get you so far. Take it from someone who’s taking lessons from Creative Biz. The guy practically drives himself purely by his passions and merchandising. He never even bothers to change his ever failing strategies. His social media history also suggests some poor communication branding. Most of the time, his IPs get better handling from others. To name a few; Alan Moore, Chad Bowers, and Jim Towe.
Rob Liefeld: Reflection and Cooperation
On his own Liefeld is not that great; even a self-publishing comic he funds on Kickstarter takes forever to publish. However with collaborators he actually manages to work with no ego, he does just fine. The New Mutants and Cable for example have Louise Simonson who proves to be one of Liefeld’s best influences. She is the one who goes to Liefeld for designing Cable.
For further proof that he’s not a total meathead, look at his most successful design, Deadpool. The Merc With a Mouth mutates beyond his initial knock-off status into an iconic character. Liefeld doesn’t really like this humorous development, but he learns to live with it overtime. If I have to guess, it’s actually because he relates to this version better. They’re people who have a reputation for being laughingstocks but try very hard for positive recognition.
In the Deadpool Corps for example, Liefeld revels in creating multiple versions of Deadpool and putting them in a team. Working purely as a penciler also allows for the other artists to make up for his shortcomings like backgrounds. In fact, with a decent writer Liefeld actually thrives with his over-the-top designs. Even Deadpool: Bad Blood, shows a vast improvement in artwork (except the guns). Is it any wonder Liefeld tries to recreate Deadpool with Major X?
J. Scott Campbell: Self-Smearing
But enough about Rob Liefeld for a bit. J. Scott Campbell comes from a family of artists, he himself starts in cartooning. This all changes after seeing the Uncanny X-Men which changes Campbell’s direction. Still images tend to present a higher amount of anticipation and action than animation does.
After high school, Campbell submits art to a WildC.A.T.s contest. Jim Lee likes it so much, he personally calls Campbell for work. With Lee, Campbell starts his more recognizable art style in a swimsuit special. Wildstorm becomes Campbell’s personal playground with the advent of his and Brandon Choi’s Gen13. The series is practically a recreation of the X-Men that drove Campbell to comics in the first place.
Fortunately, unlike Youngblood, Choi induces Gen13 with actual characterization. Although it’s safe to say that people seem to like Campbell’s cheesecake as a hook. When Campbell gets to write the series after a while however… that’s to the series detriment. It’s practically Campbell just putting a bunch of pin-ups on top of each other!
So to keep themselves going, Campbell and two other artists founded the “Cliffside” imprint. It’s the place where the Danger Girl franchise and Campbell’s subsequent reputation begins. Danger Girl has twenty years of fun enough comics, a video game with poor reception, and a movie deal. It’s actually safe to compare him to Michael Bay stylistically. Is it any wonder Wildsiderz ends before it begins? In fact in terms of anything other than variant covers, he doesn’t do any page work save for Time Capsule. Even this is just more pin-ups.
Work Habit Traps
Between Campbell and Liefeld, one thing I notice between these two are how they tend to stick to comfort zones. Liefeld is a dreamer who wants to be a great comic creator but lacks the drive for more substance. Campbell meanwhile plays only to his strengths. Because of that though, he forgets to take account on what he does. The scandal with Ironheart for example is sticking to pin-ups that give off the wrong message. They’re all the same character model just with different accessories. Even some of his Spider-Man variant covers misrepresent characters; thankfully not all the time.
Neither one of them is out of the game yet though. In fact they go on record to respond to all of the outrage from people; whether by them or anyone else. But it’s going to take a lot more to develop as creators.
Rob Liefeld is by all accounts a prima donna. While you can’t blame him for all of his controversies; for one he doesn’t hold the Youngblood rights so you can’t blame him for a recent Youngblood scandal. But you can blame him for train wrecks like Snake Eyes and his premature departure from Archie’s Mighty Crusaders. Liefeld has to be less of a diva to be anything more, otherwise he’ll just keep repeating his mistakes.
Campbell meanwhile I feel can do better than just reuse the same character models. He even goes on to say that he likes his monster artwork as much as he designs women. His work with Spawn alone is proof that he can do more. Unfortunately he’s doubling down on his controversies by getting into a pissing contest with some of his critics. To his credit, art fixes can be really obnoxious.
Important Message for Creators
For all creatives, please take note as per Creative Biz; respond positively to constructive criticism, ignore the vocal minorities but not the vocal majorities, explore art styles, diversify designs, refine your skills at every opportunity, come up with your own ideas, get out of your comfort zones, think before you act, have a game plan, handle finances, don’t let entitlement go to your head, build healthy relationships with co-workers and audiences, adapt to the times, and love your work but be smart. Because if you’re anything like Liefeld or Campbell during their development phases, you’ll end up making yourselves look stupid.
Thanks for coming and as always, remember to look between the panels.