Rob Liefeld, how does he still have a fanbase?

[WhySoFuriousGeorge]

I don't give a damn how nice he is or how much he smiles. He lost any goodwill he had with me when he said that PAD's development of Shatterstar as bisexual sucked.

[madrox83]

Rob's a cool guy. At NYCC a few years back, he signed my Youngblood trade and sketched in a busy of Badrock. Afterwards he asked if I was going to be at his panel and to see me afterwards.

I was going to the panel anyway and that was when the Extreme Revival was announced. Afterwards he signed the preview book and asks which series I was most interested in. My answer was Glory. He wasn't surprised and said people will love it.

It was a great read. Meeting him was a highlight of the show, and even my wife who isn't a comics fan thought he was great.

[Adam-X]

I only have one problem with Rob (like everyone said - he's nice, vocal with fans, etc) - but the dude can NOT finish his own projects. Brigade that he rebooted a few years back - only had one issue come out. Bloodstrike that he recently rebooted, only had 2 issues come out. Kickstarter he got funded, and not been fulfilled.

THAT is my only problem with Rob. Otherwise a good guy.

[John Ossie]

Rob's a cool guy. At NYCC a few years back, he signed my Youngblood trade and sketched in a busy of Badrock. Afterwards he asked if I was going to be at his panel and to see me afterwards.

I was going to the panel anyway and that was when the Extreme Revival was announced. Afterwards he signed the preview book and asks which series I was most interested in. My answer was Glory. He wasn't surprised and said people will love it.

It was a great read. Meeting him was a highlight of the show, and even my wife who isn't a comics fan thought he was great.

Cool story, glad to hear he was so nice to you.

[Montressor]

I don't give a damn how nice he is or how much he smiles. He lost any goodwill he had with me when he said that PAD's development of Shatterstar as bisexual sucked.

Good for you!

[armlessphelan]

I don't give a damn how nice he is or how much he smiles. He lost any goodwill he had with me when he said that PAD's development of Shatterstar as bisexual sucked.

To be fair, I'm gay and I thought that development sucked. Shatterstar was already a queer character: Rob created him as asexual, not straight. But some people like to leave that out just so they can call him a homophobe despite him letting Glory be bisexual and the gay Prophets in the 2012 Extreme stuff.

[Alan2099]

I think we can all agree that Liefeld's Shatterstar was very different from Peter David's.

Since we can come to that conclusions, what's wrong with some people liking one version more than another?

[WhySoFuriousGeorge]

To be fair, I'm gay and I thought that development sucked. Shatterstar was already a queer character: Rob created him as asexual, not straight. But some people like to leave that out just so they can call him a homophobe despite him letting Glory be bisexual and the gay Prophets in the 2012 Extreme stuff.

It's his handling of it that I took exception to. He created a character in a shared universe, and for him to be so publicly negative about another writer's work isn't a good look on anyone. It's really no different than the people who bitch about Iceman being gay. It isn't as if PAD wasn't building on what Nicieza was doing anyway.

[GoingGreen]

He banked on comicizing Schwarzenegger films and managed to get away with it. He regurgitated previous created characters, stories, and artwork. He is partially responsible for the extreme overmasculinization of male heroes and overfeminization of female heroes. I'd be smiling just as much if the worst thing I got out of all of this was a paycheck. In an industry that exists based on the shared, continual evolution of characters, you'd think he'd be a bit more classy when someone else creates a swell in popularity over a character he couldn't bring anything new to.

I'm glad he treats his fans well. He better. They give him a paycheck. I'm pretty annoyed he can't respect fellow writers.

And sorry I'm not sorry, Deadpool isn't even remotely original. Liefeld drew Slade Wilson / Deathstroke-lite, Nicieza called him out on it and named him Wade Wilson for it. Deadpool was created because Liefeld couldn't get Spiderman. Deadpool didn't break the fourth wall until Joe Kelly and Christopher Priest got their hands on him. So, here we have a mutated fusion of Spiderman and Deathstroke that didn't get his most iconic personality trait until someone else took over him. Hm. But Liefeld didn't have a problem with that...

However, Liefeld did take umbrage over a LESSER known character, Shatterstar... being written to come out as bisexual (while going through a necessary personality overhaul, which was a redemption from the weird Killer vs Robot dichotomy the character had prior). But it's "not homophobic"? And further, Liefeld is credited as an artist in Shatterstar's creation, not writer; and we all know how much of a stickler Rob is over getting credited properly.

As for Shatterstar being "created asexual", that was a label being incorrectly used out of ignorance (and I use "ignorance" as it is meant to be used - lacking in knowledge or information; not as the bigot trigger it used for nowadays). They did not understand asexual as a sexual identity in an of itself, because if you read Nicieza's comments, he is clearly describing a sexually repressed, yet fluid, character. At least Nicieza seemed to believe asexuality was more a lack of understanding sexuality, not necessarily someone "without sexual feelings or associations".

Now, to be fair, I don't really care if a creator would want their character not to change sexualities. That's not really why I find him homophobic. If he was like, "His lack of sexual desires is a key trait to his individual character, and here's psychology on why that matters and how that effects the character," then I'd be like, "Okay. Whatever." And so would everyone else. Instead, he said things like "As the guy that created, designed and wrote his first dozen appearances," love that Nicieza credit, "Shatterstar is not gay. Sorry. Can’t wait to someday undo this. Seems totally contrived." "Your opinion doesn’t change the fact that it sucks and it’s not a positive move in most fans’ eyes." To be fair, I guess when you're the ONLY fan of a character prior to him kissing a member of the same sex, then I guess you are "most fans" in that scenario. Finally, the kicker: "Shatterstar is akin to Maximus in Gladiator. He’s a warrior, a Spartan, and not a gay one." Totally ignoring that there are zero indications of any sexuality outside of heterosexual for Maximus, ignoring that plenty of warriors and Spartans were gay, to effectively decide one thing: no tough guy warrior is gay. It's blatant. It's obvious.

I will say, this happened like 7 years ago, and he totally could've changed his attitude by then. I've changed significantly over the last 7 years. The only difference is, none of my stupid comments from back then were publicized to already polarized comicbook fans. I have no idea what he is like outside of alleged fan interactions, a few crazy rants on social media and evidently homophobic insinuations from the past. I have no idea what he does now. And I don't care. My only known beef with him, I've listed. I agree, I don't think he's talented, but I also agree with the counters who have been showing respect for his motivation (I won't say work ethic, because I've only seen evidence of some unethical statements). He followed his dreams, and somehow managed to sneak into the industry, and good for him. Hope he had fun, hope he's gotten more educated and moved on from old drama, and best of luck.

[cc008]

And sorry I'm not sorry, Deadpool isn't even remotely original. Liefeld drew Slade Wilson / Deathstroke-lite, Nicieza called him out on it and named him Wade Wilson for it. Deadpool was created because Liefeld couldn't get Spiderman. Deadpool didn't break the fourth wall until Joe Kelly and Christopher Priest got their hands on him. So, here we have a mutated fusion of Spiderman and Deathstroke that didn't get his most iconic personality trait until someone else took over him. Hm. But Liefeld didn't have a problem with that...\

There's a long line of creators that come to mind for me before Liefeld when it comes to Deadpool now anyway. Kelly being #1. Stan Lee created the X-Men but everybody associates them with Claremont. I'm not comparing Liefeld to Lee, but you get it. Liefeld seems to juts be riding the DP coattails now. I can't give him much credit for anything Deadpool is today. I can give Lee tons of credit for the X-Men. Therein lies the difference in this case.

But the guy posts Deadpool stuff all over his social media and is very interactive with fans, one way or another, and that's why he has a following.