Do you know anyone who has had a stellar career in the arts despite being untalented and, at times, a real jerk? Regardless of their shortcomings, they just glommed onto the right people at the right time. Then, their profile rises in their desired industry, but their lack of skill becomes a bit of a running joke among fans. Still, they can take credit for what they’ve contributed despite someone else coming in and doing what they tried to do but better. I’m sure you can think of someone. Comic book nerds especially have examples at the ready (Bob Kane sucks). But today we’re going to focus on Rob Liefeld.
Liefeld was a comic book artist who rose to prominence in the 1980s despite being bad at drawing feet. There are lots of reasons to ding the man’s artwork, but bringing up feet seems to bug him, so it’s easy to start there. He’s also responsible for some of the most horrendous covers I’ve seen in comics, like an absurdly barrel-chested Captain America and a Hawkman who would not be able to turn his head thanks to the proportions of his helmet. I’m of the Grant Morrison school of thought that an artist is meant to give you their interpretation of the world, not a recreation, but Jesus Christ, look at this s***.
You can see more here if you really want to and then blame/thank Petr.
Comic books featured a lot of excess in the ’90s (especially when it comes to pockets), and it’s often easier to pull up a Rob Liefeld drawing than search for a specific example. The women he draws look like question marks. His weaponry is nonsensical to the point that it moves beyond fun imagination and into confounding from even a fake logistical standpoint. It would also be easier to ignore were Liefeld a nice, even quirky guy. Instead, he’s consistently a prick.
The creator has gone out of his way to s*** on other artists and writers over the years in ways that feel childish at best. There are plenty of instances over the decades, including him cheering on what he incorrectly assumed was the demise of DC Comics in 2019. Still, an incident in 2012 jumps to the forefront for me, when he publicly quit DC and dragged his then-editor Brian Smith and got into fights with other creators, calling them things like “fat ass” and posting the private messages he shared with Batman writer Scott Snyder.
Liefeld is the worst but, because he was smart enough to jump from Marvel in the early ’90s to form Image comics with much more talented people, we still have to hear from his dumb face on occasion. More often than not, it involves Deadpool, as co-creating the character with Fabien Nicieza is still Liefeld’s biggest claim to fame (even though writers like Joe Kelly, Christopher Priest, and Gail Simone turned him into the loveable shmuck we know today). Recently, Josh Brolin teased(?) a potential turn as Darkseid in James Gunn’s DCU. Though the moment was likely more fun, wishful thinking, Liefeld took it as an opportunity to make himself look “in the know.”
Brolin posted a fan drawing of himself as the DC God and Liefeld reshared it, saying, “Shouldn’t have blocked him from Deadpool & Wolverine. All time boner move.” Cool. Could Cable have been in the film? Sure. Why not make an overstuffed thing even more overstuffed? There could have been jokes about how he looks like Thanos or some such other stupid s***. However, my assumption is that the folks behind the movie also knew that the buddy comedy didn’t need a third lead character.
Perhaps Liefeld did think the film suffered by not having another comic book character forced in for no real reason (even with him being in the second film). The more likely answer is that Liefeld is also a co-creator of Cable (he is) and wanted another way to line his pockets thanks to the hard work of more talented people (his true skill). While Marvel isn’t the best at paying creators, you have to get money where you can when you’re a miserable hack who has burned more bridges than they’ve crossed.