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How Bad is Liefields Art?

Started by Ares,

134 posts in this topic

slab_em-migration

slab_em-migration

Posted
Posted
I think he was easy to hate because he got the prime book at Marvel (X-Men) at age 18. Chris Claremont said that he, at that point, had been writing for Marvel since before Liefeld was born. He also said that Liefeld couldn't give him things in the art that previous artists could so he had to adjust the scripts for him. He also noted that he got other things from Liefeld that other artist couldn't give.

 

What issues of X-Men did he draw that Claremont wrote?

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BlackHeartedDwarf-migratio

BlackHeartedDwarf-migratio

Posted
Posted
You've got to be kidding. He was/is absolutely horrible.

Like many of the world's great artist, Liefield won't be fully understood in his lifetime. It won't be until after his death that we will finally understand the genius, talent and incredible insight in his work. Now, if someone would be kind enough to shoot him, I would be interested in seeing what lies within his chickencrap drawings. Thanks in advance.

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Quinzel-migration

Quinzel-migration

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Posted

I never really picked out Liefield's stuff on my own until I saw people talking about him on the net all the time. Honestly, a lot of guys who did the superhero books in the 90's look very similar to me. I'm not a fan of the general super detailed comic book art, with so many messy lines... I prefer simpler, more clean-looking art that's more unqiue. That anatomy is crazy though, there's comic book body 'reality' and then there's... insanity.

 

I remember the guy who does "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac" did a spoof on that type of stuff, and now thinking back it was definitely Liefield. The female character was so top heavy and toothpick-ish everywhere else that when her forehead was pushed gently, she fell back and split in half. Hilarity!

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tth2

tth2

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Posted
So you're stuck on a desert island with the complete works of Frank Robbins (artwork only, none of the great Batman/Detective issues he wrote) or the complete works of Rob Liefield. Which one do you chose and why?

27_laughing.gif My god, what a choice!

 

Well, while I am no fan of Liefield, his drawings don't make me want to poke my eyes out like Robbins' does, so I'll have to say Liefeld hands down.

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tth2

tth2

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I see that I haven't convinced some of you. Please understand, I am not comparing him to the greats but there were good reasons why he was so popular and so imitated.

I said Liefeld's art didn't make me want to poke my eyes out! confused-smiley-013.gif

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Forbush-Man

Forbush-Man

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Posted
I see that I haven't convinced some of you. Please understand, I am not comparing him to the greats but there were good reasons why he was so popular and so imitated.

I said Liefeld's art didn't make me want to poke my eyes out! confused-smiley-013.gif

 

27_laughing.gif893applaud-thumb.gifthumbsup2.gif

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awe4one

awe4one

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I see that I haven't convinced some of you. Please understand, I am not comparing him to the greats but there were good reasons why he was so popular and so imitated.

 

I agree to a certain extent. He was perfect for New Mutants at the time. And there was a hell of alot of buzz surrounding all the X-books during his, Portacio, and Lee's reign...

 

Jim

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FFB

FFB

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I see that I haven't convinced some of you. Please understand, I am not comparing him to the greats but there were good reasons why he was so popular and so imitated.

 

I remember when Liefeld became really popular. It was during his run on the New Mutants (a book that sold incredibly poorly before he took over) and it happened essentially overnight. During the first few books on the title, he was essentially a McFarlane clone. McFarlane was the most popular current artist at the time, everything he did was worth three to five times cover price within three months on the back issue market, and people were desperate for any book that resembled McFarlane's style. When Liefeld started on New Mutants, his art had that McFarlane look and sold like crazy. New Mutants #87 was impossible to find on the newsstands because it had been underordered and speculators snatched up every copy they could get their hands on.

 

His early issues of New Mutants were actually not bad by comparison to his books just a few months later, as long as he was trying to emulate McFarlane. The problem was, with every issue he paid less and less attention to storytelling and more and more attention to drawing people in badass poses with bigger and bigger guns with lots of lines in the background to show ... something -- I don't know what; energy lines, explosion lines, or just "look at me, I'm a badass surrounded by lines that radiate from me" lines. His anatomical proportions got more and more out of whack with each issue as he 'roided up and silicone'd up his characters, apparently because he believed that the bigger the biceps and boobs and the smaller the waists, the more badass his characters looked.

 

He also had exactly two facial expressions he knew how to draw and coincidentally, both of them are in this picture right here:

 

liefeld1.jpg

 

He took something that could have worked in moderation (disproportionately built superheroes) and carried it far beyond where he should have. By the time X-Force #1 hit the stands, he had lost all grip on reality in my opinion, but speculators continued to buy the books because all his past stuff had jumped in value so quickly.

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Ze-man

Ze-man

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Posted
50+ replies and no one has provided this link?

 

http://www.omgcomics.com/Rob_Liefeld_tribute.htm

 

I was thinking more along the lines of..

50 + replies, and nobody said.."Let me count the ways"..or "HOW BAD IS IT?"

Was the first thing I thought of.

 

I must be.. screwy.gif

 

Ze-

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