The 40 Worst Rob Liefeld Drawings

[WilliamWeird1313]

On one hand, I absolutely see where Liefeld's haters are coming from, and I absolutely agree with many (not all) of their criticisms regarding plagiarism, corner-cutting, lack of originality, and general anatomy-related insanity (not to mention the obvious fetishization of gunes, muscles, and pouch-belts, as well the equally obvious inability to draw, uh, feet).

ON THE OTHER HAND, I think, while part of the criticisms are valid, being indicative of poor craftsmanship on the part of the artist, many of them aren't simply because it all comes down to a question of taste and style. You could argue that many of Liefeld's art flaws/eccentricities are more the result of his unique "style" than of how "crappy" he is. Sure, physics don't work like that. Anatomy doesn't look like that. Women do not curve and bend like that and "oh, dear god, where the hell is that chick's ribcage? does she even HAVE one?" Nevetheless, it isn't like comic book art has always been the paragon of realism. Look at, well, just about any female superhero. More specifically, look at their busts. Take a look at just about any Jim Balent drawing ever, and you'll find the word "gratuitous" doesn't even begin to describe it.  Furthermore, it isn't like comic book art SHOULD necessarily be the paragon of realism. Some people like realism, some people don't. I, for instance, am not an Alex Ross fan. I love many of the books he's worked on, like Kingdom Come, Uncle Sam, Project Superpowers, and Astro City. And I respect the craftsmanship that goes into what he does, and I can definitely see why people love his stuff. But I don't. I'm much more enamored with artists like Scott Bisley, Mike Mignola, Joe Madureira, Basil Wolverton, Tim Sale, or Dave McKean. Those guys do NOT draw reality. They draw their own stylized, in a way cartoonish, version of it, which is more to my tastes. I've never much cared for artists whose paintings are photo-realistic, because I've always felt like "oh, well, I get that you worked very hard on this, and you're very good at what you do... but why don't I just look at, well, a photo?"

Anyway, I'm getting off-topic, but what I was ultimately saying was that, hey, somebody don't want reality. Realism is NOT actually all that important. Saying that adherence to anatomy and the laws of physics is importance, that's arguably a fallacy, a false point, and an easy fallback point for the criticism of someone whose tastes or style may run contrary to your own.

Well, that's just my two cents.

[WilliamWeird1313]

Not to say that 40 worst list isn't still hilarious as heck. It is. Oh, yes. It is.


Eh. Could be worse. Could be Rob Granito.

[Joe the Destroyer]

Site's down at the moment.

Liefeld is pretty awful, but he did exemplify a style that was endemic to the '90s.



The sad thing is that he's clearly got the chops to be good, he just takes so many shortcuts and he exaggerates all the wrong things to "look cool." The finished product just looks wrong.

I wouldn't say he is "hated," just mocked mercilessly. Another founder of Image, Todd McFarlane, that guy's hated.

Is Captain America pregnant with a muscle baby?  Holy s**t!

[Leah]

Site's down at the moment.

Liefeld is pretty awful, but he did exemplify a style that was endemic to the '90s.



The sad thing is that he's clearly got the chops to be good, he just takes so many shortcuts and he exaggerates all the wrong things to "look cool." The finished product just looks wrong.

I wouldn't say he is "hated," just mocked mercilessly. Another founder of Image, Todd McFarlane, that guy's hated.

Is Captain America pregnant with a muscle baby?  Holy s**t!

I thought he got breast implants to match his muscles.

[ChaosTheory]

#22 gives me the creeps, I won't lie.  The rest of that list is pretty hilarious though.  Dude has one wonky sense of perspective.  Still, as has been pointed out, comics have always presented distorted realities, that's sort of their appeal. And it's note like he started out great & turned lousy like Frank Miller or Alan Moore (writing-wise), or is an insufferable prick ike McFarlane.  Liefeld seems like a nice enough - albiet lazy - guy who doesn't take himself too seriously.

[Jim H]

Leifeld doing bad art is not just realism or style.  He can't manage basic perspective (and it is NOT intentional), all his faces look the same, he can only draw from like two angles, he can't draw wrists to save his life, his cross hatching technique is wonky, proportions vary wildly from frame to frame at times, and on and on and on.  Jim Lee had a similar style but is technically a significantly superior artist.