This guy is one of the best comic writers around right now.
And I'm blown away that he can compare Kirby to Rob. Kirby's knowledge of art and anatomy most certainly did show through in his work, he just presented it in a certain way. He was a real artist, not just a "extreme comic book style!" artist.
Rob couldn't draw in another style or with perfect anatomy to save his life. I grew up with the same comics Kirkman did, and I did actually like some of the books Rob did back in the day, but I really think his stuff is pretty terrible compared to most of the artists out there today and that he is STILL trying to hard to be "EXTREME!" (which apparently Kirkman thinks is "energy").
"He is the new Jack Kirby, because a lot of people hate his stuff and other writers totally create a lot of character for him to draw. Also, wait, who's Jack Kirby? The Phantom Force guy? Yeah, that's Rob Liefeld."
Boy, the first I ever heard of this guy was yesterday, when he wrote an amusing Ant-Man short in Civil War: Choosing Sides, and now I think he's a total jackass.
I didn't even know those things existed until then but I never wanted anything more
I think it's kinda sad that the whole premise of this guy's defense of Liefeld is based around what he liked when he was 12.
who ELSE could you compare to Jack?
Um...Carmine Infantino? Neal Adams (which it doesn't speak much for this guy that he spells wrong)? Gil Kane? Joe Kubert? Fucking ANYBODY but Rob Liefeld?
Does Rob know the complicated ins and outs of human anatomy?
Oh, yeah, that's so COMPLICATED! It's so HARD! What a goddamn BURDEN, to expect a professional artist who specializes in drawing the human form in action to know how to draw it.
No. Neither did Jack.
Uh, wrong. Jack knew perfectly well how to draw the human form. This douche is mistaking style, which is what Jack had, with incompetence, which is what Rob has. Jack drew big flat blunt fingers and barrel chests and square heads because it was part of a very distinctive style; Rob draws tiny heads and misshapen trunks and disproportionate limbs (which Kirkman is kind enough to provide us with an example of) because he DOESN'T KNOW ANY BETTER. There's a difference between stylistic choice and incompetence; even in Jack's most distinctive work, it's not like the arms are too short and the heads are sized wrong and objects change size from panel to panel.
he's always ADDING to the pool of characters in this little industry I call comics.
And that's a GOOD thing? All of Rob's characters suck. It's only good to make new characters if they aren't asinine.
if Stan, Jack and later just Jack hadn't taken all the good names
Yeah, okay, it was THEIR fault. Not Rob's for being a talentless hack. It was all Stan and Jack for using up all the good names (like, I dunno, "Paste Pot Pete" and "Virman Vundabar") in the '60s and '70s that Rob's characters are all blowful. Of course, no one else has come up with any good names since 1979 either.
wasn't Jack's work loathed in the '70s
Not his DC work. I mean, shit, the goddamn New Gods, man! His Marvel work wasn't that well-received, but it wasn't because of Neal Adams being the flavor of the day; it was because his work for Marvel in the '70s wasn't very good. Which, oddly enough, is the same reason people hate Rob Liefeld. (Although Jack's worst shit is better than Rob's best.)
You could't touch Rob in his prime
Yes. Yes, you could. In fact, when most people say "in his prime", what they mean is "when he was doing his best work", but the 1990s were when Rob Liefeld was doing his worst work! Thanks for playing, though, Robert Kirkman, we've got some loved original Captain America art for you at the door...
Why does everyone feel the need to constantly compare some artist or another with Kirby? It's bad enough when it's Byrne declaring himself the next Jack Kirby, but why is Robert Kirkman doing it?
Kirkman's a great writer (well, when he isn't whoring himself out; it's obvious his Marvel work is paycheck-packing on his part), but I've heard it said more than once that while he respects and appreciates artists, he doesn't have much grasp of the fundamentals of drawing comic books. I guess this proves THAT.
He means to say, "too" instead of "either" at the end of the article. That alone is enough to make me hope a volcano erupts directly under this fucking idiot.
Man, oh man. and I liked Kirkman. I've got all of Invincible. I didn't know he was a total douche-sucking jackoff. Now, Kirkman is my age and, in the 90s, people my age did in fact like Liefeld. All my geek friends actually ribbed on me for hating EVERY SINGLE PANEL the guy ever drew. I guess I was lucky enough to have been a teenager with taste.
Fuck. I just don't know if I can keep reading books by such a tool.
Hey, just because he likes Rob is no reason to start insulting the man. It shows that, in my opinion, his tastes run way different from my own when it comes to art... but he's still a pretty good writer and may be a great guy.
The only conversation sparked by that name being dropped at my comic store is "Yeah, that guy blows."
Childishly, I like to imagine an editor standing over Kirkman's shoulder saying, "You say this about Liefeld or you don't get to write Marvel Zombies ever again." Insert joke about Marvel no longer having editors here.
I'm in the boat with consensus reality here: Liefeld is an out-and-out hack undeserving of any laudatory title whatsoever. And when I hear the words 'fan favorite' to describe his work, I am convinced that some of the newer crop of readers (apparently including Kirkman) took advantage of free lobotomy day at the local clinic. Yikes-a-mighty, I need a drink...
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October 26 2006, 15:07:12 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 15:10:13 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 15:34:35 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 15:16:47 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 15:27:01 UTC 5 years ago
October 29 2006, 21:40:59 UTC 5 years ago
And I'm blown away that he can compare Kirby to Rob. Kirby's knowledge of art and anatomy most certainly did show through in his work, he just presented it in a certain way. He was a real artist, not just a "extreme comic book style!" artist.
Rob couldn't draw in another style or with perfect anatomy to save his life. I grew up with the same comics Kirkman did, and I did actually like some of the books Rob did back in the day, but I really think his stuff is pretty terrible compared to most of the artists out there today and that he is STILL trying to hard to be "EXTREME!" (which apparently Kirkman thinks is "energy").
October 26 2006, 15:24:13 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 15:35:29 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 15:33:34 UTC 5 years ago
I didn't even know those things existed until then but I never wanted anything more
I think it's kinda sad that the whole premise of this guy's defense of Liefeld is based around what he liked when he was 12.
who ELSE could you compare to Jack?
Um...Carmine Infantino? Neal Adams (which it doesn't speak much for this guy that he spells wrong)? Gil Kane? Joe Kubert? Fucking ANYBODY but Rob Liefeld?
Does Rob know the complicated ins and outs of human anatomy?
Oh, yeah, that's so COMPLICATED! It's so HARD! What a goddamn BURDEN, to expect a professional artist who specializes in drawing the human form in action to know how to draw it.
No. Neither did Jack.
Uh, wrong. Jack knew perfectly well how to draw the human form. This douche is mistaking style, which is what Jack had, with incompetence, which is what Rob has. Jack drew big flat blunt fingers and barrel chests and square heads because it was part of a very distinctive style; Rob draws tiny heads and misshapen trunks and disproportionate limbs (which Kirkman is kind enough to provide us with an example of) because he DOESN'T KNOW ANY BETTER. There's a difference between stylistic choice and incompetence; even in Jack's most distinctive work, it's not like the arms are too short and the heads are sized wrong and objects change size from panel to panel.
he's always ADDING to the pool of characters in this little industry I call comics.
And that's a GOOD thing? All of Rob's characters suck. It's only good to make new characters if they aren't asinine.
if Stan, Jack and later just Jack hadn't taken all the good names
Yeah, okay, it was THEIR fault. Not Rob's for being a talentless hack. It was all Stan and Jack for using up all the good names (like, I dunno, "Paste Pot Pete" and "Virman Vundabar") in the '60s and '70s that Rob's characters are all blowful. Of course, no one else has come up with any good names since 1979 either.
wasn't Jack's work loathed in the '70s
Not his DC work. I mean, shit, the goddamn New Gods, man! His Marvel work wasn't that well-received, but it wasn't because of Neal Adams being the flavor of the day; it was because his work for Marvel in the '70s wasn't very good. Which, oddly enough, is the same reason people hate Rob Liefeld. (Although Jack's worst shit is better than Rob's best.)
You could't touch Rob in his prime
Yes. Yes, you could. In fact, when most people say "in his prime", what they mean is "when he was doing his best work", but the 1990s were when Rob Liefeld was doing his worst work! Thanks for playing, though, Robert Kirkman, we've got some loved original Captain America art for you at the door...
October 26 2006, 17:52:30 UTC 5 years ago
October 29 2006, 16:23:14 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 15:41:09 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 15:45:39 UTC 5 years ago
I kept thinking this had to be a different Kirkman right up until his bio at the end.
Stan and Jack took all the good names, so Rob had to use BludWolf? sheeezuz
October 27 2006, 01:01:48 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 15:58:35 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 15:58:54 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 19:21:09 UTC 5 years ago
October 29 2006, 12:39:02 UTC 5 years ago
October 26 2006, 19:23:27 UTC 5 years ago
Fuck. I just don't know if I can keep reading books by such a tool.
October 29 2006, 21:42:49 UTC 5 years ago
5 years ago
October 26 2006, 20:28:46 UTC 5 years ago
Childishly, I like to imagine an editor standing over Kirkman's shoulder saying, "You say this about Liefeld or you don't get to write Marvel Zombies ever again." Insert joke about Marvel no longer having editors here.
October 28 2006, 23:14:38 UTC 5 years ago
October 29 2006, 12:40:08 UTC 5 years ago
October 30 2006, 18:41:41 UTC 5 years ago
October 31 2006, 14:27:17 UTC 5 years ago