A serious look at Rob Liefeld Heroes Reborn CAPTAIN AMERICA

How good is Rob really? Watch this video and I give my impressions of his work on this series....you might be surprised. :)
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/ richard_friend

[@arizona_dan7092]

I've always loved Rob Liefeld. I am not ashamed!

[@Jameswindsorsmith]

4:40 that foreshortened cap is a swipe of steranko

[@ShaneMatlock]

Never noticed how much Dale Keown influence Rob was doing in his work around this time. Especially the muscles around the characters' necks. Didn't realize Jon Sibal ever inked Liefeld either. He definitely makes Rob look better. I'm used to seeing him mostly work with Gary Frank. For all its flaws, Rob's art was very dynamic and I know he gets a lot of crap for his anatomy and it's definitely wonky at times with the too long legs or massive chests, but that's just his style and there are plenty of artists who use exaggerated incorrect anatomy to great effect. For me the faces are more of a problem, especially how far the eyes are always apart gives everyone sort of a bovine look with tons of lines that make everyone look old. And those weird thin noses everyone has. Good to see he wasn't doing all those lines on Bucky and she actually looks better than most of the characters.

[@Rometiklan]

Liefeld gets a lot of flack, but honestly, I wouldn't mind having some of his original art framed and hanging on my wall. He doesn't have the greatest understanding of anatomy, but he can draw some impressive splash pages. Even his regular interior pages have at least 1 really cool splash panel. Thanks for posting this. That's a nice Cap at 27:00. AT 27:11, that last panel looks like Cap is putting in contact lenses when he's gearing up. Thanks for posting, Rich!

[@robn2171]

On that first page look at the perspective of the table compared to the tile pattern on the floor! Liefield should teach Masterclass on how NOT to draw.

[@russworks2882]

I like the energy, but he tends to cut corners when he's given free rein. He was getting a decent paycheck; he should just hire someone to do backgrounds like Dave Sim did. Those dynamic figures would work better in a substantial stage setting. Great way to establish mood and atmosphere too.

[@RichardFriendartist]

I mentioned the first time I'd seen Jonathan Sibal's inks was on Chap Yaep. It was actually a Sam Liu Supreme piece where the moon was so amazingly inked! figured I'd clarify that and also...the first spread (it was brought to my attention in the comments here) was Ian Churchill.. So my apologies for that mistake! Stay safe and be smart out there friends. I want everyone healthy and here for a LONG LONG time.

[@JacksonTaylorandTheSinners]

Rob is so successful because he remembers Comic-boos aren’t anatomy studies. His art is as over the top as he is. If you’re a 12-13 year old boy, ridiculous muscles, veins, gigantic guns and monumental amounts of punches is cool AF. I was out of comics by the 90’s and not a real fan of the style, but I get it. Being pretentious about comic-books is missing the entire point. I prefer Wrightson and Buscema and Finch brings it all together, but I get why Rob is so successful. Cool Trumps correct every time. No one does cool better than Tue Tod-Father and if you’re looking for highbrow fine comic art, you can’t beat Mignoal.

[@RobertNorton12013]

That first group shot you were looking at was Ian Churchhill. Not Liefeld.

[@RichardFriendartist]

Cool thanks for the info.

[@Jameswindsorsmith]

This is the beginning of the end for the image founders...rob didnt pay jim Valentino for scripting the heroes reborn stuff which led to the famous voting him out

[@mightyjoe7149]

Super talented for sure. The turn off for me was, heads always seemed to small for such a large muscular body and everyone looked Asian. And in the beginning of xforce and youngblood feet were really small. But it looks like he got over at least making bigger more proportional sized feet, the heads still seem small and asian. The image of Capt tjat everyone always criticizes was the cover that you mentioned looked very Travis C. inspired

[@Haida_Art_Jordon_S]

It’s interesting to look at this now as a posed to when I was a kid, I collected some cable back in the day. What I remember from that time is I really liked his faces...the noise/style ...nowadays....when he on he’s on! I enjoyed this look.and agree with everything you said...

[@motordeaz3668]

nice vid, please check dale keown´s pitt

[@RichardFriendartist]

hahaha I will for sure. I want to do it from my comic collection. I am pretty sure I know where they are. I will grab them when I see them!

[@jordanbutler6376]

I believe the infamous cap image was only promotional. And the first image was after Jim Lee took over cap and avengers. Great video Rich!

[@BatFan1]

LOL you went easy on Rob here, Rich. Yes there are things he does well, but that's maybe 50% of any given issue, the other 40% is acceptable to mediocre and the remaining 10% is flat out horrible. And that's me being kind. It's weird (or maybe not) how Jim and Marc managed to take their art to the next level around the same time despite not being as productive art wise as Rob, who was cranking out stuff left and right but actually got...worse? I think his pre-Image Marvel work is better than anything he did at Image, save for that initial Youngblood series. Like you say in the video, he just gets lazy and/or loses focus. Probably wanting to nail a splash page or action sequence and phoning in the rest. For as much art Rob has done over the years, progress HAS to be made, you as an artist know when you take jumps in your art, maybe not page to page but issue to issue certainly, but Rob, he just settled and that's where i think he gets most of the flak and despite sticking to a limited set of camera shots and poses he still manages to mess them up the majority of the time.

[@TexasSpaceBadger]

Right⁉️ But, I do like the continuity of Rich being positive and reinforcing (pretty much) all the folks he examines, even Rob "those feet" Liefield. 🤣 In the same vibe, " blessed are those who are merciful, ...for they'll receive mercy. "

[@MrLeeHolton]

I was a fan of Liefeld back in the day at Marvel and Image. Now that I’ve gotten back into comics I now can see his shortcomings, but I still like it. I’ve seen his original art in real life. It’s super impressive.

[@MrLeeHolton]

“You could hang a towel on it...” 😂

[@weaslepopper]

I met Rob years ago and he was really nice and a generally cool dude. What's more is that he's pretty much stayed so upbeat and appreciative throughout the year in spite of all of the shit he's taken. With all that said,I feel like most of Liefeld's shortcomings could be corrected with one simple thing. Slowing down. If he spent a little more time on his pages,I feel like some of his figures and general anatomy could be fixed. Even with that,i feel like anatomy is overrated. No two artist draw the same anatomy, so the real difference makers are lighting and perspective.

[@31leoceara]

I really liked Rob Liefeld's art from the 90's (New Mutant's, X-Force and early Youngblood). He later changed his style, and his art was not enticing to me anymore. One of his best issues was a "What If..." with Wolverine being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, inked by Scott Williams. Check that one out if you haven't already.

[@Jameswindsorsmith]

The cable vs modok pages are fun, good to see him having a blast after so long out of his element

[@Haida_Art_Jordon_S]

1:46 “Oh not these!” Hahaha 😆 love those super impenetrable atomantiom/vibranium alloy bullet clasps!!! Hahaha

[@elliehope266]

I love Rob and he was a big influence on me as an artist also his big chest Captain America sold for a ton of money I also just discovered this vid and it was great!!

[@ueno1]

You should hear the voice actor doing Red Skull in the 60s Captain America cartoon. He really does sound similar to Skeletor!

[@RichardFriendartist]

hahaha awesome. I didn't know that!

[@WOLFanddBEAR]

31:00 Mr X cover looks very Jim Lee Deathblow. I like Rob's stuff, its dynamic & just has this fun traditional comic book vibe about it. F@*k the haters :P

[@bspinney26]

as a reader first, a writer second, and an artist third, drives me nuts that it takes all of 4 seconds to read the page and we move right past HOURS of drawing

[@cazepeda]

Fullscreen for the win! Thanks Rich!

[@RichardFriendartist]

no problem. I have a bad habit of neglecting the obvious. hahaha

[@markshadows3667]

Definitely would be cool if you went though the Portacio Iron Man

[@RichardFriendartist]

This was uploaded at 1080p. I think KZbin is very slammed with content and at least on my end......it's still only showing at 360p which I would never upload at!!! it will (hopefully) flip over to all the HD options soon...so hang tight if it's only showing up at 360p...in fact on my computer right now...the video only plays AUDIO and there's NO picture using Chrome. :/

[@rickytoddbotelho9555]

Those are A.I.M soldiers. I learned that from watching videos about reviews of marvel legends figures

[@STUDIO7Collectibles]

Gotta wait til that hd processes ;)

[@RichardFriendartist]

KZbin is lagging because I think so many people are uploading right now.

[@Q-Bits8]

Ugh, I'm sorry but I can't stand his stuff.

[@snakemont]

2:00 if Mark uses em, Rob uses em too.

[@hayashi2253]

Rob Liefeld

[@MissMysterie]

hello Rich, Long time no see. I just hope that you are alright and safe. I also wanted to say thank you for keeping giving us content

[@RichardFriendartist]

awesome. No problem. I felt like I had a reason I came here originally...and this moment in time felt like a better reason to remember that!