The History of Image Comics (So Much Damage) | Part 2: The Beginning | SYFY WIRE

Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld and four other comic book artists went rogue and formed their own company, Image, in 1992. And they were on top of the world - for a while.
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More About Image Comics: Image Comics is an American comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue where comics creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains one of the largest comic book publishers in North America. Its output was originally dominated by superhero and fantasy series from the studios of the Image partners, but now includes comics in many genres by numerous independent creators. Its best-known series include Spawn, Savage Dragon, Witchblade, The Darkness, Invincible, The Walking Dead, Saga, and Chew.
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The History of Image Comics (So Much Damage) | Part 2: The Beginning | SYFY WIRE
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[@aztektheultimatewoman]

“All the founders were pretty different in terms of world experience and what they were doing.” Jim Lee’s extremely nice way of saying that he had to run a business with six immature man-children.

[@MaulSlasher]

Liefeld NAILS everybody's voice. I died when I heard Todd.

[@TheLYagAmi]

I swear he needs to do voice acting.

[@velhorenan]

Spot on!

[@deadprecedents1]

I distinctly get the sense that, even back then, Jim Lee was the most ADULT, adult in the room.

[@docsavage8640]

Seems like the smartest guy there.

[@ethanabraham6830]

He went to med school to be a doctor before comics, so yea he’s smart

[@sidearmsalpha]

Wish there was a follow up to this series with more artists from Image being interviewed like J. Scott Campbell, Brandon Peterson, Brett Booth, Matt Broome, and others. I'm glad I got to meet Michael Turner. That guy was so nice and humble. It's a shame he died so young.

[@PaceFilmsProductions]

anyone think Tom Cruise would be the best person to play Rob Liefeld in a movie? They seem to have very similar levels of enthusiasm when talking.

[@Chalor.]

All I see is Matt Damon.

[@puertoriconnect4611]

@PaceFilmsProduction Didn’t notice it before but you’re so right!

[@1sttobylopez]

maat daamon🤕

[@reanetsemoleleki8219]

Yeah but who would play Tom Cruise in the scene where he meets Tom Cruise?

[@puertoriconnect4611]

@Reanetse Moleleki Rob Liefeld

[@xlrouge]

Hahaha! Rob’s recreation of his meeting with Tom Cruise is soo funny!!!!👏👏👏😃

[@robertt9342]

xlrouge it seems believable too.

[@davidrogersgames]

That was awesome!

[@madshader]

Rob's pretty damned good at impersonations. Nailed it!

[@JorgeGonzalez-mr8vu]

@@madshader dude I love Rob's impressions lol

[@mattdavis8573]

Rob makes me sick

[@johnathanclark79]

Here's a positive review of Rob Liefeld. He got Alan Moore to do Supreme and now a throwaway comic like New Mutants#98 just made a lot of comic geeks $200 more rich. It was his idea to start Image Comics. When I was in the army and went to Afghanistan, they gave us a Kevlar helmet, a bulletproof vest, and pouches to wear.

[@crumbs7826]

The pouches were Rob's idea.

[@sidearmsalpha]

@@crumbs7826 LMAO! XD

[@pvrhye]

Liefeld does a pretty good Cruise impression.

[@NyxaGrayheart]

What a cool doc. This needs more exposure.

[@jeffnettleton3858]

It needs more depth and outside voices to lend scope. There are a lot of misconceptions at play here, in terms of the industry. It is fine as a series of interviews; but rather one dimensional as a history of the company.

[@RockoJerome]

I'm uncomfortable with how much I'm starting to like Liefeld.

[@kylehill6636]

Rocko Jerome Why?

[@RockoJerome]

Kyle Hill You’re asking why I’m starting to like him or why I’m uncomfortable with it?

[@kylehill6636]

Rocko Jerome I'm asking why you are uncomfortable with starting to like Rob Liefeld.

[@RockoJerome]

Kyle Hill Oh. Because I hate his work.

[@jonmar4683]

ironic isnt it?

[@sculptastic]

I distinctly get the sense that, even back then, Jim Lee was the most ADULT, adult in the room.

[@allnamesaretakenful]

I'm convinced that Liefeld is a 12 year old boy that got his wish granted by ZOLTAR.

[@MrVienna79]

Image Comics was a revolution at that time and continuous to be a revolutionary house publishing, more and more!! I really like most of their titles a lot today!!

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Who would have thought that fans would be waiting overnight just to buy a comic and the issue got sold far more than what was expected? I never heard that happened to DC and Marvel.

[@jeffnettleton3858]

Superman 75, X-Men #1. Everything that happened at Image had a precedent at either the Big Two or at independent companies. Creative ownership had been around since the Undergrounds, Star*Reach and Heavy Metal, not to mention the early 80s independents of Pacific, Eclipse, First, Comico and Dark Horse. Speculating was rampant in the industry, not just at Image. Even companies like Cry For Dawn were reaping benefits from it.

[@GNK-jv8nx]

Good points. People also forget that Eastman and Laird (Mirage), by the early 90's, were well on their way to being filthy rich off TMNT merch. Every artist and writer imagined they could be the next to strike gold. All you needed were comic characters not owned by the either Marvel and DC, a cartoon and a toy deal - the money would just roll in. Obviously, that never really happened. We missed out on a Saturday morning Re-Gex cartoon...;)

[@olblueyes7670]

Well Todd McFarlane had all those things, (comic, toys and cartoon) and I'd say he's done pretty well. The best of the Image bunch by far.

[@illwill1991]

@@olblueyes7670 well definitely "most successful" but "best"? Uhh I don't really know about that but here what all of us deep down do know the worst was rob liefeld

[@olblueyes7670]

@@illwill1991 by "best of the bunch" I was referring to those early artists who either formed Image or come on board the first 5 years. I stopped collecting Image in the 90s so I have no idea of their collective quality now.

[@pedra12]

@3:25, you all couldn't find a Cyberforce #1 to go with all the others?

[@robertt9342]

pedra12 it’s not like it’s hard to find

[@sisyphushappyxvx]

Or not have an issue of Lady Death, which wasn't even an Image book...

[@FanboyFilms]

That's not the debut issue of Savage Dragon either. The debut was #1 of a mini-series which was followed by the ongoing series, #1 of which is shown here.

[@CJoxus]

I think The Maxx, Savage Dragon, Pitt, Spawn, and ShadowHawk were the best of their first couple of years. Such great comics. ShadowHawk was probably the worst of those, but it's still a decent read.

[@Tylerbremner]

I loved these comics as a kid. It felt like you were getting in on something as it was just starting which you were and it was very exciting for a 10 year old

[@bkozitzki]

I loved W.I.L.D.C.A.T.S. back in the day. Remember this as a kid being so huge

[@JorgeGonzalez-mr8vu]

I loved wildcats but I hated the name

[@tblewis419]

and spawn is the only one standing

[@mosj9876]

this is so awesome. im glad you guys did this. help bring these guys back to the top.

[@constantdoodle32]

Oh the 90's, where comic book artist get asked to come on late night TV. What a time.... wish it was still like this.

[@siskavard]

can I just give a shoutout to the camera operator on this? Zooming in on faces right at the perfect precise moment? Cheers to the cameraperson!!

[@schizogony]

Good audio recording on these interviews.

[@Wez633]

can you guys show Rob Liefeld try to draw legs?

[@duckypuckluck]

wes rulz 😂😂😂

[@TheBestComicKing]

More like can you show him how to draw in general

[@YouAreDistracted]

lol or a head that is proportional to a body

[@BlackJackLopez]

I'll settle for ankles that don't look like they're gonna crack and eyeballs in the people that are supposed to have them... XD XD XD

[@79EasyE]

Guy deserves respect if only for cable.

[@louie7449]

Eventually old image issues will be worth something

[@alexjones57]

I absolutely love those guys . IMAGE forever !

[@thelittlepasty8360]

Rob has the best Todd McFarlane impression

[@laurencea9932]

LOL. I remember this time. I used to call it "Bullets, Blades, Biceps and Babes".

[@fokker1138]

@4:15 I think you're confused, Spawn and Wild C.A.T.S. had great writing.

[@akumagouki8668]

image comics & mortal kombat both came out in 1992, coincidence?

[@Changetheling]

That outro song is DAMN AMAZING. Instant ringtone.

[@Novaargh]

People in the 90's thinking that a book with a few million printed copies could get them through collage was even back then for me a laughable notion, no matter how popular comics were back then xD they didn't realise the books then that had a high price tag, were from the 30's, 40's through 70's because back then people treated comics like toilet paper so only a few stayed in good condition, heck , the 30's 40's books had warbonds, those got ripped up in a second after it was read. That frakkin' Jim Lee, he didn't even age xD

[@vivianthom4801]

Roland, yeah Asian genes.

[@trence5]

@7:48 is the only argument one needs when defending 90's Image comics, they were the first and only ones to challenge the big 2 - DC and Marvel.

[@robertt9342]

trence5 it’s a pretty terrible argument though. Hype over quality doesn’t mean much.

[@agonyuncle879]

This blows my mind even after all these years. Marvel had all this talent and they squandered it. Fast forward 25 years and they don't have a single artist that can come close in talent. It's what happens when you have people like maggs vissagio and Mark Waid as your creatives

[@SkotNealey]

I was on the IMAGE Train from the beginning. It was EYE CANDY! BRING BACK THE WILDCATS!

[@gregoryl.levitre9759]

I can't agree with the comments claiming that the writing was lacking in early Image titles. That could certainly be the case for one or two titles, but some were very well written considering how they delivered what we wanted from them. These are super hero stories, not Christopher Nolan movies. We had backstories that worked for the characters, we understood the personalities of the characters, the villains were well-established, there were plenty of cool super-powered battles that pushed the characters beyond their limits and basically everything superhero fans at that time wanted in a series was covered by one of these guys, and part of what we loved about the characters were the stories. These guys developed a rich combined universe and made full use of cross-overs almost immediately. I don't think I'm being a fanboy or exaggerating when I say they gave us what we wanted and still managed to surprise us sometimes. That's a sign of some good writing. It's great that we're getting a Spawn reboot movie, but what I find ridiculous is that there's never been a live-action/CGI movie adaptation of WildC.A.T.S., Pitt, The Maxx, Cyberforce or any of those other fun titles. Could you imagine an Image Cinematic Universe? I would love to see Maul and Ripclaw battling it out with Daemonites on the big screen.

[@tothelastman6]

Now if we could only have another Image-esque company rise up and pull the rug out from under the industry once more . . . .

[@bambam5000]

Fantastic series. Psst! Is there a Police Squad homage going on with the episode titles?

[@MGSBigBoss77]

Why say that?, is there a Hollywood guest star who dies in the opening of these onscreen credits (lol).

[@greglott4977]

The title of the video "Part 2: The Beginning" cracked me up.

[@YouAreDistracted]

Wheres Erik Larsen??

[@customsongmaker]

Complete Randomness - He's busy shipping 4,000 copies per month of Savage Dragon

[@jackstraw732]

Probably acting like a asshole on Twitter or practicing drawing alien dicks

[@damonmcmurray8669]

Complete Randomness Collected some titles . Liked the art work and I agree storylines and writers were terrible.

[@DaRealKINGKLIPS]

i wonder why no mention of Dale Keown????? I mean , he's just the best guy ever to draw the Hulk and helped find image with the rest of the guys. Pitt ???

[@artzerial]

my question: How does Jim Lee draw for DC when Todd Mcfarlane literally said they weren’t gonna draw for DC? Can anyone please answer, I'm curious. Thx

[@christianwarren4584]

He sold his company to DC, was absorbed into their bullpen and eventually rose to the ranks, he is one of the top dogs at DC

[@jamalwashingtonfilms]

I know people have saying this and that about Liefeld over the years, but he comes off very likable here. I don't want to base it all on what I see here, but maybe he's been a tad misunderstood? I can understand if he got a little too big for his britches, but he seems to be a genuine fanboy.

[@TheJ1s]

My first comic book was a youngblood issue and it disappeared.

[@joshuahumes5548]

The Maxx was great

[@LowellLucasJr.]

I really hate it when people think comics were in trouble in the 90s when Image was doing just fine. Spawn, for example, literally saved the comic industry Witchblade & The Darkness had great successes as well as anything with Scott Campbell & Tony Daniels name on it.

[@MrYouarethecancer]

Lowell Lucas Jr. Comics were in trouble dude. DC had been floundering for a decade and Marvel almost killed the industry. Image saved it all.

[@totalswabby4217]

yes Marvel declared bankruptcy and sent over some of their titles to Image to work on. Remember Heroes Reborn? I sure do. i worked on that steaming pile of crap...

[@billykranberry6077]

The darkness is gold

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

Kirkman saved the company.

[@LowellLucasJr.]

Lost Age Comics Spawn made the company famous

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

Lowell Lucas Jr. Agreed. And the founders' personalities made them badass to this day.

[@LowellLucasJr.]

Lost Age Comics u rock dude

[@paullavoie5542]

Image is the company that made me want to be a comic artist. I wish i would of went through with it.

[@YOURFAVORITEDOOMGUY]

You still go to conventions and contest especially fan film festival I lost my ability to draw but i.m not giving up

[@ernstergarcia]

the first rule was that no comic would come out on time.

[@AirKangLocker]

rob liefeld is what donald duck would be in real life lol

[@bokerecords3047]

When he said "looking back in 20/20.." i thought he said "looking back in 2020.." (when the video is 3yrs old) had me quite puzzled for a solid 2 minutes lol

[@gacomics5951]

I started reading comic just at the time image came to be. It was amazing. What a time to be a comic fan.

[@JoeJoe-lq6bd]

Youngblood might be the absolute worst superhero comic ever produced. McFarlane's writing was not great but at least he tried. Larsen seemed to be the only guy who really treated his fans with respect and cared about his characters. What's really remarkable about them overtaking DC in four months was that they might have put out like 12 total issues in that time, certainly fewer than 20. Spawn, Savage maybe Silverhawk I were the only comics that were even remotely timely.

[@GrantLairdJr88]

Closed captions please.....

[@TheRealBatCave]

Jim lee is like, na ill take that DC money

[@JFLY78]

Whenever Liefeld spoke I had to check my speed wasn't set to 1.5...

[@starhustler1453]

Just going by that title, sounds like y’all need some flex tape

[@r.hewlin8328]

Omg can somebody please tell me what book that is @4:27??? I had that as a kid I would love to pick it up again.

[@vivianthom4801]

R. Hewlin, I think that is Ripclaw. The character is almost like Mister Sinister’s long lost twin brother.

[@brianjong8945]

10:56 wonder who Rob’s talking about here

[@alexgarza675]

I wonder if Robert Kirkman is related to Tyler kirkman

[@rockaustin5130]

Wow, I was reading Archie comics back in the day.

[@Shrieking_In_the_Void]

unless Jeff Lemire or Tom King, and maybe Jason Aaron, is writing a Marvel or DC title I never bother; I always go for Image or the other highly reliable publishers who don't exist just to sell Baby Groot to kids.

[@mohammadmajlisi1265]

Jonathan Hauakas how are you finding King's Batman run?

[@Shrieking_In_the_Void]

Mo Maj ha, I actually haven't read it, not a Batman fan. My friend loves it though.

[@mohammadmajlisi1265]

Jonathan Hauakas really? I preferred Snyder's run

[@StaySqueezy12]

DC has tons of great books right now. Skyward is currently the only enjoyable Image title imo

[@apexcomix3200]

Continue reworking FemBat week #2. Pencils, inks, and lettering. Watching KZbin

[@joejustjoe6015]

Too bad comics are dieing because of video games and internet.

[@StaySqueezy12]

At least doing better now than they did during the comic crash

[@humanspider37]

Why isn’t there a movie about this??????

[@nicksteve5392]

They have about 71% of the market right now, so what has changed other than authors are treated better? I think IC could use better marketing though lol

[@stephennoynay6570]

Liked & Subscribed

[@Pkemen1]

Bring back the original Strykeforce!

[@svp2010]

I think image still has an issue with consistency with alot of their books.

[@StuffWhatGoesBoom]

Marc Silvestri is Dave Lombardo's clone. Change my mind.

[@nickpearce9441]

What about all the image titles that we as the readers invest a lot of money and time only to find that title disappears never to be heard ftom again.

[@vivianthom4801]

nick pearce, that might be a good thing if one million per titles of collectors book got destroyed.

[@dorjedriftwood2731]

I miss 90’s comics

[@2650718]

When translate spanish o substittle to spanish???? Sorry for my English xd

[@randykrus9562]

I'm surprised comics are still around. That pond is getting pretty shallow.

[@dxppxlgxngxr]

It seems like Jim Lee looks like batman

[@dxppxlgxngxr]

Artstyle version of batman

[@countrylife04]

PH💕

[@jamalwashingtonfilms]

Almost every character had shoulder pads...early '90s comics in a nutshell.

[@leoalex2344]

Mediocre artists, shrewd speculators who knew the collectors market well.

[@jonathanh7509]

I still can't get over how people didn't see through Rob Liefeld's art. Funny how people criticized him after his fame.

[@HeavyJ713]

Comics will never see another Image phenomenon like Image when it was hot. The 90's were fun...

[@TobeyStarburst]

Why would 14 people dislike the video?

[@huangwen-si7498]

Why can't Rob draw legs?

[@dreammoviecast2394]

Shame you didn’t ask Rob about how he scammed fans out of $35k on Kickstarter.

[@stevea169]

He spent it on feet drawing classes

[@HRDK-SKLETRMUMMR-MEGTRN]

👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽

[@alexvelasquez3945]

Those old vhs videos look awful

[@MrSerpico145]

So edgy then. So PC now. What happened?

[@andrewb5334]

Before reality television, no one ever got more famous with less talent than Rob Liefeld.

[@PNHassett]

What about the cocaine!?

[@gabrielurbaniak7810]

I dont like walking dead because everybody copy. But walking dead he copy. There book call regin of the. Dead. Book its the same.

[@michaelhorning6014]

"Brain drain" lol. This was not a "brains" operation.

[@vivianthom4801]

Why is Liefeld has such bad haircut?

[@bdscavenger]

savage dragon & spawn lasted the longest. all the other studios got so big they killed themselves and the didn't last long

[@williamhollaway1960]

Ha! I read some obvious young person comment about comics dying because of videogames etc. Being the new storytelling medium ha! You can make a book a month it takes longer to make a game than a movie with a credits list twice as long so until that changes....shut it kid

[@marcustmachado]

An act of rebellion produced terrible comics. It was worth it...i guess.

[@WinningProduction420]

It lead to walking dead which became a gigantic success so worth it overall. Plus image has MUCH better comics now than it did back then.

[@TJ347]

Sad to see how many of these guys fell right back into the matrix, which now puts out books that sell in the double digit thousands at best and focus more on SJW politics than quality art and writing.

[@francisyang9997]

these guys can draw but they can't tell a story....which is why IMAGE failed

[@DonTheMoron716]

Image is still going strong.

[@atomicbarbarian7372]

The initial Image books were all terrible. Late. "Storylines" that went nowhere.

[@THEBANDIT7979]

Jim lee is such a company guy. Dc comics is wack. And their cinematic universe is horrible. Zack snider is not the guy. Jim lee is not a rebel he’s just a stooge.

[@joshgulisano1863]

john last he’s graceful and reserved. He is wiser to not act out in the same juvenile way as his peers.

[@MGSBigBoss77]

Exactly! He's one of them but he doesn't have to act like them. You must always be yourself and let your endeavors and ability speak for you. Stooge? i think not, like the others he went to DC when they all left Marvel and told DC hey we're not working for you guys either. Years later goes to DC comics with his Wildstorm label from Image Comics and agrees to a business co-partnership with DC comics. The guy who once pop in for a day at DC and told them we're revolutionizing the business. Eventually goes back to'em and agrees to a deal to co-own his own Wildstorm imprint. And going back 7 years ago friggin ends up being the co-publisher of DC comics. Isn't a stooge (hah, hardly) but is an astute well disciplined businessman if you ask me!

[@robertt9342]

john last , seen like a fairly petty response with no justification.

[@donnawright7933]

Fans who was not born when Marvel, DC first came out, loved Image busting onto the scene.

[@nickangelo116]

I loved comics back then. I bought Spawn and Shadowhawk. Actually my dad did. I was about nine so I didn't have my own money. Thanks, Dad