explain Liefeld

bearded · December 11, 2009, 10:00:48 AM

QuoteLiefeld and Nicieza launched X-Force (vol. 1) in August 1991. The book sold a record 5 million copies, and remains the second highest selling comic book of all time, surpassed only by Jim Lee's X-Men book that same summer with 8 million copies.

quoted from wiki.

somone please explain this in a way i can understand. the jim lee xmen i can understand. to an extent. if i don't think about it overmuch.
who bought this issue? did you?

GhostMachine · December 11, 2009, 11:40:47 AM

Speculators. They released collector's editions which came with one of several different trading cards and people bought multiple copies. The store I frequented at the time had a deal to get people to buy issues to get all the different trading cards, where they'd give you one free. (So if there were 6 different trading cards, you'd have only paid for 5 copies of the comic)

In other words, the book sold well based on a gimmick, NOT because of the creators involved.

crimsonquill · December 11, 2009, 01:27:47 PM

Quote from: GhostMachine on December 11, 2009, 11:40:47 AM
Speculators. They released collector's editions which came with one of several different trading cards and people bought multiple copies. The store I frequented at the time had a deal to get people to buy issues to get all the different trading cards, where they'd give you one free. (So if there were 6 different trading cards, you'd have only paid for 5 copies of the comic)

In other words, the book sold well based on a gimmick, NOT because of the creators involved.

Yeah, That was one of the biggest gimmicks they had in the 90s outside of the hologram/foil/alternative covers so collectors would go crazy buying up everything they could to score later (HAHA! on them) while inflating the sales of the comic they were involved with. Jim Lee's X-Men and Liefeld's X-Force managed to become the most outsold first issues as a result of those collectors cards and the multi-part cover for Jim Lee's X-Men which months later came out as a tri-fold cover during a reprint (HAHA! again collectors..:-P).

I think I got 4 issues of X-Force with my friends and we all swapped cards between us to get a full set each.. then we gave the extra issues to our local library or anyone who wanted to read it. I think I have a bagged issue in a comic box and a unopened mint one with card still inside inside one of those sealed collector's cases I found at an art store for storing old comics.

- CQ

lugaru · December 22, 2009, 04:57:37 AM

All I can say is thank god for people like Liefield, McFarlaine, Lee and company making mad money in the 90's or we would not have the awesome Kirkman/Larson image of today with tons of indy titles and mostly good superhero books.

But yeah, I bought both those books (Xforce and Xmen) in spanish reprints.

GogglesPizanno · December 22, 2009, 06:15:29 AM

Guilty.

If you think about it though, the size of the run insured that they would actually never be collectibles...ah, irony.

In further musings have you ever thought about some of the stranger comics that WERE considered rare or collectible back in the late 80's-early 90's... Grips? The Nam? New Universe (for about 30 seconds)?

Comics speculation back then was a weird beast....

lugaru · December 22, 2009, 07:41:13 AM

... and everyone trying to find the NEXT ninja turtles, with dozens of indy, black and white martial arts themed animal funny books.

Xenolith · December 22, 2009, 06:19:38 PM

It wasn't just the gimmick, but maybe 50% to 75% of it was. This came out right when speculators were getting into comics, just after ruining the baseball card market. Some folks thought Liefeld was the second coming. He and his partners brought a different style than what was normally in a main stream comic at the time. There was a lot of average art at Marvel and DC at that time. Nothing great, but nothing terrible, however it all kind of looked the same. A lot of Marvel's heavy hitters (e.g., Byrne, Simonson, Miller) were doing other projects for other companies like Dark Horse and DC. Liefeld, McFarlane, Valentino, and Larsen offered something else that resonanted with fans. When the Spike Lee Levi Jeans ad hit, Liefeld became famous. He probably would have made it anyway. He was in the right place at the right time.

I didn't buy this particular issue, but I remember buying an issue or two of New Mutants because I was curious about why it was so popular with locals. I'm not a hater, but I wish he had never "happened" to super-hero comics. I feel the same way about Bendis though.

marhawkman · December 22, 2009, 07:21:45 PM

I like Bendis, Liefeld? not so much. Where's the link to that website devoted to explaining just how much Liefeld sucks?

I actually have the cards! Not the comics though. The cards aren't worth squat.

thanoson · December 23, 2009, 06:11:37 AM

Top 40 worst Liefeld Drawings is what you wanna google.

marhawkman · December 23, 2009, 02:26:10 PM

O_O! When you Type "Liefeld" into Google it automatically suggests "Worst" "Worst drawings" "Pouches" and "Can't Draw"!

Here's one link: http://progressiveboink.com/archive/robliefeld.html

I love how one guy who posted a link to this on a blog said "I'm not sure how they were able to narrow it down."

Tawodi Osdi · December 23, 2009, 04:32:06 PM

I was actually an active comic book collector. I collected based on my tastes, not on speculation, I never really gotten into the Liefield hype. I do remember having the option of buying into the TMNT thing early on, but I thought the concept was too silly to take off, and most the books I liked were lucky to make it past the first year. I guess that says something about my tastes. My favorite independents were Boris the Bear and Justice Machine, but my view is that a change of pace is only good as long as it is different. Changes of pace suck when they become a standard.

To get back to the topic, I was one of the few people at the time that that didn't like the X-Men or Liefeld and his ilk and I don't care much for their sense of art, and though I like comic book art, I buy for the story, and many of those books were collections of poses roughly tied together by something that might have been a real plot.

thanoson · December 23, 2009, 05:06:11 PM

Quote from: marhawkman on December 23, 2009, 02:26:10 PM
O_O! When you Type "Liefeld" into Google it automatically suggests "Worst" "Worst drawings" "Pouches" and "Can't Draw"!

Here's one link: http://progressiveboink.com/archive/robliefeld.html

I love how one guy who posted a link to this on a blog said "I'm not sure how they were able to narrow it down."

You should post that this has potty language strewn in so not to upset any kids, though I believe everyone on this site is an adult.

GogglesPizanno · December 23, 2009, 08:42:02 PM

Quote from: thanoson on December 23, 2009, 05:06:11 PM
You should post that this has potty language strewn in so not to upset any kids, though I believe everyone on this site is an adult.

Does he have to use the term "Poopy Diapers?"

marhawkman · December 31, 2009, 02:06:20 AM

Quote from: thanoson on December 23, 2009, 05:06:11 PM
Quote from: marhawkman on December 23, 2009, 02:26:10 PMO_O! When you Type "Liefeld" into Google it automatically suggests "Worst" "Worst drawings" "Pouches" and "Can't Draw"!

Here's one link: http://progressiveboink.com/archive/robliefeld.html

I love how one guy who posted a link to this on a blog said "I'm not sure how they were able to narrow it down."
You should post that this has potty language strewn in so not to upset any kids, though I believe everyone on this site is an adult.

Most of it isn't bad. but yes, it has a lot of it.

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explain Liefeld