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The Genius of Rob Liefeld New Mutants #98 Plotter and Artist: Rob Liefeld Scripter: Fabian Nicieza Colorist: S. Buccelatto * Without question, Rob Liefled is the defining 1990s superhero artist. In terms of impact and influence, the conversation starts with him and stays there long before it moves on to anyone else.   Perhaps because of this, you won't find a figure in the comics world who polarizes fans so completely as Liefeld does. For some he’s single-handedly responsible for generating a sense of excitement about comics they’d never felt before and rarely have since. For others he’s vilified as the harbinger of an era of excess, amateurishness , and style-over-substance.   Having been there to witness his meteoric rise first-hand, and having followed his career through the decades, I've found myself residing at both ends of the Rob Liefeld spectrum. As an artist and creator he is a living contradiction: a creative tsunami and a storytelling black hole, an innovator and a

My First Comic Book Love Namor the Sub-Mariner #7 Writer: John Byrne Penciler: John Byrne Inker: John Byrne Colorist: Glynis Oliver * This essay is the first of a two-parter. The first part is the nice part. My early comic book purchases were made on instinct with little rhyme or reason. I bought based mostly on curiosity about a certain character or group of characters, and honestly whether or not I liked the cover. I didn’t pay attention to who was writing or drawing the books. That all changed when I discovered John Byrne’s work. He was the first comic book artist whose style I recognized on sight, and he was the first comic book artist I loved. He drew faces like no one else: squinty-eyed, dimpled, with expressive mouths. His men were lean and muscular but not in an exaggerated way. His women were beautiful. His version of a character almost invariably became the iconic version of that character, at least in my mind. He placed his figures in realistically-rendered settings, which

An Imperfect First Issue Spider-Man #1 Writer: Todd McFarlane Penciler: Todd McFarlane Inker: Todd McFarlane Colorist: Bob Sharen * If New Warriors #1 was a masterclass in compressed storytelling, Spider-Man #1 – released one month later – was a cautionary tale about the dangers of decompression. It also taught me a valuable lesson about the how the gap between expectation and reality can be very big indeed. In the past decade, Marvel and DC have thrown out new number 1 issues for established characters like so much confetti, but in 1990 it was a rarity. And even though Spider-Man had three titles to his name at the time – Amazing Spider-Man (1963), Spectacular Spider-Man (1976), and Web of Spider-Man (1985) – this one was being written and drawn by Todd McFarlane. That was a BIG deal. McFarlane was a native of Calgary, Alberta, and had made his name drawing Amazing Spider-Man from March 1988 to January 1990, where his cartoony, exaggerated style reinvented the visual langua

A Perfect First Issue New Warriors #1 Writer: Fabian Nicieza Penciller: Mark Bagley Inker: Al Williamson Colorist: Michael Rockwitz * I became a comics fan at the perfect time, both for what was happening in the industry itself and for what was happening in my life. Let’s start with the second part first. I started reading comics regularly in late 1989. I was 12-years-old and in the middle of seventh grade. It was a dark and difficult time for me. Despite being my parents divorcing when I was four, and despite attending three schools by third grade, life was pretty happy-go-lucky for me in my first 11 years. Circa sixth grade, however, things took a turn. My best friend Stan moved across town and to a new school. I got big clunky glasses, and I started to gain weight and become very self-conscious about it. Being a June birthday I was already among the youngest kids in my class, but when I reached sixth grade it felt like everyone had gotten a memo that I hadn’t. All of my classma

My Secret Origin What If...? #9 Writer: Roy Thomas Penciller: Rich Buckler Inker: Sam Delarosa Colorist: Evelyn Stein * I bought the book that started my 30-year obsession with comics when I was 12 years old, but my fascination with superheroes and cartooning goes back much further. By all accounts my first pop culture love was Sesame Street . Now before I get lost trying to trace Super Grover to Watchmen , I’ll instead say that it might actually have been Sesame Street’s sister show, the Electric Company – which stopped production of its initial run the year I was born, but lived on in reruns long enough for me to watch as a preschooler – that actually sparked the fire. The Electric Company not only featured the superhero Letterman, but also the ongoing “Spidey Super Stories” segment, introducing me to my favorite super-hero, Spider-Man. When I was around six years old, I would meet him in person at a toy store in Decatur, a high point of my young life. One of my most vivid and happ

Riddle Me This What do you think of when you hear the words “Superhero comics in the 1990s”? Holographic covers? Gritted teeth? Improbably large guns? Polybags? Exclusive trading cards? Superman’s “death”? Image Comics? Foil-embossed covers? Marvel’s bankruptcy? Wizard Magazine ? Cross-hatching? Pouches? All of the above? We rarely know what’s going to define a certain period of time while we’re still the midst of it.  Trends in fashion, music, graphic design, TV, etc. are kind of like a plant or a child. They’re changing every day, but you don’t notice it happening. Only later can we really take stock of what went on before. One of the stranger aspects of entering middle age is seeing eras you lived through – and remember well – gain an identity.  It has been really weird for me to witness the 1990s boiled down to its defining aspects. There were certain things we knew at the time would be part of the story: grunge music, flannel shirts, the swing revival. Others have come as a surpri