I fully intended to write about Black Hole by Charles Burns today:
But then I came across this list:
21 Artists Who Changed Mainstream Comics
which is a list of 21 ‘influential’ comic book artists of what looks like the last 30 years. The list itself is pretty meh, as anyone with a passing interest in comics could have come up with those names, and wrote a small paragraph about them.
However, THAT site led me to this site:
And now I have no choice but dedicate this space to trying to rationalize this man’s 15 minutes of fame.
That site above has the 40 most egregious drawings by one Mr. Rob Liefeld. Here’s a taste of his early 90s contribution to the art world:
That’s number 40 on the ProgressiveBoink list. There’s 39 more of these things.
You know how in disaster movies or TV shows there are those characters that stand around, looking at the ruins/wreckage and whisper “how did this happen?” ”why didn’t anyone do anything to stop this?”
That’s how I feel looking back on the early 90s. I feel like I’ve just survived some horrible-man made disaster, and there are no answers to why all these horrible things were allowed to happen.
And it isn’t just the drawings. This man was published. By Marvel. For YEARS. And people wanted more! MORE!
Look at this!
What the hell were you thinking, Marvel!?
Sadly, I know what you were thinking:
Marvel exec: ”This is terrible. What happened to Cap’s arm? Was it amputated? We can’t publish this!”
Exec 2: ”Did I mention his last issue sold so well, I bought a new jet, yacht, and your first born son?
Marvel exec: ”Fuck it, let’s get this bad boy on the shelf.”
This is the only scenario I can allow myself to accept. I refuse to believe the people in charge really believed this stuff was pleasant to look at, and only put it out because of one reason:
Everyone buying comics in the 90s had Mad Cow disease and didn’t know any better.
If it wasn’t so ridicurous, yes ridicurous, I’d be disgusted with society. This guy made loads of money, and was absolutely EVERYWHERE, while a phenomenal artist like Jim Woodring, no one’s ever heard of. I certainly wouldn’t have if not for my sleuthing for interesting comics. And I went to a school FOUNDED on cartooning. I’d be willing to bet most of the people I went to school with haven’t heard of him either. I’ll have a post on him sometime.
But back to Liefeld.
Damn.
Just damn.
