Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics, Image | Tagged: absolute, Absolute Batman, jeph loeb, Jim Rugg, nick dragotta, rob liefeld, scott snyder, Tim Sale
Rob Liefeld On How Much He Loves Absolute Batman But Still Says No
Rob Liefeld on how much he loves Absolute Batman.. but all the reasons he will still say no to drawing an Absolute Batman cover
Article Summary
- Rob Liefeld says he loves Absolute Batman as a comic, but still refuses to draw an Absolute Batman cover.
- Liefeld says Absolute Batman would waste time better spent on creator-owned work for film, games, toys and TV.
- He argues he has nothing fresh to add to Absolute Batman and says Batman does not need him now.
- Liefeld also cites his fraught DC history, past rejections and long-term original art value for saying no.
Alan Moore once said that one of the greatest superpowers a creator has is the ability to say no. And to keep saying no, however much money is offered. It confuses Hollywood, and they don’t understand it, but it can define you as a person and as a creator.
Earlier this week, Rob Liefeld said that he was never going to draw a cover for Absolute Batman, that he saw no need, that it would do him no good, and that he would be better off spending his time doing something else. Even in a week when the original Absolute Batman cover art was selling close to $20,000, and Bleeding Cool was making a case that any artist should do one, even for free, given the possible instant payout. But Rob Liefeld isn’t doing that these days, either.
Some thought that this was part of an earlier beef with Scott Snyder from 2012. Others asked why Rob Liefeld had allowed Jim Rugg to do anAbsolute Batman homage on the Youngblood #1 retailer-exclusive cover for Third Eye Comics, and whether this was hypocritical. As well as the Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween cover he drew last year.
Absolute Batman #1 cover by Nick Dragotta
Youngblood #1 cover by Jim Rugg
Batman: The Last Halloween cover by Rob Liefeld
On his latest Robservations podcast, Rob Liefeld addressed all this and drew a clear line between his feelings about Absolute Batman, the comic and any desire to contribute art to it. “At no point have I shared that I do not enjoy the content of Absolute Baman,” Liefeld said. “I was really into that book, especially heading into the spring of this year.” Indeed, he recalled the initial wave of doubt that greeted the project’s distinctive, oversized take on Batman and how “I have shared my exuberance… I’m here on the show telling you to order it, not to underestimate it, and to look forward to trying it out. OK, we were always believers of that book; everybody was against this. Entire histories were saying this is ridiculous… those people have all scrubbed their accounts.”
Liefeld framed the title’s current popularity in surfing terms, describing it as a break that everyone is now trying to ride. Just that this enthusiasm does not extend to participating artistically. And that after the most recent coverage, “someone from DC and another person from DC contacted me, saying, Rob, we’re seeing this stuff about Absolute Batman. We would love for you to do Absolute Batman covers for us, even if you’d like to do a retailer variant.” He broke things down into a number of reasons.
Reason One: Time Marches On
“A Batman cover would be a tremendous waste of my time. Whatever the two hours, three hours, four hours that I would put into creating that cover, I could’ve put into something that’s gonna travel with me to a video game company, a cartoon studio, a movie studio, a toy manufacturer. I have no interest whatsoever at this point. I’ve shared with you all. I don’t believe I will be making comics past my mid-60s, so I don’t have a whole lot of time. Every line takes its toll. The lines are harder to come by.”
Reason Two: What Could A Rob Liefeld Absolute Batman Give?
“I also don’t believe I would bring anything fresh, innovative or interesting to the depiction of Absolute Batman that hasn’t already been done before. I’d be killing myself trying to do something that stands out from all the other wonderful depictions… I just don’t have anything that would be fresher and more interesting than what you’re already receiving. Batman doesn’t need me. I don’t need Batman.”
Readon Three DC Comics
Rob Liefeld used the moment to revisit his limited and complicated history with DC, beginning with the only significant piece of art he had done for the company in recent years: a cover for The Last Halloween, the Tim Sale tribute series, written by his longstanding colleague Jeph Loeb.
“I did one two years ago for my dear fallen past late friend, the late great Tim Sale. I got to know Tim in the 90s as one of Jeff Loeb’s best friends. He would come by our offices in Century City when he was in town. We would go out to dinner in New York. We would go out to dinner in San Diego. We would go to dinner in LA. We would go out to dinner in Seattle. We would draw in each other’s sketchbooks. There was a lovely woman that he was dating for an extended period of time. She gave me her sketchbook. The focus was on the character of Jane from Tarzan… I went out of my way to draw the best double page. I used the entire canvas. I filled it up with a rendition of Jane with a gorilla and jungle. I used watercolour pencils. That’s what you do for a friend. He returned the favour by just knocking it straight out of the park with an incredible double-page Re-Gex illustration. Re-Gex was a book I was doing at the time… When an artist trades, that’s a choice, that is joy. So I did it for his love interest and he did for mine. And that’s what friends do.”
When Jeph Loeb decided to do The Last Halloween as a tribute, he specifically asked Liefeld to contribute a cover featuring the Joker and to depict Batman in Sale’s style.
“It was a really wonderful experience drawing that homage of love to Tim Sale. I was not paid for the cover, I think, until months after it had come out. I just was like, I know DC will pay me for it because it is a job, and I shrugged and didn’t care. About four months after it came out, I was like, you guys actually do owe me compensation for that. I’ve never sold the cover. I have held onto it…”
That cover, Liefeld noted, remains the only DC work he had done in that period prior to a brief earlier return orchestrated by editor Mark Chiarello. Liefeld had long believed Chiarello was not a fan of his style. Chiarello, an accomplished painter and longtime DC editor, surprised him at a New York signing in 2018.
“Lo and behold… in front of me at my table where I was signing in New York City, Mark Chiarello says, ‘Hey Rob, how are you doing? Long time no see.’ Mark was not a vocal supporter of my work, never had been as far as I was concerned. And he said, ‘I would like for you to do covers for my Superman titles and for Justice.’ And I was like, oh, I don’t think anybody at DC wants me working there because I had an infamous, notorious falling out with one Dan DiDio during the New 52… Mark said, no no, none of that. I need covers. And he looked at me straight and said, ‘You move the needles and I need covers that move needles.’ I ended up doing two Superman covers and one Justice cover before some of the people in the department sniffed it out… and then I was no longer interested.”
Rob Liefeld revealed that he had repeatedly asked DC Comics over the years to work on the Fourth World and had been turned down each time.
“I have not asked to do anything DC-related since I was turned down immediately in 2017 to do any of the Jack Kirby Fourth World characters. I’m riding high, my career is like a full fresh thrust of success, and I’m like, this is where I get to work on my favourite artist’s epic saga, the New Gods. I was told that it wass the dominion of another creative team… Prior to that, when I asked DC in 1999 or 2000 if I could do the Fourth World… and then during 52 I was approached, ‘What else would you like to do?’ So in 1999-2000 and in 2017 I initiated for the Fourth World, for the Jack Kirby stuff, and I was immediately turned down. I couldn’t even close my face when he said, ‘Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. We’ve got other people doing that.’ I’m like, oh bummer. And that was it. On with my day.”
Since that short window, Liefeld said there had been no further contact from DC beyond the Last Halloween request, until the recent Absolute Batman inquiry he declined.
Reason Four: He Wouldn’t Be Selling The Original Art Now Anyway
Throughout the stream, Liefeld returned to a recurring theme: he is selective about how he spends his remaining time and energy. He has been holding onto large quantities of his own original art, including the complete interiors and covers for Deadpool: Bad Blood, believing it will be worth more to his family later. And looking at the market now, how it has been changing, and how many artists wish they had held onto their original art as first one, then two, then three or four zeros are added onto what would have been its original price, he has a point. And as more artists move to digital, high-profile original comics art is getting rarer. When Rob Liefeld dies, it will eb at its peak. That is the inheritance he will pass on to his family, and it could be worth eight or even nine figures.
For an industry that often expects creators to jump at legacy characters and hot books, Liefeld’s stance is a deliberate break from the chorus. Whether fans hear it as confidence or arrogance appears to matter little to him. As he put it while addressing the latest wave of online reaction, the story did not touch him. He is already onto the next thing.
I will say one thing, though. If Rob Liefeld did do a retailer variant for Absolute Batman and then sold the original artwork during this insane Absolute Batman bubble we are currently living in, he could probably refund everyone on his unfilled Brigade Kickstarter from 2013. And that probably is worth four hours of his time. And worth saying yes to. It would certainly sell for more than this fan attempt…
There might also be another reason… but it might need a new headline, context and article. See you back in an hour or two’s time, after all the stats drop. Listen to his podcast and you’ll beat me to it…
Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!
Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!
