Shown: The Most Feared Man in Comics. For Some Reason.

A lot is being made today of THIS: some Guy In A Yellow hat (no seriously, that’s the name he goes by…it’s supposed to be funny) went up to Rob Liefeld at Wizard World Chicago 2009, and pretty much tells him “you suck” to Rob’s face, and then proceeds to play a series of douchy little pranks on him.

Comics fans are split: some think this Jim Henson’s Punk’d Babies stunt is funny, fans of being a decent person are outraged, and even comic pros are weighing in and going Rabble Rabble Rabble on the message thread.

Me? I don’t care. Everyone will live. If this is the biggest controversy today, then I sleep easy. Rob will go home to his wonderful family and forget about it, and this Idiot in the Yellow Hat will return to the Baby Gap to try on new baby sun-hats.

Non-comics fans have ZERO idea who Rob Liefeld is, why any of this is controversial and why they should care. My Rob Liefeld tell-all feature for Wizard Magazine would have explained that clearly, but it never came out. Because the Legend of Rob Liefeld is truly an amazing story worthy of even non-comic book publications. I say that knowing full well I may re-ignite Rob’s ego. But it’s true.

I truly believe Rob would have loved the article as well. I really tried to be fair about the good and the bad, and separate the man from the oversized-pectoral myth. I owe all my feature subjects that. It wasn’t going to be just another Liefeld Slam Piece.

(And, yes, if anyone’s interested in paying me to complete the story for them, then they can have it. It’s ageless.)

Shown: the thing people always show when they talk about Rob Liefeld. It’s the comic book equivalent of the Zapruder Film, and will be just as over-analyzed and studied 50 years from now.

The drafts spiraled out of control…3000 words….5000 words…there was just too much goodness. My God, it was full of stars. And I was loving it.

I interviewed scores of industry folk who love/despise Rob, did extensive interviews with Rob in person and on the phone, researched the history to the point of madness, transcribed countless pages of the craziest industry stories of all time, had secret sources pointing me to dark little corners, and even had sources call me back and tell me they wanted OUT of the feature because they thought Rob Liefeld might sue them or hurt them!

“He’s been showing up in places I was, and it’s been freaking me out. I think he knows I’m talking to you. I don’t want you to run my quotes anymore. I think he drove by my house and yelled something last night.”—a skiddish Rob Liefeld interview source.

Holy shit, are you serious? It was like the Sopranos, if Tony was feared for the way he drew Captain America.

A lot of shit was going down at Wizard at that time (including me trying to get the hell out of there), and in the process of keeping the magazine afloat, this “evergreen feature” just got shelved. Plus, Wizard was afraid they would get sued, and that it just wouldn’t be worth the trouble (even though everything in my story is completely backed up. It’s an A+ use of my Journalism degree). I think we ran a Casting Call feature that month instead.

Anyway, here’s an unedited taste of part of the first draft, which I suddenly remembered I had lying around when I saw this whole Yellow Hat fiasco, and read some stuff my friend Sean T. Collins said:

“As a matter of fact, I think it’s only the rise of the internet that gives people the impression that it’s okay to be mean to complete strangers in the first place. That some people feel comfortable carrying that behavior over into the real world is borderline sociopathic. We live in a society.”

Jump to read the first part of the unedited, unpublished Wizard feature on Rob Liefeld!

Rob Liefeld has every right to punch me in the mouth.

And, from some of the tales I’ve heard while prepping for this interview, I’m convinced he just might.

I’m face to face with a man who became a self-made millionaire by 24, literally sold millions upon millions of comics in the ’90s when his gritty style helped usher in Image Comics, and achieved a rock star celebrity status along the way—all unheard of for a comic book artist.

Here’s a guy who has also attained mythical levels of “love to hate him” status from the same industry that once revered him. A guy whose artwork and brash no-nonsense opinions are notorious for rubbing fans and creators the wrong way.

Wearing his patented low-slung baseball cap, Liefeld abruptly stops from sketching The Darkness for a fan at this Wizard World LA convention, and stares me down—intensely—with his baby blues.

Comics’ most polarizing, vilified, criticized and, many times, just plain hated artist has just called me out on the carpet for a very public, very cheap joke I made about his art style in Wizard Magazine.

I tense up.

Face weathered from his native California sun and years of lawsuits, creator backbiting, potshots and punchlines at his expense—Rob doesn’t bitch slap me. He smiles.

“You guys said, basically, [the 2004 re-launch] issue of X-Force was awful,” says Liefeld. “Did I run out in the streets and scream for joy? No. But I was like, ‘Ok. Moving on…’ Do you think there are other publishers and creators you would have heard from? Probably. You’re welcome to your opinion. Everybody’s entitled to one. I’ve had people walk up to me and tell me ‘you suck’ and their welcome to that opinion. There are musical acts that, I can’t explain to you why, but I can’t stand them. So, you’re not going to be everybody’s cup of tea, and if you’re out to ‘please all of the people, all of the time,’ then good luck.”

From RobLiefeld.net: This dick-joke strip was, at one time, going to be a movie with Jennifer Lopez. I’m not kidding.

Several similar “c’est la vie” comments later, it occurs to me that Liefeld might just be the most resilient man I’ve ever met—fully aware of the harsh criticism heeped on him yet still forging ahead. He’s certainly upbeat, unshakably positive and in better spirits then you can imagine for someone who’s seen such dramatic career highs and lows.

“I’ve made millions, and I’ve lost millions—who cares?,” he says without batting an eye. “Dude, it’s comic books. It’s business.”

And, surprisingly, he has nothing but nice things to say about comic heroes like John Byrne, even though they’ve publicly damned him. “In 1992, [writer] John Byrne said, ‘would somebody please drive spikes through Rob Liefeld’s hands?,’” Liefeld recalls. “And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s awesome!’ I love Byrne, I still buy all his stuff and [the comment] has never affected me. I just got a chuckle out of it. Ask the people who worked for me and with me over the years—I’m just mentally tough.”

It’s almost bizarre as Liefeld “ac-cent-u-ates the positive” with every breath—he doesn’t seem like the arrogant, fly-off-the-handle punk of ten years ago I’ve heard about. As a thirtysomething father of three, perhaps Liefeld no longer fits that image. Maybe he’s mellowed out as most do with time, age and experience.

Or maybe, just maybe, the enthusiastic artist talks a damn good talk when a reporter sits down with him.

After all, any press is good press, and for a guy who rode the image of comics’ brash bad-boy back in his hey-day, boy does Rob know it.

“Rob puts on a very good front and I think he’s one of the most optimistic guys I have ever met,” says Top Cow President and former Extreme Comics editor Matt Hawkins. “And Rob is a very savvy, smart guy and very aware of public relations and how to manipulate the press and how to get things spun in a way he wants.”

In mid-sketch, Liefeld suddenly pauses, turns and dramatically plucks the recorder out of my hands to make sure I get this on tape.

“Let me tell you right now: I regret nothing,” he says grinning. “Everything is for a reason and taught me a valuable lesson somewhere along the line. Whatever mistakes I made were valuable in teaching me.” Partly listening and partly caught up in his drawing, Rob hands back the recorder and settles in, cocksure and nonchalant.

“Ask me a tough question. Come on.”

And that’s it! After that, the story goes crazy…tales of Taco Bell beatings, Rob karate chopping dudes in the neck at a bar, a questionable “building dangling” incident. It’s jaw-dropping. And if there’s a good enough reason, I’d like to finish writing it sometime.

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