History Creator / RobLiefeld

** At one point, Liefeld made two of these in some way inspired by ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, using unpublished art from the ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'' [[ComicBook/HeroesRebornCaptainAmerica Captain America book]] after he was taken off the initiative. At first, he planned to buy the rights for Fighting American and use him as the main character. A creator-owned character, Fighting American was created by Joe Simon and Creator/JackKirby, the original creators of Captain America, for a different company when they got unhappy that Atlas Comics (the company that would later become Marvel) had started a new Captain America book without them. The character started out as a pretty straight pastiche of their original version of Captain America, but went satirical after a couple of issues when they started giving the otherwise-interchangeable Communist spies names like Hotsky Trotsky.\\

When Kirby's widow and Simon wanted more for the rights to Fighting American than Liefeld was willing to pay, he created a new character, Agent America, as a stand-in while negotiating to bring the price down. Liefeld eventually got the rights to Fighting American, but the new book resulted in a lawsuit from Marvel, in part because the artwork had been made for one of their projects. The lawsuit also concerned the changes Liefeld made to the character's design that made him look too much like Captain America, such as giving him a helmet with an eagle on the forehead. The character's shield was especially emblematic of this since Fighting American never had a shield. This was resolved by the court ordering that Liefeld change the costume and forbidding him from having Fighting American throw his shield.

** Rob Liefeld's [[https://www.cbr.com/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-2/ admitted]] that ComicBook/YoungbloodImageComics was simply a rejected ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' pitch, right down to the redheaded archer Shaft being Speedy/Arsenal and Diehard being a S.T.A.R. Labs android. Under Alan Moore's writing direction, the team expy-ness became even more pronounced (along with Moore's Supreme, an Expy of DC's Superman).

%%** ComicBook/YoungbloodImageComics: ComicBook/TeenTitans, began as a related project for DC, became more Expy under the writing direction of Alan Moore (along with Moore's Supreme, an Expy of DC's Superman).

%%* XtremeKoolLetterz

* SuperHeroPackingHeat: One of his signature elements, which he helped popularize for the NinetiesAntiHero. Many of his creations ''do'' have superpowers which they use, but they became associated with heavy artillery. One particularly egregious example comes from ''ComicBook/YoungbloodImageComics'': [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/youngblood-10-the-death-of-chapel/4000-99009/ Chapel]], [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/a/uploads/scale_large/1/11307/406629-11099-97387-4-chapel.jpg mercenary]] extraordinaire. Even when he was the artist for ''X-Force'' in the early-1990s, its members were [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/x-force-9-underground-and-over-the-top/4000-35587/ drawn with guns]] (on this cover, Cable, Domino and Shatterstar - granted, Cable is a soldier from the future, and Domino is a mercenary, but Shatterstar's characteristic weapons are a pair of swords).

Despite this notoriety, several of the characters he created have gone on to become long-running mainstream A-list properties (most notably {{Comicbook/Cable}} and ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}), and he continues to find (or create) regular work in the comic-book industry. In 2018, [[http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news/netflix-aquires-extreme-universe/ there were also reports]] that Creator/{{Netflix}} had acquired the rights to a number of Liefeld's creations, including Brigade and Bloodstrike, and hired Creator/AkivaGoldsman to develop a cinematic universe for them on the streaming service. However, the next year, [[https://www.cbr.com/rob-liefeld-extreme-universe-not-netflix/ Liefeld said the deal was no more]] and that he had taken the rights elsewhere.

** While he was illustrating and writing the story for ''ComicBook/XForce'' at Marvel, Liefeld started working on [[https://www.tumblr.com/seanhowe/64691989355/excerpted-from-marvel-comics-the-untold a creator-owned comic]] that would be published by Creator/MalibuComics titled ''The Executioners'' (stylized with the 'X' highlighted). Described as being about a group of "rebel mutants from the future come to destroy their past", it caught Marvel's attention when a press release came out. Seeing the obvious similarities to the characters Liefeld had created for ''X-Force'', both in concept and character designs, they threatened to sue if the title was made, so the project was cancelled.

Despite this notoriety, several of the characters he created have gone on to become long-running mainstream A-list properties (most notably {{Comicbook/Cable}} and ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}), and he continues to find (or create) regular work in the comic-book industry.