Posted in: Comics | Tagged: g-man comics, jms, kickstarter, rob liefeld, sgt flag

Rob Liefeld Changed Look Of Sgt Flag After JMS' Concerns

Last month, Bleeding Cool highlighted that Rik Offenberger of First Comics News had a new comic book of his own, Sgt Flag #1, and was launching it via Kickstarter. And just like all comic book reporters worth their salt, he had gotten Rob Liefeld to draw a cover.

The comic by Offenberger, Jim Burrows and Eric N. Bennett is one of five comics, part of a universe of characters, being Kickstarted. But with the new publicity Bleeding Cool brought to the project, someone out there saw a similarity. Babylon 5 creator J M Straczynski tweeted out, regarding his own take on Captain America, Patriot from his comic book Rising Stars. JMS tweeted "Hmm…so on one side we have Patriot, the character I created for RISING STARS, and on the other, a character called "Sgt. Flag" "created" by G-Man comics about to unleash a kickstarter. What do you think?"

After, let's call it "considerable" discussion on the internet, Straczynski followed up, saying "Regarding the Patriot/Sgt. Flag situation, the creators and I have been in contact, and they will take appropriate steps to revise the artwork to move it away from what was done in Rising Stars. Hanging fire to make sure all goes as it should, but for now, the story ends amicably." And now we get a look at the new look Sgt Flag, with this redrawn Rob Liefeld cover.

Rik tells Bleeding Cool "Publicity is both good and bad. J. Michael Straczynski said to me the evening before we launched our Kickstarter that Sgt. Flag looked too much like Rising Star and he asked me to remove the star on the eye and the barber poll look on the arm and leg. So I had to have my team adjust the costume in all the completed pages then I had to go back to Rob and ask for a correction. I hated to ask Rob for yet another favor. But it all worked out."

The Agent is the story of FBI Agent Simon N. Kirby and the world of G-Man Comics. In his world, all superheroes are registered with the government. Under the Super Hero Registration Act, the FBI presses superheroes into service as needed to protect their country. Simon N. Kirby is the man in charge of the FBI's superhero team, the G-Men. It operates in a "Mission Impossible" style, where he selects the right agents for the right mission.

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