Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: archie, Mighty Crusaders, rob liefeld

Rob Liefeld to Reboot Archie Comics' Mighty Crusaders in 2021

Published Tue, 15 Dec 2020 13:00:21 -0600

Superstar artist Rob Liefeld will helm the latest attempt in the bi-annual Archie Comics tradition of attempting to reboot the company's superhero IP in hopes it will finally catch on with a new generation of readers. Punctuality-obsessed Hollywood gossip rag Deadline had the scoop on the news, essentially a press release given early to Deadline as an EX-X-XCLUSIVE in a corrupt display of access journalism.

Artwork from Rob Liefeld's Mighty Crusaders reboot

"I've been chomping (sic) at the bit to work with the folks at Archie and do something with these legendary characters," Liefeld claimed in the press release. "The Shield is the first patriotic comic book icon, pre-dating Captain America. These are the original comic book super heroes, with a glorious history behind them. I'm so psyched to tell this story and turn my fans on to these characters!"

It's been a year of new beginnings for Liefeld, who also recently revealed he would return to Marvel, dropping plans to potentially sue the company and instead signed on to create thirty variant covers over the next year, as well to create a new story for Deadpool's 30th anniversary. Bleeding Cool Rumourmonger-in-Chief Rich Johnston also implies that Rob will do more work for Deadpool and X-Force, but I dunno. Do you trust that guy? The move by Liefeld to squash the beef with Marvel, following several Twitter rants about the company, proves the age-old saying: variant covers heal all wounds. Perhaps if angry teenagers and millennials would collaborate with Liefeld on variant covers, they too could put their divisive feuds aside.

"Rob's work has always been dynamic, in terms of storytelling, action, character, and style. One of my earliest comic book memories was picking up a copy of X-Force #1 and being completely enamored," said Archie Co-President Alex Segura. "To have Rob bring that same energy and fearless creativity to Archie's stable of superhero characters is a dream come true. I'm so excited for people to read these stories, and to show everyone why heroes like the Shield, Jaguar, Comet, Fly-Girl, and others matter more today than ever before."

Of course, Segura is the same man who has recently been involved in Archie crossovers with KISS, The Ramones, and the B-52s, so he may not exactly have his finger on the pulse of readers today.