Rob Liefeld Reveals First-Ever Homage to Famous Captain America Image as NYCC WhatNot Cover

Rob Liefeld has revealed his Captain America cover homage for Captain America #1. The artist explained the New York Comic Con WhatNot cover for the book with ComicBook.com‘s Chris Killian. Fans will immediately recognize the big-chested reference to the Heroes Reborn cover of Marvel Comics infamy. The image of the hero standing there with massive proportions has become something of a 90s comics meme on the Internet. That’s a fact that Liefeld is well-aware of. But, this feels like a moment where the creator is leaning into the fans that do enjoy his work to celebrate a new run with the iconic character. Check out the issue itself and his explanation up above.

 “I just wanted to draw a big, bold Captain America. Here’s the deal: They blew that up at the Heroes Reborn conference in New York City at Marvel Comics. Jim Lee and myself flew out to New York. That was the image and people kept saying ‘Oh, look at that Captain America.’ I didn’t hear anything negative about that image until the 2000s. It was likk,e somebody decided, ‘I’ll meme it. I’ll do it!’ I don’t mind it either. It doesn’t shake, rattle or roll me.”

“I’ll tell you this, I did not do an homage to that cover for 27 years. I just did one. I finally agreed to do an homage of that Captain America cover for the new Captain America. For the first time at New York Comic Con. You will be getting it for the first time at New York Comic-Con. I’m not sure if they told me there’s a foil edition of it. So, we’ve tricked it out. You didn’t know that I was going to give you that answer when you asked that question and I didn’t know you were gonna ask that question.”

Best Selling Captain America #1 Ever

“There has not been a better Captain America number one since I have the top selling Avengers during that time,” the artist told ComicBook.com. “They have tried to how many, how many times? They tried to outsell that Avengers. They put Wolverine on the team, they put Spider-Man on the team. They actually mixed it with the X-Men and called it Uncanny Avengers, I think twice.” 

“Now, Avengers Heroes Reborn? Number one is the best Avengers of all time. Not just the sixties, of all time. Because, that guy on ComicCon.com, he did all the sales figures and he figured it out,” Liefeld explained. “So, again, I have a special relationship with that stuff and people have a special memory of that stuff. So, yeah, New York Comic Con, you’re gonna see the sequel to the image and I broke it here with you on comic book dot com.

Rob Liefeld Making Two Marvel Series in 2024

Marvel is actually bringing Liefeld back for two new books next year. Recently, during the Diamond Retailer Lunch and the Marvel Fanfare with C.B. Cebulski panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the company unveiled a look at Time to Kill and First Contact. Staying within his favorite works, Liefeld will be handling X-Men characters and some Deadpool-style action.

“Between Cable, Deadpool and Major X, I have a ton of stories that I still have yet to tell, and I feel like I’m in my prime,” Liefeld previously told ComicBook.com during an interview this year. “I really like the way the work is coming out. And before I go completely blind or my hand fails me or I die of an overdose of energy, I’m trying to get all these stories told.”

“The Cable story that I have is a great story because it deals with the past and the present simultaneously. And that’s all I’ll say. I’m hoping, given that I’m in the back half of drawing Deadpool: Badder Blood #4, so that’s the September issue,” he continued. “And then I’ll wrap up Deadpool: Badder Blood. And so I just want to keep crossing off the last bunch of projects that I have with Marvel because I mean, I’m not going to kid myself. I don’t think that I have another five years of this stuff in me.”

Do you love this cover homage? Let us know in the comments down below!