ROB LIFELD GETS BIBLICALLove him, hate him, or otherwise, it’s hard not to notice Rob Liefeld. A figure of perhaps equal parts enthusiasm and controversy, Liefeld holds a unique place in the comic book community and rarely does much time go by without his name returning to the headlines.This month, the artist/creator hopes to get the attention of comic book fans with the launch of a brand new publishing venture. The project is called Armageddon Now: World War 3, a new, original 120-page graphic novel planned for release this summer as part one of an eventual 5-part book series. The new company is called 12 Gates, co-launching by Liefeld and his partners Phil Hotsenpiller and Mike Gadd. And if you’re familiar with some of the terminology in the book’s title and the new company’s name, you may have already gathered the project is based on Biblical prophecy… the prophecies contained in Ezekiel and Revelation to be exact.Newsarama recently spoke with Liefeld to learn more about this new launch, its origins, and its planned future…Newsarama: Rob, let’s start at the beginning, and we suppose in this case that means the Bible. For people un ... or less-than familiar, can you maybe provide a brief scholarly overview of what the prophecies in Ezekiel and Revelation are precisely? This is the End Times/Judgment Day/Four Horsemen stuff, right?Rob Liefeld: Yes. Four Horseman, Rapture, World War 3, Armageddon, Valley of Megiddo, Anti-Christ, False Prophet, all that stuff. All part of the scriptures in Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelations, John among others in the New Testament.NRAMA: Okay, but for readers maybe with only a vague or passing knowledge of all those elements, can you tie-it together in one broad narrative?RL: The big prophecies about what is commonly referred to as The End Times are that there will be a Rapture that in a single moment takes all of God's believers away from the Earth and into Heaven. A powerful world leader emerges in the face of this global event and unites the world; he is Satan as man and is known as the Anti-Christ. Seven years of Tribulation will decimate the Earth as plagues, famine, and war divides the globe. The Battle of Armageddon is when the armies of the Anti-Christ unite against God and they all get wiped out.All of this has been depicted in movies and other books from The Omen, The Seventh Sign and The Left Behind series. Our story takes place prior to any of these things occurring, a Biblical prequel if you will.NRAMA: And tell us about one of your partners, Phil Hotsenpiller. In this context, he's actually well-known figure, correct?RL: Phil Hotsenpiller is the teaching pastor of my local church, termed a mega-church because it has over five thousand members. He arrived from New Jersey three years ago and has captured the attention of the community. He has been a minister for 30 years, Oxford educated, very smart, very researched.The origin of the book goes back two summers ago to August 2006 when I attended a Biblical Prophecy seminar at my church. Phil was speaking on the prophecies in Ezekiel and Revelation and I have always been a pretty avid student of the Bible and the prophecies of the End Times are of particular interest to me. My father and grandfather were both Baptist ministers so I was very familiar with many of the prophecies, as a kid our church regularly showed the controversial 70's Grindhouse level End Time/Rapture movies Thief in the Night, A Distant Thunder and others. I freaked over those movies, they were pretty bleak but piqued my interest in all things prophecy-centric.Phil's seminar blew me away, it had aspects I'd never heard, a distinct, perhaps controversial point of view. I felt that his sermons should be illustrated and met with him to begin crafting the story for a graphic novel. As we put the story in place, another piece of this plan emerged in Mike Gadd, who asked to put an investor group together and get a fledgling entertainment group together. We had no shortage of interested investors and we started building our game plan.NRAMA: We’ll talk more about the business side of this new venture in a moment, but you say Hotsenpiller has a "distinct, perhaps controversial point of view”? Can you expound upon that in a little more detail?RL: He has a strong, researched point-of-view on current events pertaining to End Times prophecy and has a timeline he has charted that identifies events as he believes they are addressed in scriptures. There are differing points of view on subjects such as World War 3 occurring prior to the biblical Rapture and the collapse of the United States and its removal from the world stage setting the way for a one world government. Sounds crazy and radical but it's compelling.NRAMA: On that note, you mentioned that the End Times prophecies are of a particular interest to you. On what level, if we may ask?RL: Well, I've never hidden my personal beliefs. I'm a Christian believer. I have always been drawn to the Bible and its teachings. What do you think has kept me sane over 22 years in the comic book business? My comic series Prophet featured a son of a minister transformed into a weapon of war and regularly featured Biblical scriptures in the text, so this is hardly new territory for me.NRAMA: So then tell us more about the origin of turning his particular take on these prophecies into graphic fiction form? What made you think this was not only a good subject for a series of graphic novels, but to build a whole new business around?RL: As I mentioned earlier, I attend our local church and over Labor Day 2006 they featured a three-part Prophecy series taught over three services. I was skeptical that anyone would attend considering it was Labor Day weekend, the last big holiday of summer, and I was stunned when I couldn't find a parking space anywhere on a Saturday night and the place was packed, it was standing room only, proving that there is more than a passing interest in the subject matter.The following services were also packed on a holiday summer weekend. They did the same seminar again last summer, same results in what is considered a down weekend. During Phil's first seminar he covered in depth the removal of the United States from the world stage and by no means was this the first time I had heard this revelation but it was by far the most compelling version I'd ever heard.Phil is an excellent orator, I mean he is a minister for cryin' out loud, but he is also one of the most in depth, well researched individuals I've ever experienced. After the first service I ran up to him, introduced myself and told him that we needed to create a graphic novel series around his teachings. He had no idea what I was talking about but we met up a few days later and started creating the graphic novel series. I've been looking for a project like this one for the past 10 years or so, I wasn't sure what it would be until this presented itself and we were off to the races.NRAMA: Maybe it would help to break this down a little… More specifically, creatively, what's the appeal for you?RL: I love Biblical prophecy, whether you treat it as myth or fact it is compelling subject matter, thoroughly interesting material and Phil presented it in a manner that was fresh. It was the most fascinating take on the material I'd experienced, and I've been familiar with this stuff for years.NRAMA: Can you tell readers more about the storyline? Is it an adventure cut by whole cloth by Hotsenpiller? And/or is it based on any more contemporary inspiration other than the original prophecies?RL: It's straight up adventure with the prophecies as the back drop. It’s a sweeping, global adventure involving supernatural elements as well as espionage, military and astrological events. There is a wide international cast of characters that are drawn together, some to unite and others to destroy the world as we know it.More specifically, a global terrorist event signals the beginning of the end as a coalition of nations unites to set in motion a series of Biblical prophecies. Behind the scenes, a powerful figure manipulates events as they serve his purpose. As the U.S. military investigates the terror attacks a larger agenda is unveiled leading to an inevitable showdown between super-powers. The tone of the story is somewhere between the first and third Indiana Jones films and The Da Vinci Code.NRAMA: How about from a business standpoint? In conversation leading up to this interview, you mentioned your business plan includes distribution in three sectors of publishing, only two of which are factors in most comic book publishing - the comic book direct market and “secular” book retailers. Presence in the Christian retail book stores is the x-factor here. So tell us why you and your partners feel this is a good business investment?RL: We all believe in the strength of the material and believe that there are endless crossover possibilities to the mainstream, Christian sector, and otherwise. We've worked hard to make the story appealing to the widest possible audience.NRAMA: You do anticipate significant interest from "secular" readers that are purely fans of Rob Liefeld, and/or of action/adventure graphic fiction?RL; I expect interest from all sectors. The one thing it is not is a superhero book. It's Clancy-ish, Dan Brown in tone.NRAMA: So Rob, acknowledging the old adage the three things you don't talk about at a dinner party are sex, politics, and religion, religion does tend to invoke passionate feelings from people and can often be a source of controversy and debate.This gets mentioned in preface to the next few questions.First of all, you mentioned earlier being drawn to the Bible and its teachings as a Christian, and you also referred to the prophecies as compelling subject matter whether you treat it as myth or fact. From a personal standpoint, in context of Bible teaching, what is the draw of these particular prophecies for you, and can you address whether you regard them as myth or fact?RL: Oh yeah, as a kid I was drawn to the Bible heroes from Sunday School. I've said it before; the Bible has super adventure stories and is super, extremely violent. What's not to like? King David, Samson, Noah, Gideon, Joshua, these figures really grabbed me as a kid, and they've never let go. They are the first heroes, the first action figures on record.So take the faith aspect away and I'm still drawn to the material. If I only regarded them as myth's I'd still be a fan of the characters and their stories.NRAMA: Now we’ve talked about the prophecies as the basis of an action/adventure/intrigue storyline, as well as a profit-driven commercial venture, but the Bible is also “instructive” for lack of a better term.Is this first (and future) publications intended to be instructive in any way, in addition to entertainment? Please correct an incorrect assumption if appropriate, but intertwined with the Biblical End Times prophecies is, “instructions” on how to be eternally saved, correct?Perhaps in other words, is there any aspect of warning … suggestion … encouragement to a course of action or way of looking at things involved with these stories?RL: First and foremost, the priority is to entertain. Tell a good story with interesting characters. It's inevitable that you'll get educated in the scriptures somewhat along the way because the story is rooted in biblical prophecy. The characters in our story will explain and put in context elements in the same manner as Indiana Jones explains to the Feds as well as the audience the history of the Ark of the Covenant so everyone understands the significance of the artifact and it's meaning to Hitler and to history. Same as Tom Hanks walks everyone through scripture in Da Vinci Code or the Priest in the Omen movies.As for religion, I believe a certain way and I do my best to live according to my beliefs, but I don't want someone pushing their stuff on me and have never pushed on others. I like exploring various beliefs, religions, faiths. This story has its roots in ancient Jewish, biblical prophecies. There's no getting around that.If you’re asking if there is a teaching manual that accompanies the story, no there is not.NRAMA: Rob, more generally speaking, of perhaps any figure in comics, you'd acknowledge controversy (justified or otherwise) is no stranger to you. You're a polarizing (in the literal sense) figure in that many readers tend to have passionate feelings about your and your work, one way or another. And without casting judgment or advocating a position, as mentioned earlier religion and particular aspects of religion tend to have similar affects.The passionate people on all sides of the coin have on these topics often lead to debate and disagreement...spirited no pun intended, and to say the leastRL: Yes, especially when the person sharing their beliefs is bludgeoning you and judging you and condemning you. That's never been what I'm about and the graphic novel won't reflect that either. You know the most basic teachings of the Bible are not to judge others and to spread love.My favorite scene in the Passion of the Christ is when Jesus draws the line in the sand and dares the hypocrites to stone Mary. Believe me I've met Christian believers I can't stand being around. And trust me with this graphic novel, we're much more likely to be judged harsher from the Christian community than any other sector. I've already heard how violent it is and I'm like, "Have you ever read the Bible before?" You’re not likely to find a more violent, sexual, treacherous book.NRAMA: So then are you anticipating a particular response from the comic book community to this new venture? Not only from your personal involvement, but the subject matter in general?RL: Honestly, no. I'm really not. People already go rabid dog crazy over the mention of my name without Biblical prophecies attached to it. And again it’s important to note that we are interpreting the prophecies, because the prophecies are only indicators, clues. We aren't telling a story that's already been written; we are taking the prophecies in the direction that we believe will occur. It's still fiction unless it all comes true to the exact letter.What I'm expecting is people reacting to a compelling story and in my opinion we have a good one. Exciting characters, events, as well as some of the best art I've ever been involved with. The feedback on the work has been phenomenal. I've had the good fortune of working with some amazing, young, gifted digital painters working over my drawings and layouts. I think that gives the book a distinct look from anything else I've done and also adds to the broader appeal.NRAMA: Fair enough, and on that note and switching gears completely, tell us about what you describe as a "different direction" artistically for you?RL: The digital paintings over my layouts and pencils are amazing. The work in collaboration with the digital artists whether it's Mike Capprotti or Emily Warren or Matt Yackey has just exceeded my expectations. I wanted to present the work in a different form than what I've done before and so far the reaction has been tremendously positive from everyone.NRAMA: Was this due to the subject matter, or just personal evolution as an artist?RL: It stems from my desire to approach the art differently than the same way I've been doing it for the past 22 years. I collaborated with Mike Capprotti on the cover to Cable #1 and it went over really well and I look to do much more in the same manner.NRAMA: Okay Rob, we probably have grilled you enough. Is there any more specific information as to when and where this first graphic novel will be available? Will direct market retailers be able to order it via Diamond? And while we’re at it, how much?RL: 120 page original graphic novel for 20 bucks. And we are in discussions with mass market retailers as well as comic publishers. A self-published first edition as well as serializing it on our website are both very likely.The web site launched a few weeks back and we are beginning to get the word out. The entire crew will be in New York this weekend at the New York ComicCon and we'll have preview books of the graphic novel, sketchbooks, posters, postcards and the debut of our live model of our lead character Jada to meet the fans.
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Two things disturbed me about this interview. Not so much that he says he's out to entertain and not to preach, that's his right. But he misrepresents the Bible by saying that it's most basic message is 'not to judge others and to spread love'. In fact, the only time he even mentions the Lord Jesus Christ in the whole interview, it's not to share the Gospel, it's to engage in Christian bashing...
I don't think there's going to be anything heavily theological presented here. As someone who sortof rides the fence on millennialism, and also as someone burned out of Liefeld back when he was onboard for all the #1-issue frenzies, I can't say I'm overly anxious to check this out.
Replies
Depressing, at least to me.
God bless you all,
Gerry