Los Angeles [US], February 7 : Rob Liefeld, co-creator of Marvel's Deadpool, is retiring from the character after 33 years.
Liefeld took to X and wrote, "I am retiring from Deadpool. It's official. Yup, after 33 years of not only introducing Deadpool but chronicling many of his most popular adventures, it's time for the Deadpool Daddy to say farewell."
https://twitter.com/robertliefeld/status/1754535750669053963
"One of the fun parts about getting older is you can retire from things, so here I am. So I worked up one last crazy Deadpool yarn for the fine folks at Marvel and they responded with electric glee and I started producing it last month for release in Summer 2024. I often wonder what my life would be like if I had not created and sold not just Deadpool, but Cable, Domino, Stryfe and many others to Marvel."
"What If Young Rob hadn't taken up the challenge of transforming a title that was headed towards cancellation is one of the better alternate universe tales. It certainly transformed my young career, creating opportunities and record-breaking sales for New Mutants & X-Force."
"Creating and introducing the Deadpool Corps., featuring Lady Deadpool & Dogpool was a great function of my mid-life crisis during 2009. In 2015 I started Deadpool:Bad Blood, getting Deadpool his first original graphic novel, and his only chart-topping, #1 ranking to date, an achievement that got me a round of congratulations from Marvel brass that pumped my chest out farther than Captain America's! No other auteur has combined to write and illustrate more Deadpool work, I'll complete this journey with over 1000 pages alongside my Mercenary Misfit."
Liefeld also shared that he has "worked up one last crazy Deadpool yarn for the fine folks at Marvel" that would be released this summer.
"So, I'll finish this one last Deadpool story, and trust me, it's a wild one, and call it a collaboration for the ages. It'll be fun! In case you are wondering, why now? That's easy, I'll be 57 at the end of this and my eyes are still functioning, the work continues to be strong, and I want to go out with the best effort I can muster."
The comic book creator also explained why he decided to leave the character behind after so many years.
"The hand-eye coordination won't be there forever. I'll elaborate more on this on my next Observations podcast and look forward to taking this journey with you, the world's greatest fans, who have always provided the best support a cartoonist could ever imagine. And that is saying something!"
Liefeld is thrilled to have written and illustrated over 1,000 Deadpool pages since the character's 1990 debut, and he expects to have worked on 150-plus covers and 45 distinct No. 1 issues, including Deadpool: Badder Blood, which debuted last year.
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