Chris Condon has explained the inspiration behind Ultimate Wolverine, and it’s not Rob Liefeld. Jules Feiffer has died at age 95. Chris Claremont returns to Wolverine and Kitty Pryde.
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Episode Transcript:
Chris Condon reacts to Rob Liefeld’s Ultimate Wolverine claims.
Jules Feiffer has died.
Chris Claremont returns to Wolverine and Kitty Pryde.
This is Comic Book Club News for January 22, 2025.
Rob Liefeld Claims Ultimate Wolverine Design, Chris Condon Reacts:
Back in October, creator Rob Liefeld not-so-subtly implied that he designed the costume for Marvel’s Ultimate Wolverine. Liefeld doubled down on this over this past weekend, leading to writer Chris Condon tactfully explaining the actual inspiration behind the costume.
As Condon posted on BlueSky: “Hey folks, I’m obviously not terribly active on social media, so I haven’t seen this with my own two eyes. However, some friends have sent me some posts by Rob Liefield that seem to imply that he was the originator of the Ultimate Wolverine design. While I appreciate Rob Liefield’s contributions to the comic book industry and his rock star-like presence at Marvel Comics creating beloved characters like Cable and Deadpool, among many others, I feel that this claim does a great disservice to the wholly original work Alessandro Cappuccio has done on this book.
“It’s very cool to see that Alessandro and Rob Liefield have vague similarities in their designs – I think that’s pretty fun – but the similarities are just that: similarities. If we pulled from anything at all, we pulled from BWS, Frank Miller, Romita, Claremont. The muzzle was my addition, though …it was expertly executed by Alessandro. We’re two small fish in a gigantic ocean trying to tell a Wolverine story with love and admiration for the character and the creators that contributed to him. But what we’ve done is wholly our own, derivative only of the base essence of this beloved character.”
And just for further clarification, Cable was co-created by Louise Simonson and Liefeld, while Deadpool was co-created by Fabian Nicieza and Liefeld. Just FYI.
Jules Feiffer Dead At 95:
The Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer has died at age 95.
Born January 26, 1929 in New York City, Feiffer got his start at age 17 as an assistant to another legend, Will Eisner, where he helped with iconic comics like The Spirit. However, his career really got a big bump up in 1956 when his strip Feiffer was first printed in the Village Voice, where it ran until 1997. Among other publications, Feiffer was published in the New York Times, where he pioneered the paper’s first op-ed comic strip.
In 1986, Feiffer won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame. His publications include Sick, Sick, Sick, The Great Comic Book Heroes (the first ever history of comic book superheroes), and many more. Feiffer’s output ranged from collections of his works, to histories, to plays, Academy Award winning shorts, and more.
His graphic novels include Tantrum, which was published in 1979, Kill My Mother (2014), Cousin Joseph (2016), and The Ghost Script (2018). Feiffer was working until the end: Amazing Grapes, his first ever graphic novel for young readers, was published in 2024.
Feiffer is survived by his wife, JZ Holden, and his three cats, Mimi, Jackson and Dezzdemona.
Chris Claremont Returns For New Wolverine And Kitty Pryde Miniseries:
Chris Claremont is heading back to the ’80s — again — for Wolverine and Kitty Pryde, a new miniseries set during the events of the classic Kitty Pryde and Wolverine.
Also featuring art by Damian Couceiro, the five issue Marvel series is pits the duo again new villains, while weaving between the pages of the iconic, original mini. Oh, and it’ll feature covers by Alan Davis, to boot.
“It’s really great returning to this arc, especially since it’s being presented by a wonderful artist, Damian Couceiro!” Claremont said via a press release provided to Comic Book Club. “It’s the story of what happens between the end of the original Kitty Pryde and Wolverine mini-series and Logan and Pryde’s return home to rejoin the X-Men. Five issues, more than a single story, complete with surprises galore!”
If you’ve never read the original series, it found Kitty losing her soul to the villainous Ogun in Japan, with Logan slowly working her way back to the side of the good guys. In the new series, per PR from Marvel, “as a mysterious force threatens their lives while staying with Mariko Yashida, it’s going to take all of their combined mutant, ninja and fighting skills to protect those they love!”
Wolverine and Kitty Pryde #1 hits stores on April 30.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And Rob Liefeld also co-created this podcast! No he didn’t.
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