Rob Liefeld’s New Comic Shows the Industry Can’t Ignore NFTs

After announcing last April that he was not yet comfortable with using non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, for his new comic series, Rob Liefeld has had a change of heart. Earlier this month, Liefeld, who has worked on such comic classics as Deadpool, Cable, and Youngblood, announced that the initial issues of his new comic series, The Defiants, would be available exclusively as NFTs. While Liefeld is not the first comic creator to use NFTs as a publishing platform, the fact that he is one of the first creators of stature to do so will certainly attract other high-profile comic creators into the space. Moreover, Liefeld’s choice to use NFTs despite his initial reservations about the medium suggests that as creators, comic companies, and fans become more knowledgeable about NFTs, their use in the comic industry will grow.

An NFT can be thought of as a unique piece of digital content where authorship and ownership can be verified. That is, NFTs allow content to be verified as one of a kind, while also validating who created it, and who owns it. Since the focus of NFTs are collectibles, their use in or for comic book collections is obvious. For a well-known artist like Liefeld, who after 30 years in the comic industry has certainly amassed thousands of unique and unpublished pieces of content, converting them into NFTs seems like a “no brainer.” Not only will it allow him to publish his work as he wants it, but it will also give fans direct access to works that they may otherwise never have access to or the opportunity to see.

In Japan, for instance, where the digital comics market is estimated to be worth $3.7 billion, it is common for manga artists to first draw out a physical copy of their comic before converting it to digital format. As a result, there are pages of original artwork that just get thrown away or collect dust in storerooms. NFTs not only allow the artists to generate some extra income but also allows their works to be digitally preserved.

Other high-profile comic creators seem to be catching on to what Liefeld discovered after his initial objections to NFTs, which were based on concerns about NFTs’ potential environmental impact. Manga artist Chihiro Tamaki, for instance, has also announced that she will be converting about 20 works to NFTs and auctioning them to the public. Like Liefeld, Chihiro is one of the manga industry’s most popular creators based on her work on Walkin’ Butterfly, Fool on the Rock, and most recently Joan of Arc.

NFTs are not just about generating revenue for old or unpublished work. For example, Jose Delbo who worked on Wonder Woman, Detective Comics, and The Transformers, during his professional days lost a valuable source of income when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down public events such as comic conventions where Delbo often appeared to sign autographs. However, via NFTs, Delbo was able to sell a work featuring Wonder Woman for $2 million. Moreover, once DC forbid artists like Delbo from selling NFTs using DC characters, Delbo was able to pivot and create an original NFT-based comic. Consequently, collectors have finally been able to get what they have wanted for years, namely a new comic by their favorite creator delivered directly to them from the artist.

While this is the early stages of the comic NFTs, as more creators such as Rob Liefeld, Chihiro Tamaki, and Jose Delbo embrace the space it is only a matter of time before it achieves some measure of acceptance and recognition. It may not overtake the more traditional means that fans enjoy comic entertainment, but it will occupy a significant portion of the comic industry, especially independent comics.

Sources: Financial Times, Los Angeles Times and Medium

About The Author

Marcel Green
(144 Articles Published)

Marcel Green is a comics news writer for Screen Rant. A lifelong comic fan who originally was a “Marvel Only” collector, he has matured into an “independent” fan of all things comics, manga, cartoon, and anime. Happy to finally be able to put all those hours reading comics over the years to good use.

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