1. ROB LIEFELD (1991-1997)
How could one man single-handedly be the worst thing to happen to comics during the '90s? Take this into consideration: He was one of the founders of Image Comics; he was one of the architects behind Heroes Reborn; and he was on the forefront of the variant cover movement. It can be argued that the artistic philosophy that Rob Liefeld brought to the comics industry nearly bankrupted the entire medium.Rob Liefeld isn’t just the worst comic artist ever; he’s simply the worst artist ever. Any latchkey kid with a mild case of ADD and enough mental dexterity to clutch a crayon could draw circles around Liefeld; the man couldn’t even draw feet. We would rather have our eye sockets romanced by Diana Ross’ hair straightener than to have to gaze upon Liefeld’s "art" ever again, but despite his lack of talent, Liefeld is a crafty salesman. He turned his menial talent into an empire.
Liefeld’s use of overly exaggerated muscles and hilariously large weapons was a novelty in the comic world and for a while his books sold big time. Marvel saw this and anointed him the savior of the comic book industry and paid him a ton of money. Soon enough, though, his work started to deteriorate to near comical levels and fans started to turn against his books in droves.
His legacy is unfortunate too because comics had come so far in terms of respectability in the '80s, but in the '90s Liefeld, and people like him, ruined it all with a few strokes of their talentless hands. Thankfully, since the collapse of the comics industry in the '90s, Liefeld has been almost absent from comics save for a few covers and short-term work every now and again.
But, in what seems to be a trend on this list, DC just hired Liefeld to do the artwork for the new Hawk and Dove series for this September’s company-wide relaunch. We're bracing for the worst.