Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld draws even more Marvel variant covers with his return

Deadpool variant cover excerpt — (Image credit: Rob Liefeld (Newsarama))

Update: Marvel Comics unveiled even more of the Rob Liefeld-drawn variant covers the publisher will offer throughout 2021 in celebration of Deadpool's 30th anniversary.

The party will start with Deadpool Nerdy 30 #1, a giant-sized special issue of classic Deadpool creators exploring the past, present, and future of Wade Wilson.

Liefeld will then create 30 variant covers depicting Deadpool teaming up with various Marvel superheroes.

"When the opportunity to illustrate 30 variant covers commemorating Deadpool's 30th anniversary came up, I literally jumped at the chance! I went over a quick checklist with the Marvel brass and I think we've picked a great array of Marvel's biggest and brightest stars to pair with the Mighty Merc over 30 unique covers!" Liefeld says.

Original story follows

Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld has announced he will return to Marvel Comics over a year after his public exit from the publisher in October 2019. Liefeld will return to Marvel to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Deadpool's debut in 1991's New Mutants #98.

Liefeld created Deadpool alongside writer Fabian Nicieza in 1991's New Mutants #98, as an adversary for the young mutant team. When New Mutants relaunched as X-Force, Deadpool became a breakout character, spinning off into his own limited series, followed quickly by an ongoing series that has more or less continued in one volume or another to the present day. The character has also starred in two successful films played by Ryan Reynolds, with a third film in the works.

Plans for the Deadpool 30th anniversary celebration include a Deadpool Nerdy 30 one-shot and 30 variant covers all drawn by Liefeld, featuring Deadpool alongside other Marvel characters, including some of Liefeld's other creations and co-creations.

Additionally, starting in January, Liefeld's podcast Robservations will feature a five-part 'Making of Deadpool' series that Liefeld's announcement states will "offer insight into how the character was developed from initial discussions with Marvel to character design and beyond."

Liefeld exited Marvel in 2019 with a high-profile tweet declaring "So, this will be my last original cover for Marvel for the foreseeable future."

"After doing 100 covers the last few years, I'm taking a pause," he stated on October 15, 2019. "I'm also not continuing any interiors as I've put those on hold as well. G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes and creator-owned are on the desk!"

Before that, Liefeld's longtime creative relationship with Marvel Comics that was rekindled in the mid-'00s seemed to sour, with Liefeld tweeting on October 8, 2019, "Had a good long talk with my attorney. Time to hold some feet to the fire for some shady practices over at Marvel. Good times to come Robert Iger."

At the time, Iger was CEO of Marvel's parent company The Walt Disney Company.

It's unclear what if anything came of Liefeld's legal pursuit, though the tweet has since been deleted.

No projected release date for Deadpool's Nerdy 30 was announced. Liefeld's 30 Deadpool themed covers are stated to debut "throughout the year," though no specific titles on which they'll appear were named.

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I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)