Popverse's top stories

• Five Nights at Freddy's comics delayed, but not cancelled, in the wake of criticism about the art
• Explaining Rachel Rozman, Natasha Lyonne's Fantastic Four: First Steps character [Lore Corner]
• Alien: Earth star Timothy Olyphant couldn't sell Larry David on the show in the perfect real-life Curb Your Enthusiasm moment

Rob Liefeld began his panel at San Diego Comic Con this year by promising it would not be boring. And my god, was he correct.

At one point in the panel hosted by the Deadpool co-creator, a fan asked Liefeld about what influence the Bible has had in his work. For those not in the know, Liefeld actually wrote and drew an Old Testament adventure called The Covenant, which is about the Biblical figure of Samuel, one of the Judges of Israel (the image above is from that comic). But long before that, the Bible was influencing the mind that would one day create Cable, Youngblood, and so much more, as Rob so helpfully explained.

"My dad was a pastor," began Liefeld, "My parents gave me an illustrated Bible done by, like, a knockoff [Frank] Frazetta guy. And there’s a Samson in there that is going like this [Liefeld mimes Samson striking] with the jawbone of an ass, smacking some philistine with blood spouting out from his face. When you're a kid, you’re like, trying to decide whether you like violence enough to be a serial killer or just kind of enjoy it the way I'm enjoying it right now. People forget that David killed Goliath and then, believe it or not, he cut his head off, and he walked around with the head for a whole day. Read your Bible, people!"

To Rob's credit, that oft-forgotten fact about the David and Goliath story is right there in the book of 1 Samuel. It and other such violent escapades throughout scripture had the Deadpool creator questioning critics of his own violent comic stories.

"You know," he continued, "We give a Bible to a kid and we're like, ‘Hey Robbie here's this super R-rated (sometimes x-rated; Song of Solomon) thing’ and you're like, ‘Wow! Church got a lot better!’ I'm like, ‘There’s sex in the Bible! Why didn't anyone tell me this?’ So when I get scolded for [my work] being too violent I just say, ‘You let your kids read the Song of Solomon.'"

Again, what Liefeld says about the Bible is 100% true - the Song of Solomon features some incredibly sexual stuff sandwiched in between all those histories and laws. But for Rob, there's one Biblical figure that particularly stands out as especially promiscuous: King David.

"David was a pimp!" Liefeld exclaimed, getting a whoop of laughter from the crowd. "He was like, ‘I like that chick, come kill that husband.’ That's the story of David, okay? Then a prophet comes up to him and says, ‘You're a bad man, David, you're a bad man. Your son's going to die, and that's going to be your punishment.’ We give these R-rated stories to children."

Apparently, though, for all the fun violence that Rob Liefeld finds in the pages of a text that half the world's population finds holy, there are two quibbles he has with the whole thing.

"I was raised on the Bible," Liefeld concludes, "I also think that the New Testament is so boring! Other than the crucifixion, where is the violence? I also think there's got to be more to the story of Samson. There's only like six adventures in the Bible. like, you can't just kill a bear, kill a lion, kill all these Philistines and leave me at that. So I don't really know how to answer your question other than to say I don’t really have a moral compass."

Youngblood #1 is on sale November 5.

Get ready for what's next with our guide to upcoming comics, how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to Free Comic Book Day 2025.