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Rob Liefeld's superpower is saying 'no.'

At least, that seemed to be the crux of a thread that the Deadpool creator posted on Twitter/X this past New Year's Eve. Ever ready to speak his mind, Liefeld created an expansive piece of advice for up and coming comic book talent, all under the umbrella of being willing to say 'no' to jobs that don't suit them. And to prove his point, Liefeld shared some of his own history of saying 'no' at Marvel Comics.

First up, Liefeld recounted a time he passed on the house of Idea's most popular magic wielder, saying "I didn’t want to draw Dr. Strange as an occult investigator. I asked to let it be pure Ditko - was told no. So I passed." Then, Rob talked about an opportunity he had to take over for the much beloved X-Factor line - "I passed on X-Factor because I knew following a legend like Walt Simonson would bury me. His run was phenomenal, there was no way I could compete. Don’t follow a legend."

Honestly, it's not the worst advice in the world, though the comic industry has produced its share of unfairly underestimated comic stories simply because they followed a 'legendary' run. Anyway, when it came to saying no to Spider-Man, it wasn't because Liefeld felt he wouldn't have creative control or be tracking in impossible to follow footsteps. He just didn't want to work on something that would be running against a megahit comics line at the same time.

"I couldn’t accept Spectacular Spider Man as I knew I’d play second fiddle to Todd McFarlane," admitted the Youngbloods creator. "There was no surpassing Amazing. Easy money, but not without consequence."

A quick note before we leave you - though Liefeld did say no to the Spectacular Spider-Man run in question, he didn't completely let go of the idea of doing something in the same vein. As you may remember Popverse reporting on earlier this year, Liefeld did end up creating a character that was as mouthy and funny as the Spider-Man of his own youth was.

And that character was Wade Wilson.

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet, and here's a guide to how (and where) to read comics online. If you're looking for the best comics in recent memory, check out the Eisner Awards winners and the Harvey Awards nominees. And if you like free comics, here's everything we know about Free Comic Book Day 2027.