Rob Liefeld Debuts His Next Superhero Comic The Defiants as NFT

Comic legend Rob Liefeld is taking a gamble on blockchain technology and is releasing an entirely new line of comics in the form of NFTs.

Tonight marks the launch of Rob Liefeld’s next great superhero comic The Defiants. Instead of introducing the title in physical comic book stores, The Defiants is dropping as non-fungible tokens, aka NFTs, on the digital marketplace MakersPlace. The team is defined as “a disparate collection of Warriors united in defense of humanity.” In order to purchase an edition of The Defiants — Team, fans will need to purchase all five of the individual heroes that make up the team as NFT trading cards. Those heroes are Argos, Astra, Golden Rage, RedStone, and Vandel. ComicBook.com spoke to Liefeld ahead of the NFT drop to learn how he decided to dip his toe into this growing cryptocurrency phenomenon.

“Well, when the whole NFT thing was stirring it really piqued my interest,” Liefeld told ComicBook.com. “Again, 20 years ago we were told that digital comments weren’t going to work. It wasn’t going to hang around. It’s just a waste, that platform’s not going to stick. I put my comments on digital platforms, immediately. I love to take every new platform out for a ride. I think it’s exciting.”

He continued: “And, in doing so, I figured, in debuting this new world, these new characters, I want an entire NFT. I want this new world that I’ve created to be an NFT centric world. And that is a big giant world. When I go to sports engagements at my kid’s high school, when I go to the dinners, the fundraisers, I get dads coming up and asking me, ‘What are you gonna crypto? What are you gonna do about NFT?’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, this is out there.’ So this world is beyond comics. And anytime we can do something that goes beyond comics, I’m all for it. The idea to make them into trading cards was to make this is fun. I will design them as trading cards. Given that these are first appearances, rookie cards, if you would, and we let it fly.”

The bold direction for Liefeld may be controversial to some, but he’s not the first comic creator to experiment with the new realm of non-fungible tokens. In March 2021, Mind MGMT creator Matt Kindt revived his acclaimed series to auction off a one-shot story called “The Artifact” on the OpenSea NFT marketplace. To celebrate Sin City’s 30th anniversary, Frank Miller teamed up with Concept Art House and Gala Games to produce exclusive Sin City-themed NFTs. His piece I Love You, Nancy Callahan was auctioned off for over $800,000 making it one of the most expensive comic book NFTs ever produced. While the merits of NFTs can and should be debated, it’s no surprise why some high profile artists are gravitating toward the non-fungible medium.

The Deadpool creator coined The Defiants as “an offbeat concept featuring the wildest characters I’ve ever created, I’m thrilled to share their world in the realm of NFTs.”