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Image Comics was founded by a group of mega-popular Marvel artists who exited the publisher to form their own company. Rob Liefeld, one of the seven creators involved alongside Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino, describes the group as "alpha dogs" and compares them to the ravenous soldiers of The Odyssey.

"I think that's what happened with Image Comics. You've got seven alpha dogs. Marvel had never seen anything like us. We were rabid," Liefeld explains in his spotlight panel at Comic-Con International: San Diego 2026. "Every day we woke up and were like, we want to eat more. What's more? That scene, if you've seen The Odyssey when they're all turning into pigs? That's Jim, Rob, Todd, Marc, Whilce, Valentino, and Erik Larsen. Because we were like, 'More, more, more.' And I think Marvel was trying to shake us. Get the heck out of this. We're going to eat your whole house. And eat everything down."

In The Odyssey, the sorceress Circe transforms Odysseus' crew into pigs by feeding them a magic stew that polymorphs them. Christopher Nolan's critical smash hit adaptation of the story renders the scene in visceral detail, making it one of its most memorable moments.

"Image Comics is such a marvel to me that we have crushed it for now 34 years. Coming up on our 33rd year. And it was absolute competitiveness that drove us. I was there in our room. I'm telling you that the temperature was always hot," he continues. "And the greatest comics came out of it. And that's the thing I have learned from all of you over the last 15 years of doing shows. You guys tell me how much they love you. And I may have had to learn to appreciate that at a time that I didn't. But now I understand. Because I have people."

Liefeld says the era of the Image founders at Marvel was a high creative watermark for the publisher, and though he's had his ups and downs in his relationship with Marvel over the years, he's hoping for another creative revolution.

"Nothing's better than going on live streams, and people all over the world telling me how much they love the comics of that era. And I'm like, I kind of love the comics of that era too," Liefeld states. "Marvel had like a once-in-a-lifetime generational thing going on. And it was exciting. And look, I hope they get back to that. If they can, it would be great for the comic book industry."

Liefeld remains one of the most polarizing and popular comic creators of all time.

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.