On March 30th, 2017, comic book creator Rob Liefeld – best known for creating Marvel Comics‘ Deadpool – celebrated the 25th Anniversary of his Extreme Studios brand at Big Red Comics in Orange County, California, with a limited signing. Joining him were 17 of Extreme Studio’s founding creators, which marked the first time in 20 years they were all in one location for a signing together. Commemorative comic books, featuring full biographies for each of the artists, as well as artwork from the Extreme catalog, were specially commissioned for the event.
“I was so nervous and excited to be able to bring these amazing artists whom I have worked with and watched grow for the last 25 years together,” said Liefeld. “They have helped shape the pop culture industry over the last 25 years and for one night we got to celebrate where we came from. I’m so happy that the fans who supported us back then were able to come and see us all back together and celebrate this amazing milestone. I don’t know when are we all going to be able to get into the same room again and the feeling was electric!”
The location of Big Red Comics was significant in that Liefeld created Extreme Studios in Orange County in 1992. It was here that Liefeld sought to create an expansive comic book community. The result was Extreme Studios, which was the first studio of its kind and also the first group to release a comic under the IMAGE brand.
In addition to Rob Liefield, Chap Yaep, Jeff Matsuda, Lary Stucker, Marat Mychaels, Shannon Denton, Norm Rapmund, Matt Hawkins, Shelby Robertson, Andy Park, Jon Sibal, Dan Panosian, Todd Nauck, Art Thibert, Dan Fraga, Karl Alstaetter and Danny Miki attended the event.