The Real Story Behind When DC Characters Appeared In Monthly Marvel Comics
5. A New Beginning
Once the dust had settled on the Onslaught event, Marvel revealed the Heroes Reborn line. Rob Liefeld would take on The Avengers and Captain America, both titles being met with universal derision almost straight out of the gate. It became clear pretty quickly that Liefeld could not deliver upon the promises he had made or the sales figures his name on the credits should have brought in.
Jim Lee, on the other, would work predominately on The Fantastic Four title and leave the pencilling chores on Iron Man to his fellow Image founder Whilce Portacio. So, while Liefeld's tenure would be a critical and commercial dud, Lee's run on The Fantastic Four would at least deliver some of the sought-after sales - only to see readers walk away from controversial storytelling decisions like the Sue Richards and Ben Grimm love story.
However, Jim Lee, ever the businessman, had managed to strike up a deal where he could use his creator-owned characters in the Marvel titles while retaining the rights to them; a clause he would invoke at the end of his tenure.