During this one-year, multi-title story arc, Marvel temporarily outsourced the production of several of its best-known comic books to the studios of artists Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, who had been among Marvel's most popular artists before leaving to form independent companies.

Marvel conceived of an experiment to outsource production for titles with lagging sales to two former Marvel artists Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, who had left the publisher four years earlier to form Image Comics, and who still enjoyed great popularity among the comics-buying public.

The two creators would launch four new titles, with Jim Lee's WildStorm Productions producing Fantastic Four and Iron Man, and Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios handling Captain America and The Avengers.

In addition, while Richards' goal of becoming the first man to get to Mars remained, it was revealed that he secretly aimed to explore the interstellar anomalies of that area.

[citation needed] Marvel ended Liefeld's contract early after six issues, citing low sales on his two titles,[3] which were reassigned to Lee.

[4] Although the four titles in "Heroes Reborn" were slated for a 12-issue run, James Robinson wrote a thirteenth and final issue for each book.

The artwork depicted Captain America with "cartoonish proportions", in particular his stomach, arms,[5][6] and "gaping barrel chest", as Comic Book Resources (CBR) put it.

I didn't give him those big tits for nuthin…"[5][9] He revisited the illustration in September 2023, with a New York Comic Con variant cover for Captain America (vol.

The change in creative team on Captain America was also controversial, since the pre-Heroes Reborn team of Mark Waid and Ron Garney had already been bringing increased sales and critical acclaim to the series,[17] prompting the question of why it had required a reboot by Liefeld, whose artwork on the title was heavily criticized for its poor anatomy and skill,[2] so much so that it has been subject to parody.

This was planned to tie in with the memorial scholarship fund established in honor of Loeb's son Sam.

[21][22] In 2021, Marvel published a Heroes Reborn storyline[23] consisting of a central miniseries by Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness, though it bears no relationship to the 1996 story beyond its title and some in-story references.