Youngblood is a superhero team starring in their self-titled comic book series, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in RAMM #1 (May 1987) before the next month appearing in the one-shot Megaton Explosion #1 (June 1987); in April 1992 Youngblood appeared in its own ongoing series as the flagship publication for Image Comics and the wider Image Universe. Youngblood was originally published by Image Comics, and later by Awesome Entertainment. Upon Rob Liefeld's return to Image Comics, it was revived in 2008, 2012, 2017, 2024 via web sales direct to consumers, and 2025 at mass comic retail. In 2019, Liefeld revealed that he has not owned the rights to Youngblood for several years.
In most of its iterations, Youngblood is a high-profile superteam sanctioned and overseen by the United States government. Youngblood's members include Shaft, a former FBI agent who uses a high-tech bow; Badrock, a teenager transformed into a living block of stone;Upon Youngblood's debut, the character's name was originally "Bedrock". Liefeld would later change the character's name to "Badrock" to avoid confusion and legal threats from Hanna-Barbera, who owned the copyright to The Flintstones, which is set in the fictional town of Bedrock. Vogue, a Russian fashion model with purple-and-chalk-white skin; and Chapel, a government assassin.
Publication history Creation of the series Youngblood was inspired by creator Rob Liefeld's idea that if superheroes existed in real life, they would be treated as celebrities, much the same as movie stars and athletes. The series, therefore, depicts the superhero members of Youngblood not only as they participate in adventures fighting crime and evil, but navigating the world of celebrity endorsement deals, TV show appearances, agents, managers, and the perceived pressures of celebrity life.
From 1985 to 1987, Liefeld did pinups for Megaton Comics, including one of the character Ultragirl that would see print in RAMM #1 (May 1987) and Megaton Comics Explosion #1 (June 1987), a "who's who"-type reference book featuring individual entries of characters in the style of an encyclopedia or handbook. This gave Liefeld an opportunity for his own creation, Youngblood, to see print in this form. The two-page entry featuring the team (consisting at that point of the characters Sentinel, Sonic, Brahma, Riptide, Cougar, Psi-Fire, and Photon) was the team's first appearance in print.Carlson, Gary (September 4, 2013). "Youngblood & Rob Liefeld". Big Bang Comics."Megaton Explosion". Megaton. Retrieved May 1, 2017.Offenberger, Rik (May 29, 1992). "'Youngblood' ashcans have been printed". First Comics News.Katz, Jay (June 9, 2015). "Creator Spotlight – Rob Liefeld" . InvestComics LLC. Retrieved May 1, 2017."CGC 9.4 SS Megaton Explosion 2nd App Youngblood by Deadpool Creator Rob Liefeld". WorthPoint. February 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
Two months later, the team appeared in an advertisement in Megaton #8 (August 1987)"Megaton #8". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved May 1, 2017. indicating that it would next appear in Megaton Special #1 by Liefeld and writer Hank Kanalz, with a cover by artist Jerry Ordway. However, Megaton Comics went out of business before that comic was printed."Megaton #8". Megaton. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
Liefeld has explained that the version of Youngblood that eventually saw print in Youngblood #1 (April 1992) was based partially on his 1991 plan for a new Teen Titans series for DC Comics to be co-written with Marv Wolfman. According to Liefeld, he and managing editor Dick Giordano failed to reach an agreement on the project, and Liefeld merged his Teen Titans ideas with his previous, creator-owned Youngblood property. According to Liefeld, "Shaft was intended to be Speedy. Vogue was a new Harlequin design, Combat was a Kh'undian warrior circa the Legion of Super-Heroes, ditto for Photon and Die Hard was a S.T.A.R. Labs android. I forgot who Chapel was supposed to be, but I'm sure it would have rocked". Given the failed deal with DC and Liefeld's increasingly strained relationship with Marvel Comics over his X-Force royalties, he joined other Marvel artists to form Image Comics to publish Youngblood in their own series.
Original runs
Youngblood #1 (April 1992) was an anthology consisting of two separate stories published in flip book format: each half of the book had its own front cover and contained one story, rotated upside-down from the other half. One story featured the organisation's "Home Team", for domestic missions, consisting of Shaft, Badrock (originally named Bedrock), Chapel, Die Hard, Photon and Vogue. The other story featured the "Away Team", for international missions, consisting of Sentinel, Brahma, Combat, Cougar, Psi-Fire and Riptide.
A sneak preview of the series appeared in The Malibu Sun #1 (February 1992), published by Image through Malibu Comics, which provided administrative, production, distribution, and marketing support for Image's early publications."Bye Bye Marvel: Here Comes Image: Portacio, Claremont, Liefeld, Jim Lee Join McFarlane's New Imprint at Malibu". The Comics Journal #148 (February 1992). Fantagraphics Books. pp. 11–12.Platinum Studios: Awesome Comics Accessed February 3, 2008 On March 13, two separate 5½" x 8½″ black-and-white ashcan editions of Youngblood began to surface, each featuring one of two separate stories from Youngblood #1. Edition "A" featured the 13-page lead story, while Edition "B" featured the other side of the flip book, along with four extra pages of art that would not be included in the premier issue. According to Image Comics spokesperson John Beck, the print run on edition "A" was 1,000 copies, and edition "B" was limited to 500 copies.
Youngblood #1 (April 1992) was the first Image Comics publication.Reed, Patrick, A. (February 1, 2016). "On This Day In 1992: The Start Of The Image Comics Revolution". ComicsAlliance. At the time of its release, it was the highest selling independent comic book published, despite receiving poor reviews from critics"Youngblood" . Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved May 1, 2017. for unclear storytelling due to both Liefeld's art and the book's flip format, which some readers found confusing; poor anatomy; incorrect perspective; non-existent backgrounds; poor dialogue; and the late shipping of the book, a problem that continued with subsequent issues. In an interview in Hero Illustrated #4 (October 1993), Liefeld conceded disappointment with the first four issues of Youngblood, calling the first issue a "disaster". He explained that production problems, as well as sub-par scripting by his friend and collaborator Hank Kanalz, whose employment Liefeld later terminated, resulted in work that was lower in quality than that which Liefeld produced when Fabian Nicieza scripted his plots on X-Force, and that reprints of those four issues would be re-scripted. Writer and columnist Peter David pointed to Liefeld's scapegoating of Kanalz as an example of Liefeld's failure to take responsibility for his project, and evidence that genuine collaboration with good writers like Louise Simonson and Nicieza, which some of the Image founders did not appreciate, had previously reflected better on Liefeld's art.Hollan, Michael (January 7, 2017). "Rob Liefeld's Most Controversial Comics Titles". Comic Book Resources.David, Peter. "Giving Credit Where Credit is Due, Part 1". peterdavid.net. August 20, 2010. Reprinted from Comics Buyer's Guide #1033 (September 3, 1993) Throughout its run at Image, Youngblood and other books published by Liefeld's Extreme Studios were attacked by critics for late issues and inconsistent quality.Thomas, Michael (July 30, 2001). "To the Extreme: A conversation with Rob Liefeld". Comic Book Resources.
Although intended for monthly publication, issues #1–3, #0 and #4–5 of Youngblood were published intermittently between April 1992 and July 1993. Four months passed between the publication of issues #3 and #0, and five months between issues #4 and #5. Ultimately, Youngblood #5 was published in flip-book format with Brigade #4 as its flip-side; Liefeld was also replaced with Chap Yaep as penciller. Various other Image Comics series were spun off or previewed in these issues: issue #0 introduced the team leader of Brigade, the story arc in issues #2–5 introduced the main characters and central premise of Prophet, and a backup story in issue #3 introduced the series Supreme.
An anthology spin-off series Youngblood: Strikefile began publication in 1993, featuring stories spotlighting various individual main characters from Youngblood. Issues #1–3 (April – August 1993) were flip books, containing three-part stories starring Die Hard and Chapel; issue #4 (October 1993) contained a single self-contained story featuring Shaft, Badrock and Die Hard. A one-shot Youngblood Yearbook (July 1993) featuring the "Away Team" was also published, effectively as an annual.
Liefeld solicited writer Kurt Busiek for Youngblood stories in 1993. Busiek wrote detailed plots for three issues and ideas for a fourth, under the proposed title Youngblood: Year One. This was never produced, but the plot lines were revived amid controversy years later.
From September 1993 a new title was launched, Team Youngblood, published monthly, pencilled by Chap Yaep. It featured what was formerly termed the "Away Team" with an altered team lineup, consisting of Sentinel, Cougar, Riptide, Photon, and new characters Dutch (owned by Yaep) and Masada. This series effectively replaced the original Youngblood title; the characters Shaft and Badrock were limited to cameos, and Chapel was added to the cast of Bloodstrike. Issues #7–8 were included in the "Extreme Prejudice" crossover event.
The original Youngblood series resumed in June 1994 from issue #6. The series was then published monthly, and strongly integrated with Team Youngblood; plot developments and characters regularly crossed back and forth between the two titles. Old characters were brought back including Shaft, Badrock, Vogue, Combat and Brahma, while new ones were introduced including Knightsabre, Troll, and trainee recruits Task and Psilence. Youngblood issue #9 was an out-of-continuity story written and pencilled by Jim Valentino as part of "Image X Month", where creators swapped titles. The original volume of Youngblood ended with issue #10 in December 1994, having been delayed. Youngblood: Strikefile also resumed publication in July 1994 from issue #5, now also published monthly; it ended with issue #11.
The January 1995 crossover event "Extreme Sacrifice" incorporated Team Youngblood #17 as "Part 6 of 8", and afterward included Youngblood: Strikefile #11 (February 1995) as "Part 0 of 8" for its main story featuring Chapel. Team Youngblood then ran for issues #18–20 (May – July 1995), ahead of a relaunch of the Youngblood title with a new issue #1 (September 1995).
The second Youngblood volume included many crossovers with other comics published by Image. Issue #3 (November 1995) crossed over with Glory in a two-part story. The January 1996 nine-part crossover event "Extreme Destroyer" included Youngblood #4. The "Rage of Angels" (March 1996) crossover included Youngblood #6 and also issue #21 of a revived Team Youngblood; the "ShadowHunt" crossover (April 1996) included Youngblood #7 and Team Youngblood #22, the latter series' final issue. Following issue #10, Youngblood crossed over with the Marvel Comics series X-Force (also created by Liefeld) in one of the several inter-company crossover one-shot stories Image Comics would do with Marvel over the course of the 1990s; the two-part story consisted of issues titled Youngblood/X-Force (July 1996) and X-Force/Youngblood (August 1996).