Youngblood (Image Comics / Awesome Toys)

Youngblood
Image Comics
1992 - 1994

It was one of the flagship titles for Image Comics launch in 1992 and one of the most anticipated comic series of all times. Unfortunately, much like most of the Image titles, big names couldn't save Youngblood from becoming just another cancelled title. With cliche characters, clearly "borrowed" from other more popular ones and a lack of storytelling, Youngblood was easily one of the weakest titles in the Image brand.

However, the hype train was full speed ahead, and copy after copy were yanked from store shelves by eager comic book readers and investors who couldn't wait to have anything related to the Image brand. This in turn lead to reprints, variant covers, elusive chase issues and the inevitable crash in the comic book industry.

Not that Image was the sole cause of this. By this time in comics, every company was looking for ways to get people to buy multiple copies of the same book. Gimmicks were big, and comic book enthusiasts shifted to buying copies of books based on names attached and flashy covers, not the stories inside, which were proving to get worse and worse with each month.

Image certainly helped to contribute to this inevitability. Though I can't blame the creators behind each book. If people are going to throw money at you, of course you're going to take it. As you see the number of sales come in each month, you're also going to get an inflated ego. Then you're going to stop trying because you think your name will sell books, regardless of the contents inside.

It worked for a while, then it came crashing down across the entire industry. Several Image titles were short lived as a result of this, and soon the artists who would never work for Marvel or DC again, were once again knocking on the doors of the publishers who made them who they were.

Youngblood
Awesome Toys
1997 - 1998

With the success of McFarlane Toys, several other companies were eager to produce toys based on Image titles. I've already talked about Prophet from Awesome Toys, and today I'm going to showcase the short lived Youngblood series.

Much like Prophet, the series focused on one character in multiple colors - Hey, kind of like an Image comic. Same thing, different paint job. No wonder this line failed miserably.

Interest dwindled fast, if it was ever even there, and much like the comic series, Awesome Toys soon found itself cancelled. They produced only two more lines before closing their doors for good.

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Youngblood (McFarlane Toys)

Rob Liefeld has become somewhat of a punching bag for the comic industry ever since the early 1990's. Some of it is merited, but there is a fair amount of the blame that is simply there for the sake of him being the scapegoat.

Like the majority of Image Comics artists, Mr. Liefeld made his departure from Marvel Comics with the idea of being a self published artist seeing all the reward and benefits from creating characters, and not just receiving a tiny kickback from it. His first venture would be Youngblood - A series about a superhero team sanctioned and overseen by the United States government. As one of the flagship titles for Image Comics, it saw major success in terms of sales, but wasn't necessarily critically acclaimed for its story, which led to Liefeld firing his co-writer.


Placo Toys actually attempted a Youngblood toy series in 1995 which saw very little success. When the opportunity arose, Liefeld turned to McFarlane Toys in 1996 in hopes of getting a toy line off the ground.

The series launched with six figures which would become the one and only set released for the line - with the exception of the two pack which contained the Youngblood figure Shaft and the Wetworks figure Mother-One. Shortly after the release of the two pack the series was cancelled. However it is speculated that this was not solely based on the sales of figures, but rather the standing of Mr. Liefeld as CEO of Image Comics.

It was alleged that Liefeld was using his check writing "powers" to pay personal expenses out of Image Comics funds. He was often times accused of making business decisions that were counterproductive to the business, and lost a lot of respect from his fellow Image alumni when it was found that he was recruiting Image talent in hopes of luring employees to his new independent company and projects. However, the most shocking allegation was that he was copying and/or tracing his comics from other people's artwork - Something that to this day has never been proven.


Liefeld announced that he was leaving Image Comics shortly before an official press release from core Image founders announcing that he had been fired. Since then he has struggled to find the foothold in the comic world that he used to have. This is mainly due to his inability to meet deadlines. Even when given the opportunity to produce books again for Marvel's Reborn line, Liefeld did not deliver books as promised, and the contract was terminated.

In 2007 it was announced that he would return to Image Comics, and that several new series were in the works related to Youngblood. The once flagship title of the company is back in production, and slowly picking up steam.

In interviews he often times refers to himself as the Britney Spears of comics. Hot, hot, hot, then suddenly not, not, not. We simply see him as an artist who got too big for his britches, and instead of focusing on his books and meeting deadlines, thought he could get by on selling his name via interviews. Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. In spite of all of this though, Liefeld does have a strong following of fans that are eager to buy when he bothers to produce.

Join us next time when we take a look at Toynami's Futurama!

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