Youngblood (1992) Image

Youngblood is a superhero team that starred in their self-titled comic book, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in the 1987 one-shot Megaton: Explosion before later appearing in 1992 in its own ongoing series as the flagship publication for Image Comics. 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 and again in 2012. Youngblood was a high-profile superteam sanctioned and overseen by the United States government. Youngblood's members include Shaft, a former FBI agent whose archer's bow uses magnets to propel arrows instead of a bow string; Badrock, a teenager transformed into a living block of stone; Vogue, a Russian fashion model with purple-and-chalk-white skin; and Chapel, a government assassin. Creator Rob Liefeld has explained that Youngblood was based partially on his 1991 plan for a new Teen Titans series for DC Comics, to be co-written with Marv Wolfman. Wolfman has denied, on numerous occasions, any involvement with Liefeld on any project. Liefeld and managing editor Dick Giordano "couldn't make the numbers work", however, and Liefeld shifted his Teen Titans ideas into a new creator-owned project: Youngblood. It was published by the newly founded Image Comics. 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". Youngblood was based on Liefeld's idea that if superheroes really did exist, they would be treated much the same way as movie stars and athletes. Throughout the series, there are numerous references to endorsement deals, TV show appearances, agents, managers and the perceived pressures of celebrity life.