Youngblood #75 and #76
Written by: John McLaughlin & Manolis Vamvounis
Art by: Jon Malin
Colored by: Ross Hughes
Lettering by: Rus Wooten
Published by: Image
Cover Price: $3.99 per issue
Note : This review is for the digital version of these comics available from Comixology
Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!
Manolis Vamvounis has been someone I’ve known for a while now, and have always admired his writing. So, I am very glad to get the chance to finally get to review a comic that he’s scripted! It really could not have happened to a more deserving guy!
Issue #75 Summary (contains spoilers): Since Youngblood restarted in issue 71, there has been a reporter for Entertainment Now magazine embedded with the team to find out what they are all about (and to try and help fix the tarnished public image the team has developed). Throughout this issue, we see how that article plays out. In between the article pages, we get to celebrate some of Youngblood’s history, and see the team dealing with some current threats…including the cleverly designed Chicago Noir…
As well as the fact that one of their teammates, Lady Photon, seems to have taken a liking to killing bad guys. Despite all this, the team is finally starting to gel together under their new leader. They even have finally stopped calling him “Not Shaft.” This cohesion is tested when the original Shaft (now an FBI agent) returns in civilian garb to ask their help on a case. Someone has been killing versions of Vogue in the future and teleporting backwards through time. Shaft quickly realizes that the team no longer needs him around.
Even though the article seems a bit brutal at times, it seems to end pretty fairly:
Throughout the series, Badrock had been in a hospital in a coma. This issue ends with a massive fist punching its way out of Badrock’s body….which brings us to issue 76….
Issue #76 – “Whatever Happened to Badrock?” Summary (contains spoilers): This issue starts with Badrock fighting someone named Starcore (or something) on the surface of the freakin’ moon. Starcore has built a ginormous doomsday laser to destroy Earth, and Badrock is thrilled to be able to fight him, even if the bad-ass crazy silent Starcore won’t quip back with him.
Badrock succeeds in destroying Starcore’s weapon, and the Youngblood team (still with the original Shaft) heads back to Earth. Diehard had been pretty busted up during the fight. Starcore vows to get revenge on Badrock.
On the way back to Earth, the ship is so badly damaged, it looks like Youngblood is going to end up crashing and becoming pavement pancakes. Badrock realizes that the only way his teammates can survive is if he can break their fall. Everyone knows there is very little chance he can survive that. They crash land, and Badrock is pretty much demolished, which finally explains why he’s been in a coma so long. This ends up being what caused the original Shaft to retire from being a superhero.
Review: When I first heard about Image relaunching all these old Extreme books, I didn’t know how to feel about that. Part of me wanted to yell “THE 90’S ARE LONG GONE!” But at the same time, I am still a huge fan of Rob Liefeld and was really curious to see if these books could still stand strong in the current marketplace. I actually didn’t pick them up until after Youngblood launched. I enjoyed it so much, I had to check out the rest of the line. I am very pleased to say that Supreme, Glory, Prophet, Youngblood, and Bloodstrike are some of the best comics being sold!
In a lot of ways, I think Youngblood might have had the most to prove of the relaunched Extreme titles. While Youngblood had a huge impact on the comic market when it first came out, too many people like to look down on it as some kind of joke. The passage of time has not treated early Image all that well, and the many relaunchs of Youngblood over the years haven’t gotten a lot of positive press.
Even though I was a huge Image fan back in the 90’s (and still am), I will admit that I thought Youngblood was overshadowed a bit by books like Brigade and Bloodstrike back then. But I am very happy to say that under McLaughlin and now with Vamvounis’s scripts, Youngblood really finally hit its full potential.
I have always thought that the idea of superheroes as celebrities makes a lot of sense, but the few comics that have tried to tackle that subject just have never seemed to get it quite right. Youngblood is the first book that I really feel is a close portrayal of how superheroes would fare in the world of TMZ and The Smoking Gun. The Youngblood characters are celebrated, while scrutinized and criticized to death. At the same time, we also see how much of a fiction these “news” outlets and celebrities are both trying to create.
But even in this celebrity setting, Youngblood is still telling strong, classic superhero stories. Each issue has been focused on a strange threat the Youngblood team finds themselves dealing with. If nothing else, Youngblood features some of the most unique superhero stories I’ve read in a very long time.
Issue 75 was great at showing us the team in a variety of situations, and laying down some strong characterization. But I actually thought 76 was even better. From the first page, Badrock’s personality comes out perfectly. I actually kept laughing while reading Badrock’s narration and dialogue which wasn’t good since I was trying to get my kids to go to sleep. Badrock really feels like a 17 year old kid who is just thrilled to have these powers and loves fighting bad guys. That kind of excitement is infectious as you read this issue.
Things got worse when Issue 76 ended on such an abrupt down note. I actually yelled at the screen when I realized I had to wait another month (or likely two, since I tend to buy most Image books a month after release because they are two bucks cheaper that way) to find out what the hell burst of out Badrock’s chest at the end of issue 75. That might have been one of the best cliffhangers I’ve ever read in a comic. I love that even after 20+ years reading comics, there are still plenty of great surprise endings! It’s just not good when these surprises cause me to yell loud enough to wake up twotoddlers.
On top of the strong plots and scripts, Jon Malin’s art has been perfect for Youngblood. These are “the pretty people” and we see that, but at the same time, Malin does a great job showing off terrific superhero battles. It creates a real strong parallel that helps set this book apart from anything else I am reading. This is a far departure from the pouches and massive guns people tend to think of when they think of Youngblood or Rob Liefeld.
I really can’t say enough good things about this new Youngblood series. Fun to read, great art, great characters, and some of the most original superhero stories I’ve ever read. Youngblood is definitely turned into one hell of an impressive comic, and these two issues really mark a great place for new readers to jump right in. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Final Score: 9.0 – Two great issues of Youngblood! This is not the image most people have when they think of Youngblood, but it really is one of the best superhero comics being put out right now. Miss this book, and you really can’t call yourself a superhero fan.
