Youngblood 3

Early Series Finish

Shipping time and Ebay only allowed for the first three issues of Youngblood out of the five issue arc before the podcast recording. I’ll be able to read a bit on any plot elements, but will have to rely on Jeff and Dre on the show. I know Dre has the entire run.

I’ll keep my eye open at stores for back issues #0 and #4 to do those posts. I like having somethiing to hunt for again.

If you’re at all interested in more Image behind the scenes, there’s a great article saved on wayback. It gets into the rise and fall history behind Image’s first years. Well worth a read.

First thoughts on holding issue three

Jeff Shaft and Bedrock are on both covers. They figured out the attraction
This is three issues in six months
Better drama in the cards already
Combat and Photon were rival aliens
How did they get on the same ship that crashed?
Why did Youngblood hire these aliens?
Were these questions ever answered?

Page #1

I read up on Prohpet between issues
He was not foretold of Youngblood, he thought they were the disciples
Though he is very self-convinced Youngblood are these disciples
Nineteen minutes of fighting is a lot

Page #2-3

Prophet’s captions reveal techotelepathy
He appears to be giving them the rope-a-dope
Prophet takes robots down
Kinda like the pacing of these panels

Page #4

Wow, where did that monkey-arm come from?
Panel 1, his raised left arm looks longer than his body
Youngblood members here + Kirby are clearly dead

Page #5

Hard cut to our main men, Jeff Shaft and Bedrock
First appearance of 90’s gay-coded personal assistant
This is Liefeld’s attempt at the celebrity side of Youngblood
Jeff Shaft must already spend an hour a day on his hair and body prep
In Memory for Joe Shuster is from the recent death
Is that purposeful inclusion for Supreme’s first appearance as torch passing?

Page #6-7

Jeff Shaft is not comfortable with selling toys in his image to exploitable kids
They spend way more time describing the toys than the objection
Which is brushed aside for a prisoner confrontation
At least its the male lead voicing the objection
That and the lack of overt fascist imagery makes issue 3 look progressive by comparison
Back to shouting playground insults at each other
Gratutious use of the word “butt”
That man in metal armor got into the high-security prision super easy

Page #8-9

Now in space, with the alien species looking for Combat and Photon
I only kn ow this from character wikis
So much pizazz in one outfit
Is this the same species’ that hate each other where Combat and Photon came from?
Why do they keep getting on ships with their enemies?
Are they fighting over who the traitor is?
This is a two page meanwhile with no context except what I can decipher from wikipedia entries

Patch's mid-life crisis

Page #10-11

Press conference, but they’re talking like they’re in a security de-briefing
Ok, if Jeff Shaft is the new recruit (per wikipedia), why he leading the press briefing?
Where he straight-up lies about a political assassination
Is the One-Man Chicago Police a Savage Dragon reference?
Page 11 panel 2 - Jeff Shaft in the Captain America Liefeld Chest pose while encouraging voting.

Page #12-13

Never read a Malibu comic I can remember the plot from, but the ferret still has that Malibu look
So, the third jailbreak in three issues, two by the same team
They’re called the Four because there’s four of them
Did the girl in the metal suit lift a dead corpse by their tie after killing them?

Page #14-15

Two page spread with Jeff Shaft, Bedrock and guy from cover breaking a lot of glass
I thought this was to stop a jail breakout? Why destroy that glass.

Page #16-17

Another two-page spread of Jeff Shaft spinning before firing three arrows at the metal ninja
She catches them all… how!!?!?!?!

Page #18-19

X-Men card ad, must be because Silvestri
Light taunting between Jeff Shaft and Metal Ninja

Page #20-21

Jeff Shaft vs. real ninjas
Classic Jeff Shaft pose page 21 panel 1
I think that’s a dis on TMNT with Bedrock’s Bad Breath Clan reference

Page #22-23

Yabba Dadda Doom made it to print
Lampshading ruined the bit
Rock man vs. ninjas is not a great matchup

Page #24-25

Robotech Ad
Chapel is extremely violent

Chapel is working through things at home

Page #26-27

The Four have been released by metal ninja
There are five of them… of course
Nope, Chapel killed him immediately

Page #28-29

Character reveal
Jeff Shaft is surprised to see him
Something is going on with the other team… in the next comic
No indication of what the deal is… or if they will continue the fight with the four

Page #30

That’s just Cage, Boom Boom and Spiral jumping with a couple friends

Each Cable is more Cable than the Cable before

Page #31-33

Nice… letters to Rob
Letters are similarly confused and praising
Are Berzerkers Heroes or Villians
I too was confused on this
No love for the flipbook format
Many letters calling Liefeld the new Kirby
Huge reveal that members of Youngblood go through a selective government training program. It’s in the seventh year.
How the hell did Jeff Shaft get in so quickly

Flip side is a 5 page Supreme promo similar to Shadowhawk in issue 2
Art is immediately distinctive
Softer than Liefeld / McFarlane / Lee style
Most panels have full backgrounds
Pitches Sci-fi / Superhero world
Is supreme just the dude, or also the team?

Afterthoughts

This reminds me of post-Endgame MCU in that so many threads and characters are offered, then pulled back. And this is only three issues. This is clearly written as its drawn. Even Liefeld can’t keep his character stories straight.

Most of my story and character knowledge came from reading the wikipedia entries. I’m genuinely curious on how Liefeld fits in all the origins in a single issue. Then wraps up this storyline that feels like it hasn’t started with one issue.