Rob Liefeld Revives Youngblood in the Twilight of His Career 

The career of Rob Liefeld is not unlike a superhero story. From scrappy origins to assembling powerful teams to striking off on his own, the comic book creator’s life is mirrored by the genre of his work. Now, in true superhero form, the artist is back to revive one of his early ventures, Youngblood, during the final stage of his career.  

Liefeld’s origin story began, as many do, in his teenage years. The artist grew up as a comic book enthusiast and he committed to the craft as a late teenager by taking life drawing classes, attending comic book conventions and sending samples to editors across the country. 

Early on, editors were apprehensive of Liefeld, due to his distinct art style. Although his drawings were not lacking in story or concept, they displayed anatomical proportions that were less than favorable to the eye, let alone inconvenient for the characters boasting them. 

Nevertheless, Liefeld was tapped by Megaton Comics (who published the first Youngblood character design) in the mid-’80s, and DC and Marvel comics soon after. 

Despite his success with Marvel, Liefeld left in 1992 alongside Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, Whilce Portacio, Jim Valentino and Marc Silvestri. The team founded Image Comics, each with their own studio under the banner. Youngblood was the first series published under Liefeld’s moniker, Extreme Studios. 

The original run of Youngblood followed a superhero team a-lá-Teen Titans in a society that treated heroes as celebrities. The original team was split in two, a cohort to handle domestic disputes and a group to handle battles overseas. Home Team consisted of Shaft, Badrock, Link, Vogue, Chapel, and Diehard; and Away Team comprised Sentinel, Cougar, Riptide, Psi-Fire, Brahma, Photon, and Combat. 

The two teams included telepaths, aliens, weapon masters, cyborgs, archers, therianthropes, aliens, and numerous other archetypes any good superhero team shouldn’t be without. The characters, in addition to Liefeld’s action-packed style, caused Youngblood to break records for independent comic sales.

The original run of Youngblood came to an end when Liefeld left Image Comics in 1996, but the series was revived when he rekindled his relationship with Image in 2007. The revival was brief and was followed by two more in 2012 and 2017, neither of which lasted longer than 11 issues. 

Now, Youngblood is back with a momentous new release. Shipping of the first printing of Youngblood #1 (2025) has already sold out and is currently available in comic book stores. 

“Comics as a whole are better off when there’s a Rob Liefeld Youngblood comic on the stands,” Robert Kirkman, co-creator of Invincible and The Walking Dead, said. “Rob always brings the fast-paced high octane action spectacle you’re looking for but I love that there’s always some kind of new idea or innovation present in everything he does. If this series isn’t on your pull list, you must like dull comics so I can’t help you.” 

The longstanding iconism of Youngblood and its sentimental bookending of Liefeld’ career certainly make this release exciting, but the comic’s modern relevance is arguably even more captivating. Youngblood #1 (2025) is coming at a time when federal involvement in any superhero narrative makes for a compelling concept, and when the idea of celebrity superheroes is foregrounded by consumerism and idol culture like it’s never been seen before. 

“This is the time for gratitude,” Liefeld said. “Grateful to the ‘Youngblood’ fans that have roared with their enthusiasm. Grateful to every retail partner that took the leap with their support. Grateful to comic stores, the backbone of our market, we rely on them to reach the masses. And I gotta express my thanks to everyone at Image Comics who provided guidance and enthusiasm. Enjoy this comic! The road to ‘Youngblood #100’ starts here!”