2016 Comic Challenge 140 Youngblood Super Special #01

TITLE-Youngblood Super Special #01
PUBLISHER-Maximum Press

Yep I am back with more Youngblood.By the time this issue came out,cover date winter 1997,I had just gotten back into comics. But was ignoring everything coming out that was superhero related. Then a few years ago I found a big stack of Liefeld stuff. And it was cheap,average issue was costing me a quarter. When I bought it I flipped thru the comic,saw that Chris Sprouse was doing the art. And the comic ended up getting filed away in a longbox.

So about 2 weeks ago I was going through some of my boxes of comics. And pulling out stuff that I had either never read or had read but was wanting to read again. I flipped through this comic again and wanted to read it since the art by Mr Sprouse looked damn good.

This issue is about Sentinel going off with a team mostly comprised of new recruits to the Youngblood program. They get attacked and now this team of new and untested heroes has to prove they have what it takes to be part of Youngblood.

The story,written by Eric Stephenson,is kind of an average story. But compared to lots of the other Youngblood stuff I have read it is so much better. What really made the issue stand out to me is Chris Sprouse's artwork. I had gotten use to either Liefeld art on Youngblood or art from one of the many Liefeld clones on Youngblood.

I am guessing not many people read this issue. By 97 all except the diehard Liefeld fans had given up on all the stuff he was putting out. Plus when this came out Alan Moore was busy writing Supreme. So that title seemed to get all the attention.

Youngblood Super Special #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 139 Youngblood Vol 01 #08

TITLE-Youngblood Vol 01 #08
PUBLISHER-Image/Extreme Studios

Set right after Team Youngblood #11,this issue gives us the battle I wished had happened in the Team Youngblood issue.

Shaft and most of the Youngblood team go to capture/kill the villain who killed their teammate. And on the way there we get introduced to some new members. None of whom stand out.

But there is another story in this issue. We are taken to the alley Spawn is living in. And who happens to show up but Chapel. The man who killed Spawn.

I was surprised when I looked at the credits and saw that Liefeld actually drew this issue. I figured by this late in Extreme Studios run he wasn't doing much besides recruiting more talent. And Liefeld and Eric Stephenson wrote the issue.

I am kind of tempted to go dig out the next issue and read it. Mostly to see the continuation of the Chapel vs Spawn stuff.

Youngblood Volume 01 #08 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 138 Team Youngblood #11

TITLE-Team Youngblood #11
PUBLISHER-Image/Extreme Studios

Yep once again into the early 90s with another comic from Extreme Studios. Team Youngblood was a spin off of Rob Liefeld's Youngblood. Each series was suppose to focus on the home or away team. But that was never really stuck too.

Rob Liefeld and Eric Stephenson seem to have wrote this comic. With Chap Yaep doing the pencils and Danny Miki/Marlo Alquiza/Jonathan Sibal handling the inks. I don't mind Yaep's art. He is the best of the many Liefeld clones that worked at Extreme Studios.

The issue starts with the Sentinel lead team. They have just lost a team mate and need help. Then a quick cut to Badrock. He is on vacation off in Colorado. When he gets attacked by the cyborg hitman Overtkill. So a many page battle happens. And near the end Shaft shows up and grabs Badrock. And they head off to take care of whoever it was that killed one of their teammates.

The fight between Badrock and Overtkill is ok at best. Lots of huge panels and what all. I would have rather that part was skipped and we got straight to the battle that I am assuming happens in the next issue.

Team Youngblood #11 gets a pass.

2016 Comic Challenge 070 Youngblood Battlezone #01

TITLE-Youngblood Battlezone #01
PUBLISHER-Image/Extreme Studios

At one time I owned 8 or so copies of this comic. And I never bought one on purpose. When I moved back in fall 2007 I didn't get to bring but maybe 1/10th of my comics. So craving new comics to read,and the nearest comics shops over an hour drive and such,I started just grabbing whatever I found cheap at thriftstore,flea markets,etc. At Vendors Emporium right before X-mas 2007 I found 30 packs of 4 comics bagged together for a buck a pack. I grabbed all 30. The way they were packaged all you could see was the two outside titles. All of which were not duplicates.

I get home and start opening them up. First one I open the middle books was some random issue of Supreme and Youngblood Battlezone. And out of those 30 packs I got at least 8 copies of this book.

Under a cover from Rob Liefeld and Danny Miki,we get  a guide to Youngbloods tech and weapons. Remember those really cool tech breakdowns in The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe? Well these are like 8th rate clones of them. Someone named Richard Horie is credited with all the interior art.And good ole Eric Stephenson is listed as writer.

For a few years I would just randomly mail various friends boxes of vhs tapes,comics and other random stuff. And I would always include a copy of this book as a gag gift.

Youngblood Battlezone #01 gets a PASS!