Youngblood #2

I am a bit late on reviewing this title. I picked it up a couple of week's ago and had a hard time getting through it. Every time that I picked it up, I just got bored within a couple of pages. So, today, I decided to forge on through and see if it got any better...it didn't. Someone needs to edit this book. In my "Legion of Super-Heroes #39" review I said that writer Jim Shooter could get wordy. Well, writer Joe Casey not only is wordy, he name drops, and babbles. The characterization is very poor with only Shaft and Die-Hard having unique voices. Every other team member is interchangeable. It is all just one big mess. Government conspiracies are handled much better over in Robert Kirkman's "Invincible". Here, the one-dimensional government lackies are just pitiful. The premise of a reality series just falls apart here with the government openly sponsoring the bad guys. I just don't buy it. With all of the world balloons the art gets lost.

In the end, with little story, character development, or action to move things forward or grab my interest, Casey decides to kill off a character. We all know that death sells, right? It all just rang hollow. I'll give this one more issue, but across the board I'm disappointed.

Youngblood #1

I bought the first "Youngblood" series when Rob Liefeld and Image published it in the early 90s. I enjoyed it a lot then but it seemed to disappear off the map. It is nice to see the guy who was the leading impetus for the formation of Image Comics back with the company along with his premiere title "Youngblood". This time Liefeld is handing the reigns over to writer Joe Casey and artist Derec Donovan. My first impression of this book is that the art and story telling are similar to that of Robert Kirkman's "Invincible". While the first issue is all setup as the government puts the team back together, I liked the reality TV aspect of the story and Shaft's attitude towards the reformation of the team. I'm not sure that the supporting team members are all that compelling but I like Shaft's characterization.

While this first issue did not blow me away, I'll stick around for a few more issues and see if Casey can work some magic on this old Image throwback team.