Top 25 Image Comics of The Last 25 Years

No. 1: Youngblood

First Published: April 1992 (Volume 1)

Former New Mutants/X-Force artist Rob Liefeld’s government sanctioned celebrity superteam was the first title Image published. Youngblood contained elements of super teams such as Teen Titans and various X-titles (X-Men and X-Force). When Youngblood launched in 1992 the book featured two different teams, the home and away teams. This was similar to the X-Men’s blue and gold team approach during the early 1990s. The initial Youngblood series was co-written and drawn by Rob Liefeld with Image’s current Publisher Eric Stephenson serving as a co-writer.  

Youngblood Volume 1 only lasted ten issues that were published between 1992 and 1992 before being relaunched, however it was the foundation of Liefeld’s Extreme Studios. Characters and concepts introduced in Youngblood were spun-off into other Extreme Studios titles such as Bloodstrike, Brigade, Prophet and Supreme. Team Youngblood a spin-off title featuring the away team started in 1993; Youngblood: Strikefile a series spotlighting the solo adventures of various team members also launched in 1993. Volume 1 also established ties to other Image properties such as Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. Several volumes of Youngblood have existed over the last 25 years published through Image and other companies. Youngblood returned to Image Comics in 2008; a new volume is expected to be published in the spring of 2017.