Comic creator Rob Liefeld is returning to his signature creator-owned characters Youngblood, planning to reboot the superhero team through Image Comics, according to THR, who broke the news. This brings Youngblood back to their original home, with the characters having debuted as part of the original line-up of Image titles way back in the early '90s.
Liefeld plans to both write and draw the new Youngblood title, which comes as something of a surprise thanks to the previously embattled status of the rights to Youngblood. In recent years, the rights were previously owned by investor Andrew Rev and his Terrific Productions company.
Rev and Terrific Productions sparked controversy in their approach to rebooting Youngblood after they purchased the rights in 2019, with no actual Youngblood comic actually coming to fruition in the years since. Now, it seems the rights are owned by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and his Rip Media Inc production company, who are actually the ones who sold the rights to Rev and Terrific Productions to begin with, meaning the rights have seemingly either been reclaimed by Rosenberg or reverted to his control.
If the name Scott Mitchell Rosenberg sparks some recognition for you, it's likely because Rosenberg is one of the co-founders of '90s publisher Malibu Comics. Malibu and its signature Ultraverse superhero line were later purchased by Marvel Comics, who still own the rights to the concepts and characters.
However, the Ultraverse rights are so inextricably tied to Rosenberg's contractual involvement that Marvel will likely never bring the characters or the concept back, with Marvel's senior vice president of publishing Tom Brevoort stating in his newsletter back in 2022 that "it seems unlikely that we'll be able to revive any of those characters any time in the near future."
Now, it seems Rob Liefeld is teaming up with Rosenberg for the new Youngblood title, which will be accompanied by a series of reprints of older Youngblood material. Having debuted back in 1992 with the founding of Image Comics, of which Liefeld was a co-founder, Youngblood has since floated from publisher to publisher with only a few sporadic issues popping up here and there over the years, amounting to around 100 issues of comics. Liefeld himself hasn't been involved since 2017, when he provided covers for the last volume of Youngblood.
"It's so great that I can run into the comfort of characters that I created, that launched a movement. They carry such history. I love Youngblood so much. These characters are my absolute passion," Liefeld tells THR.
"Rob and I are a fantastic team, and I'm as excited now for Youngblood's relaunch as I was in 1992 for its initial launch," adds Rosenberg. "I'm excited to bring them to audiences old and new with their original creator, Rob Liefeld."
The Youngblood revival is expected to kick off in 2025, though no specific dates have been announced.
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