How Did Rob Liefeld Lose Control of Image Comics’ Youngblood?

During the Image Revolution, Rob Liefeld‘s Youngblood accelerated the artist’s progression from rising talent to comic book superstar. Decades later, Liefeld’s work is being re-evaluated with renewed interest, fueled by equal parts nostalgia and a thirst for profitable intellectual property. Unfortunately, the outspoken comic book creator apparently no longer owns one of his most recognizable creations. So what happened?

Technically, Youngblood first appeared in pin-ups, advertisements and other supplementary materials published by Megaton Comics between 1985 and 1987. However, the publisher went out of business before the comic could ever seen fruition. It wouldn’t be until 1992 that Youngblood would make its debut as the first comic published by Image Comics. Image Comics was founded by Rob Liefeld alongside the likes of Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino and Whilce Portacio with the general principle of comic book talent frustrated by the work-for-hire stipulations at Marvel Comics at the time. Under their new Image brand, each Image partner would have control of their own studio, with Rob Liefeld forming Extreme Studios to launch Youngblood right out of the gate.

Youngblood was a massive hit, becoming the best-selling indie comic for a time, though it was blasted by critics. Despite several delays, Youngblood would run over the course of several titles, introducing several key characters to the team in the process. Unfortunately, tensions started to run high between Liefeld and Silvestri, resulting in a confusing game of musical chairs whereby Silvestri withdrew from image, Liefeld resigned, and then Silvestri returned.

Liefeld formed a new company called Awesome Entertainment, but after a dust-up between Liefeld and his partners, the rights to Youngblood were divided up, with Liefeld resuming publishing several Youngblood revivals through 2017. However, Liefeld claims he has not owned the Youngblood rights for decades, likely stemming from this agreement. After interactions with Andrew Rev of Terrific Production LLC, Rob Liefeld said on Facebook he had decided to “wash my hands of this corner of my imagination” and announced he was ceasing publication of his current iteration of Youngblood

For now, it seems as though Rob Liefeld has moved to greener pastures. The artist has launched several new characters since then, and has most recently debuted the first issue of Snake Eyes: Deadgame, which he penciled and co-wrote. While the future of Youngblood is looking increasingly hard to discern, it’s clear the behind-the-scenes stories are just as interesting – if not more so – than the superhero antics on the printed page.

Source: Rob Liefeld

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