Youngblood #74
Written by John McLaughlin
Art by Jon Malin
Colors by Ross Hughes
Letters by Russ Wooton
Cover by Rob Liefeld & Ross Hughes
Image Comics
Release Date: September 19, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Youngblood #74 is a little lite compared to the past few issues of the rebooted series. But, it still manages to maintain in a fun, nostalgic way. All your favorites are here and they’re fighting a bunch of kick butt bad guys. What more could you want?

I’m not sure if it’s John McLaughlin‘s writing that hooks me or just the overall experience of reading this book. Yes, there’s a definite nostalgia factor when reading this book, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Plus, add to the fact that it’s been updated for current times and trends and you have one solid comic. I have to be honest, I don’t care for the other Liefeld reboots. I’m glad that they stuck with the “normal” superhero formula for this one. It’s what works and, in my opinion, what the title should be. You can change whatever you want to about the other books, Youngblood is best when it’s just straight-up superhero team vs. super villain battles. And, there’s a great deal of intrigue and mystery withing the book itself, so we ALL win! At its core this book is what it should be. A superhero team book. And it excels at that.

Youngblood #73
Written by John McLaughlin
Art by John Malin
Colors by Ross Hughes
Letters by Russ Wooton
Editors Eric Stephenson
Cover by Rob Liefeld & Ross Hughes
Image Comics
Release Date: August 22, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Youngblood #73 reminds you why you loved Image Comics in the 90s. I have to admit, when I was about 20 years old or so, I was REALLY into Image Comics, like everyone was, for a few years they were fun. Then, the company (and its creators) really went into a different direction. Now, it seems they’ve balanced out their brand with books like this, Supreme, Bloodstrike, and things that you normally wouldn’t associate as “Image books” like Saga, Thief of Thieves, Revival, etc. But, it’s very nice that you can pick up a book off the stands and immediately say THIS is an Image Comic!”

Youngblood #71
Written by John McLaughlin
Art by John Malin & Rob Liefeld
Colors by Ross Hughes & Matt Yackey
Letters by Russ Wooton
Edits by Eric Stephenson
Covers by Rob Liefeld & Matt Yackey, Ryan Ottley & Jordie Bellaire, and Chris Giarrusso
Image Comics
Release Date: May 23, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

Astonishingly, Youngblood #71 is something that falls into the “things I didn’t know I wanted or needed category,” like Rocky Balboa — who knew we needed an official ending to the Rocky story? Not me, but it sure was awesome. Also, the film Rambo. The last scene where John Rambo walks down the driveway to his family’s farm was, again, an ending that I didn’t know I needed. But again, I was surprised and satisfied that I got it. Truth by told, I stopped paying attention to Youngblood about a couple years after it started coming out, so why then was I excited for this issue? Some would say nostalgia (who, me?), but most of all, it’s because I have been impressed by the other Image titles that have came back for the 20th anniversary that have been fantastic! And out of all those titles, Youngblood was the only one that I cared about originally.