Rob Liefeld's Return to This Classic Team Is Off to a Red Hot Start

This year has been a historic one for Rob Liefeld's iconic Youngblood series. The original series was the very first Image Comics release back in 1992, and just this year, the deluxe version of the original issue was a sellout earlier in the year, and now, Liefeld's return to the title for brand-new stories has sold out a week before the issue even hits the shelves!

Next week's Youngblood #1 has already sold out on the distribution level (comic books have a "final order cutoff" date where retailers have to make their orders to guarantee that they will receive their initial order of a comic book, but then publishers print extra copies of the comic for reorders. There were enough advance reorders that there are no longer any copies of Youngblood #1 available from Lunar Distribution, Image Comics' distributor). Youngblood #1 will now be heading back to print for a second printing with a brand-new cover by Liefeld, along with a special Treasury Edition of the series.

What are the new covers for Younglood #1 second printing?

The main new cover for the second printing of Youngblood #1 will be a new Liefeld homage to the iconic New Mutants #98, another Liefeld comic book from 1990 that introduced Deadpool, Domino, and Gideon. As Image Comics notes in a press release, "This new take swaps in Youngblood’s next-gen trio: Vandel, Xerxes, and Plsymx. Die-Hard, Shaft, Vogue, and Badrock step in for Cable, Cannonball, Boom-Boom, and Sunspot resulting in an homage the deserves a spot in every fan's collection."

There will be a virgin variant edition of this cover, as well as a black and white variant (the black and white variant will be a 1:10 variant, meaning that retailers will have to order 10 copies of the other covers to be able to order one copy of the black and white cover). There will also be a trading card variant cover spotlighting the new character, Vandel.

In addition, there will also be a Treasury Edition version of the issue released along with the second printing. Treasury Editions are, of course, oversized comic books done in the style of Marvel Comics' classic Treasury Edition comic books of the 1970s (DC had their own versions of Treasury Editions that they sold under the name "Special Editions"). This is the format that the original Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man: The Battle of the Century comic book came out in, as well as Superman vs. Muhammad Ali.

What does Rob Liefeld have to say about Youngblood selling out already?

Liefeld, the writer/artist of the new series, said to Image in a press release, “This is the time for gratitude. Grateful to the Youngblood fans that have roared with their enthusiasm. Grateful to every retail partner that took the leap with their support. Grateful to comic stores, the backbone of our market, we rely on them to reach the masses. And I gotta express my thanks to everyone at Image Comics who provided guidance and enthusiasm. Enjoy this comic! The Road to Youngblood #100 starts here!”

Youngblood #1 second printing and Youngblood #1 Treasury Edition will be on sale on December 17th.

Source: Image Comics