The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **Victorian Squid** » Thu May 24, 2012 8:29 pm

BubbaKanoosh wrote:Wasn't shaft a redhead?

Yeah not Not-Shaft though.

by **Victorian Squid** » Thu May 24, 2012 9:14 pm

So do we get credit for 2 reviews this week if we do double duty and review both, or just one?

by **bkthomson** » Thu May 24, 2012 9:16 pm

Youngblood #71
Story by:John McLaughlin
Art By:Jon Malin & Rob Liefeld
Cover By:Rob Liefeld

I do not know what to expect from this book as Youngblood and Rob Liefeld are two names that epitomize the comic book industry market and Image Comics of the 90’s. Last time I read Youngblood was issue #1 (1992) the first comic ever published from Image. I do not recall much but what I do-- It was bad. Just plain bad. Bad writing. Bad story. Bad characters. And yes, bad art. Yes, I have five copies of the issue I will not hide to admit. It was the 90’s speculative market, and I was stupid. Very stupid Now 20 years later the review group is saddled with taking a look at Youngblood #71. Thanks, Jude.

As one can imagine my expectations are low, I’m talking Menara Trench low. I expect lumping down my $2.99 will be a book with bad writing, bad story, bad character and yes, bad art. Just by looking at the Rob Liefeld cover alone I’m filled with dread of what the opening page will bring me. So why am I reviewing this book if I already have my mind set it will be bad?

I want to be wrong. I want to believe that Rob Liefeld has produced a book that is beyond my expectations. You see as much as I dislike Rob Liefeld work, though it never stops me from buying his books, I think Rob is good for the industry. There is a level of enthusiasm for comics that is so lacking today which he bring to the fore front to reader that that is rather infectious. It is too bad the enthusiasm does not always equate to a quality product.

So here is to hope beyond hope that I am wrong.

Am I wrong?

Nope.

Damn.

In issue #71 the readers are reintroduced to characters Die Hard, Cougar, Phonton and Vogue part of the US government sanctioned team Youngblood. Joining the veteran heroes is a new person taking over the mantle of Shaft, the teams’ former leader, but he gets little to no respect from his new teammates. Besides the introduction of the character it is respect which seems to be the point of this issue as Youngblood’s lacking of respect from the general public forces the government to hire an individual to help the teams’ image to glow brighter.

The issue moves from one fight scene to character developing interlude to fight scene just giving enough cliché paper thin character insight but not enough to make the readers care because none of the characters are likable at all. Vogue has role model of celebrities who are made famous by having made a sex tapes. Die Hard is stiff as a board and is not consistently written where one moment he sounds like a robot to another where he comes off as Joe Average. Cougar, seems like Wolverine if Wolverine was raised by a happy loving family. Photon, all we know is she was a he and really wants to have sex. Classy. And their new leader, Shaft or Non-Shaft as the team like to call him, he barks orders, demands respect and seems no different than the previous character who he took the name after.

McLaughlin does a fair job with the book as it is not a horrible read nor is it something I expect it to receive an Esiner nomination. He moves the story along as fast as he can with what he has or is directed to write for this action oriented characters. It is nowhere as horrible as Youngblood #1 from 1992 but it meetings any expectations that people have made for this comic.

There is enough criticism out on the internet regarding Rob’s art so I will not go any deeper than I need too but just to say it is your typical Rob Liefeld fare. The women are drawn big breasted and in short skirts. Little to no backgrounds, gaping mouths so large that a person could fit a grape fruit in with room to spare. Stiff character poses and panels that are so incompressible bad, it should have been rejected by the editor telling Rob do it again. Again this is the typical Rob art that we all know and love to hate. There are standards to comic book storytelling and then there is Rob Liefeld.

I will not be back for #72 as there are much better books on the stands that I will put my money towards. It’s a shame that the love Rob has for Youngblood never seems to equate to a quality final product.

Score: 4/10

by **bkthomson** » Thu May 24, 2012 9:17 pm

McDarkseid wrote:So do we get credit for 2 reviews this week if we do double duty and review both, or just one?

I would hope 2 credits for two reviews.

by **Victorian Squid** » Thu May 24, 2012 9:24 pm

bkthomson wrote:
I would hope 2 credits for two reviews.

And I would hope for Three Times One Minus One:

[Reveal] Spoiler: Click to Expand

by **Stephen Day** » Thu May 24, 2012 10:07 pm

Batman Incorporated #1

This was alright, I don't know though I can't say it really struck a cord with me.

The opening sequence was good and drew me into the story at first. However, once things switched to, "One Month Previously," it lost me somewhat. It's not that what I was reading was badly written, Bat Cow definitely got a chuckle out of me for instance. The problem is that I can't really say that I cared at all for any of the villains. Goat Boy seemed kind of flat to me and Leviathan doesn't come across to me as anything I haven't seen before.

I enjoyed it enough that I didn't hate it, so I'll give it a 6 out of 10.

by **guitarsmashley** » Thu May 24, 2012 10:43 pm

Youngblood-71

I will go ahead and say it. This comic was not awful. I actually kind of liked it. The first few pages of "comic" were dreadful but they were supposed to be. After that it was all kind of alright...I mean the art was awful but that's to be expected. The story was kind of silly but it was supposed to be. It didn't take itself too seriously and that's what made it enjoyable. It was tongue in cheek and I wouldn't expect Rob to allow his book to be written with such irreverence. I can't believe I'm about to do this but,

7

by ****** » Fri May 25, 2012 9:05 am

McDarkseid has spoken and next week we shall be reviewing...

Star Trek TNG/Doctor Who: Assimilation #1
Scott & David Tipton with Tony Lee (w)
J.K. Woodward (a)
They said it would never happen! Nearly five decades and 1500 episodes in the making! The two greatest science-fiction properties of all time cross over for the first time in history, in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION/DOCTOR WHO: ASSIMILATION! When the Federation's most terrifying enemy strikes an unholy alliance with one of the Doctor's most hated antagonists, the result is devastation on a cosmic scale! Spanning the ends of space and time itself, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise find themselves joining forces with the Doctor and his companions, with the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance! Written by Scott and David Tipton, the authors of the critically acclaimed Star Trek: Infestaion, and featuring the beautiful painted artwork of J.K. Woodward (Fallen Angel), this is the adventure that both Trekkers and Whovians have waited for all their lives! Geronimo? Make it so!

by **bkthomson** » Fri May 25, 2012 9:19 am

This I can get behind! Good pick!

by ****** » Fri May 25, 2012 9:39 am

McDarkseid wrote:So do we get credit for 2 reviews this week if we do double duty and review both, or just one?

Credit for both.

Double credit for Youngblood if you give it a 10. Not really.

by **Eli Katz** » Fri May 25, 2012 12:36 pm

guitarsmashley wrote:Youngblood-71

I will go ahead and say it. This comic was not awful. I actually kind of liked it. The first few pages of "comic" were dreadful but they were supposed to be. After that it was all kind of alright...I mean the art was awful but that's to be expected. The story was kind of silly but it was supposed to be. It didn't take itself too seriously and that's what made it enjoyable. It was tongue in cheek and I wouldn't expect Rob to allow his book to be written with such irreverence. I can't believe I'm about to do this but,

7

I can't believe it, either.

by **Stephen Day** » Fri May 25, 2012 5:50 pm

Interesting pick for next week.

by **Victorian Squid** » Fri May 25, 2012 5:55 pm

Stephen Day wrote:Interesting pick for next week.

I'm generally not one to just pick something off of my own "pull list"--not that I have a pull list. And I'm intrigued by this combination of one of the best science fiction TV series with one of the worst.

by **Zero** » Fri May 25, 2012 5:57 pm

McDarkseid wrote:
I'm generally not one to just pick something off of my own "pull list"--not that I have a pull list. And I'm intrigued by this combination of one of the best science fiction TV series with one of the worst.

Now now, TNG may have been overshadowed by DS9 and the new movie, but it's hardly one of the worst anythings.

by **Victorian Squid** » Fri May 25, 2012 8:13 pm

Zero wrote:
Now now, TNG may have been overshadowed by DS9 and the new movie, but it's hardly one of the worst anythings.

The budget or scriptwriters or both made it seem like the whole crew was afraid to ever leave the ship, with its gray-mauve hallways...endless hallways...most of the episodes took place either in the Holodeck or the hallways.