Extreme Studios, later renamed Maximum Press, Awesome Comics or Arcade Comics is an American comic book studio that was formed in 1992 by Image Comics co-founder Rob Liefeld.
Conception[]
Ad in Wildman Comics and Stories #1 (May 1987)
Profile in Megaton Explosion: Who’s Who In Megaton Comics? #1 (June 1987)
Ad in Ramm #2 (August 1987)
Cougar appearance in Marvel Age #82 (December 1989)
Black and white version of the Marvel Age sketch from X-Men Archives Sketchbook #1 (December 2000)
Unpublished cover for The New Mutants #87 with Cougar from Marvel Age #86 (March 1990)
Cougar cameo in a wax museum of super-heroes from Avengers West Coast #64 (November 1990)
Ad in Paranoia #2 (December 1991)
Pin-up in Megaton Holiday Special #1 (Holiday 1993)
Extreme's first comic, Youngblood, was created by Rob Liefeld when he was in high school in the mid-1980s. By 1987, Liefeld wanted to pitch Youngblood to some new independent comic book publishers and landed a job at Megaton Comics, where Youngblood was first published. Rob was a fan of Marvel's Avengers, DC Comics' Teen Titans from Marv Wolfman George Perez, and the Legion of Superheroes, and based on those interests, he combined them to form Youngblood (not to be confused with Project: Youngblood from Eclipse Comics).[1]
By 1991, another publication origin for Youngblood came as a new Teen Titans proposal series for DC Comics featuring Speedy, Harlequin, a pair of Kh'undian warriors, a S.T.A.R. Labs android and an unknown character. That proposal was rejected. During that same year, Liefeld left Marvel over their strained working relationship and disputes over the merchandising rights for the success from his tenure on New Mutants and X-Force. When he became one of the founders of Image, Liefeld revived his early Youngblood concept and integrated it with his Teen Titans proposal to create new characters with which to expand the team roaster.[1]
Liefeld's idea for Youngblood as celebrity superheroes:
"...if superheroes really did exist, they would be treated much the same way as movie stars and athletes. The series, therefore, depicts the superhero members of Youngblood not only as they participate in adventures fighting crime and evil, but navigating the world of celebrity endorse deals, TV show appearances, agents, managers, and the perceived pressures of celebrity life. They live in a world where they are the big celebrities with big paychecks and business managers. In the Youngblood world, the world powers race is not nuclear but genetic engineering...who can create bigger, better super-men."[1]
With a large team of superheroes on Youngblood, Liefeld came up with a solution of splitting the team into two fractions: the new characters became the home front team for domestic problems and the original team became the overseas "away" team for international crisis.[1]
Extreme Studios and Maximum Press[]
In 1992, Liefeld and several other popular artists left Marvel Comics to form Image Comics. Each of the co-founders created their own studios within Image, such as Top Cow and Wildstorm. Liefeld's Extreme Studios was the first to release a comic under the Image brand, Youngblood. Some titles that did not fit the Image brand were self-published under Liefeld's Maximum Press imprint (later on even publishing some of Liefeld's various Image Comics titles after his departure from Image in 1996). Maximum Press published titles such as Avengelyne, Warchild, Glory, Supreme, and even licensed properties such as Battlestar Galactica.
Awesome Comics[]
After acrimonious disputes with the other founding partners, Liefeld left Image Comics in 1996. The following year, he partnered with Malibu Comics founder Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and reorganized his publishing ventures from Extreme Studios and Maximum Press into Awesome Comics. Its titles included Supreme, Glory and Judgment Day by Alan Moore, Kaboom! by Jeff Matsuda, and a revival of the classic patriotic comic book character Fighting American created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, which Liefeld had acquired the rights for. However, Awesome eventually collapsed under the burdens of internal disputes among its partners and the abrupt departure of its primary investor.
Avatar Press[]
- To be added
Arcade Comics[]
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Return to Image[]
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