Team Youngblood #4
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeTeam Youngblood #4 (December 1993) marks the first appearance of the Jakarra — Cougar's secretive race of feline-humanoid people — and the supporting character Jack Leeds, making it the narrative gateway to one of the Extreme Universe's most distinctive mythology arcs. The issue also deepens the character-driven ambitions that separated Team Youngblood from its parent title: rather than wall-to-wall action, writer Rob Liefeld and co-writer Eric Stephenson use the post-Liberty II cooldown to give individual team members genuine emotional weight, from Sentinel's acknowledgment of wrongdoing toward Dutch to Riptide's private grief over Brahma's departure. Within the broader context of the Extreme Studios line, the issue launches 'The Coming of Cougar!' — a multi-part storyline that would culminate in issue #5 with Cougar's origin and his claiming of the Jakarran throne, one of the more elaborated character myths Rob Liefeld's imprint produced in its early years. As part of a monthly title that effectively replaced the irregularly shipping original Youngblood series, it represents the point at which the Extreme Universe's 'Away Team' concept finally found stable, ongoing narrative momentum.
In "Welcome Home," Team Youngblood faces unexpected challenges as Sentinel addresses the media about their space missions, only to uncover that Psi-Fire has vanished. Meanwhile, Cougar is ambushed by a mysterious feline adversary who claims responsibility for abducting his mother. Written by Eric Stephenson and Rob Liefeld, with art by Chap Yaep and inks by Norm Rapmund, this 1993 Image Comics issue delivers high-stakes tension and personal stakes, all rendered in bold colors by Byron Talman and Extreme Color. The cover by Chap Yaep and Art Thibert captures the moment’s intensity.
In "Welcome Home," Jack Leeds returns to Earth after a mission in space, only to find the Youngblood team fractured—Sentinel is holding a press conference, but the real crisis begins when Psi-Fire vanishes without a trace. Meanwhile, Cougar faces a shocking attack from a feline assailant claiming to have taken his mother, while Jakarra watches from the shadows, her motives as sharp as the secrets she’s hiding.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Team Youngblood launched in September 1993 as a monthly spinoff spotlighting what had been called the 'Away Team' in the original Youngblood flip-book series, pencilled throughout by Chap Yaep, who also co-created the character Dutch and is credited as a cover artist on issue #4 alongside Art Thibert and Quinn Supplee. The series was written by Rob Liefeld and Eric Stephenson under the Extreme Studios imprint of Image Comics, with issue #4 featuring interior art by Chap Yaep and Norman Rapmund, plus a backup 'Tales of Team Youngblood' story credited to Liefeld, Stephenson, Mark Pacella, and Marlo Alquiza. The title was conceived partly to give the former Away Team — Sentinel, Cougar, Riptide, Photon, and new additions Dutch and Masada — a dedicated monthly home while the original Youngblood title was on hiatus, with Shaft and Badrock reduced to cameo roles and the series functioning as the de facto flagship of the Extreme line during this transitional period.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of the Jakarra, Cougar's race of feline-humanoid people, who drive the 'Coming of Cougar!' multi-part storyline beginning in this issue.
- First appearance of supporting character Jack Leeds, as listed in the Image Comics Database.
- Story by Rob Liefeld and Eric Stephenson; interior pencils by Chap Yaep and Norman Rapmund; backup story by Liefeld, Stephenson, Mark Pacella, and Marlo Alquiza.
- Cover by Chap Yaep, Art Thibert, and Quinn Supplee; published December 1993 under the Extreme Studios imprint of Image Comics.
- The issue kicks off 'The Coming of Cougar!' — Part 1 — in which a Jakarra agent appears in Cougar's apartment and reveals that his mother has been kidnapped, setting up the arc resolved in issue #5.
- Sentinel explicitly apologizes to Dutch for having imprisoned him for five years due to his past association with Cybernet, adding meaningful backstory to Dutch's place on the team.
- Psi-Fire's escape subplot advances: Dutch, Photon, Sentinel, Shaft, and Badrock meet the lab technician who survived Psi-Fire's breakout, unaware that Psi-Fire has telepathically possessed her.
- The series was launched to give the original Youngblood 'Away Team' a monthly home while the parent Youngblood title was on hiatus, effectively serving as the Extreme line's primary ongoing superhero book at that time.
Cast · 17 characters
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