Thirty years ago, Rob Liefeld’s renegade super-hero team, Brigade, went to war with the undead mercenaries of Bloodstrike in a brutal, bloody, and bone-crunching battle chronicled in a six-part epic called “Blood Brothers”

Every 90’s comic nerd is at least somewhat familiar with Rob Liefeld’s Image Comics launching mega-hit Youngblood.  The team book focusing on a UN sanctioned celebrity super squad was a smash out of the gate and paved the way for Todd McFarlene’s Spawn and Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.’s, among others.  Liefeld wasn’t content with just one, however, and soon launched a second team book: BRIGADE.

In Brigade, a former Youngblood leader called Battlestone (civilian name: John Stone) had taken it upon himself to recruit a band of misfit super humans in an attempt to mold them into a squad that fit his own view of the war against evil.  It would later be revealed (in Youngblood #0) that Battlestone had actually been relieved of his position in Youngblood after inadvertently killing a member of his team in a confrontation while on a mission.

Rob and his buddy/protégé Marat Mychaels (creator of Blindside, y’all!), put together a solid group of superhumans for Battlestone to lead, including brothers Seahawk (powers of flight, superhuman strength/stamina) and Coldsnap (power to control/manipulate ice).  These two are mega-rich and fund the team.  The squad also features Kayo (human archer/martial artist), Thermal (heat and fire generation/manipulation), Stasis (energy manipulation), and Atlas (size-changing abilities).

The initial Brigade mini-series is fun stuff, if a little bland.  The team takes down some terrorists in issue one, then spends the next three issues battling a powerful alien called Genocide, first on Earth, and eventually on his home planet.  While there, Brigade loses one if its own in Atlas, a Giant-Man type, who get his chest blasted open and dies (interestingly, Atlas actually grows bigger at his death, rather than shrinking down to normal human size).  Mychaels art here is heavily influenced by Rob, and it works perfectly as this is essentially a Youngblood spin-off.

While Brigade was off-planet for awhile, the government was none too happy about their debut and set in motion a plan to get them off the table without bothering the big guns in Youngblood about it.  That’s where Bloodstrike came in. 

“Blood Brothers” didn’t kick off until the regular Brigade series started, but Bloodstrike #1, with it’s now infamous ‘Rub The Blood’ cover gimmick, served as an introduction to that team, as well as a prelude to the crossover.  The issue is fairly standard stuff as the team takes out a rando terrorist cell and we get the scoop on the team members.

Cabbot (a seemingly immortal soldier) leads the team consisting of Tag (ability to freeze enemies with a touch), Fourplay (a four armed bruiser), Shogun (a walking/flying tank), and Deadlock (a savage supervillain?). Cabbot also has access to ROAM, an artificial intelligence/teleportation device.

Penciller Dan Fraga is at his most Liefeld-cloney here (not a complaint!).  It also gave us this image, which I will never forget.

The issue wraps with Cabbot getting word that they are being sent to wipe out Brigade, and it’s revealed that Cabbot and Battlestone ARE BROTHERS!  WHAAAAAA?!  So we know after this, IT IS ON!

The opening to Brigade #1 (pt. 1) informs that the teams journey home on a stolen space craft has lasted three long months.  I’m not sure what they were living off of during that time.  Did they consume Atlas’ giant corpse?  It is left unaddressed.  What is addressed, is the high tension the team is feeling. Battlestone is withdrawn and being, well, kind of an asshole.  When Kayo and Thermal seek a little guidance now that they’ve returned to Earth, Stasis is more or less sickened by the display and tries to storm out.  Then the fun begins.

Holy Schnikes!  Look at Stasis’ cold, dead eyes!  This shit is serious!

From that point it’s several pages of back-and-forth battle and tough guy (or girl) talk.   Before Image, it was not that common to see giant battles that go on for several pages.  Often a few panels here and there is all you got.  Not when Rob Liefeld is charge. Strap in. 

While he might slack in providing detail, Marat Mychaels art is dynamic in the fight sequence.  He’s starting to separate his style from Liefeld and do his own thing, really packing in the panels on some of the pages.  The muted colors give it an ugly sheen, but I kind of dig it.

At one point in the fight, Coldsnap has his “regulation apparatus” damaged and seems to be getting consumed by ice.  Seahawk is also taken down and it quickly becomes clear that Brigade is outmatched.  Battlestone and Thermal recover Coldsnap and Stasis before high tailing it.  Once in the air, Battlestone is back at his blowhard routine answering every query with the equivalent of “Shut up!  I’m the leader!”

Stone takes his fallen teammates to G.A.T.E Industries where a man named Sandler seems to owe him a favor, but then it’s back to recruiting, because Kayo and Seahawk have been captured.

When we shift to Bloodstrike #2 (pt. 2) Dan Fraga is back, and while he’s still got a very Liefeld skew to his pencils, there are hints of early 90’s Jae Lee in there as well.  The inks are heavy and everything is dark as hell.  Whether intentional or not, it’s reflective of the tone.  Despite the balls-out action, the story is dire and depressing in a way. 

Anyway, I’m in on Fraga.  If for no other reason than that damn middle panel is an EXCLAMATION POINT! LOOK AT THAT BEAUTY!

In this chapter Battlestone has the opportunity to give a mysterious figure from his past, Boone, a recruitment pitch.  I’m sorry, but it’s hard to see why anyone would follow this jerk.  Every response to an honest question is just him being a dick.  But hey, it works!

But this is Bloodstrike’s book, so what are they getting into?  Why, another slobber-knocker, of course!  Cabbot sends Fourplay and Shogun after the remains of Brigade, while another mysterious newcomer, Lethal, somehow has access to ROAM and uses it to teleport into Bloodstrike’s base in an attempt to free Seahawk and Kayo.  Deadlock interrupts and the final nine pages (of nineteen) is Lethal in battle with Deadlock and Cabbot.

She holds her own, but quickly realizes a little help is needed and manages to blast open the stasis tube holding Seahawk and Kayo, setting up one of the best match-ups this battle royale has to offer.

There are a ton of 90’s “gimmick covers” out there.  Some really good, some really bad.  Well, Brigade #2 (pt.3) has one of my favorite covers of all time, gimmick or no.  Likely inspired by the famous Incredible Hulk #340 cover, we get a close-up of Seahawk’s face, blood spattered, teeth gritted so hard some of them seem to meld together.  His silver mask, embossed and enhanced by a foil-coating, reflects Cabbot, guns blazing.  They even went the extra mile with the foil on the back cover as well, framing the Deathmate Red advertisement! (This Blood’s For You! is a damn all-timer of a tag-line, btw.)

While theoretically Kayo is also freed from the stasis tube, we don’t see him in action. It’s all Seahawk, baby.  In part 2, ROAM informed Cabbot (and the readers) that during an analysis of Seahawk’s physiology, it was revealed he had a healing factor.  Who didn’t back then, amirite?  But ROAM couldn’t discern where it, or his other powers originated, setting up some “mysterious origins of Seahawk” intrigue for later.  But that wouldn’t matter if he didn’t take care of Cabbot, so how does that go down?  Read on…

Seahawk Vs. Cabbot may register as little more than a blip on the radar of all-time classic comic book battles, but for me, it’s top ten.  Cabbot has a couple teammates watching, but Deadlock makes sure it stays one-on-one.  The combatants toss out the obligatory one-liners, Seahawk with the young underdog verbiage, and Cabbot that of the old warhorse.  Mychaels gives us a fight that makes sense logistically, showing the characters reacting to each other’s moves, and countering appropriately.

But who am I kidding?  It’s the brutality that really gets me going.  And Blood Brothers brings that in spades. 

Dear Lord, he must’ve blown his heart out of his back!  Luckily that old healing factor is working overtime, and his pointy helmet isn’t just to remind people of Wolverine and/or Batman, it can be put to very good use in a scrap as well.

SPLORCH! is the best sound effect I’ve ever seen in a comic book.  It was likely that sound combined with the sight of their leader getting damn near gutted that distracted Tag and Deadlock long enough for Lethal to make her escape with Seahawk.

But if you think that’s the only action to be found in Brigade #2, I’m happy to surprise you.  There is not one page in this book that doesn’t have at least two characters engaging in a fight. Not one.

The rest of Bloodstrike (Shogun & Fourplay) manage to catch up to Brigade at G.A.T.E. International and engage two-on-two with Battlestone and Boone.  I mean, it’s kind of weak compared to that last fight, but we do see Battlestone  getting hacked with a buzzsaw and several holes blasted through his torso, which I feel is pretty sharp.

About this time, the rest of the Bloodstrike crew arrive and things look dire for Brigade… Until Coldsnap shows back up outta nowhere all Ice-Hulked out!  How the hell does that work?!

The cover to Bloodstrike #3 (pt. 4) gives us a great look at Dan Fraga’s obsession with curled tongues, which he puts plenty of detail into throughout the issue. 

Here are four examples of it:

I also appreciate the letterer using @$$ as a substitute for “ass” in that first panel.  I always got a kick out of that and $#!+ when I was a kid.  This book didn’t have a rating or “Approved By The Comics Code” stamp, so I’m not sure why they didn’t just go nuts with the cursing, but the 90’s were a different time, I guess.  Brutal violence is A-OK, but keep the potty mouth and sex stuff to a minimum.

This particular issue probably has the least amount of action in the storyline, with a full five pages devoted to Lethal and Seahawk jabbering about Battlestone’s past and whatnot.  During this exposition, Lethal refuses to tell much of her own story, but gives Seahawk the 411 on Battlestone and Bloodstrike.  The lot of whom are alive and kicking due to their participation in Project: Born Again, a government program that revives dead soldiers.  I’m getting bored, time for some more smashing.

Well, maybe Stasis is gonna be back soon?  It’s a bit odd that Cabbot is so hell bent on “saving” her from Project: Born Again, but he had no issue putting a bullet in her skull with no warning.  Maybe it’s because he’s psychotic.

Brigade 3 (pt. 5) brings us the finale to this ho-down.  Right away Shogun blasts Stasis out of that tube and her lifeless body drops like a rock.  I’m not even sure what to say about it, but something’s up with the way Mychaels draws her butt there.  It’s like he had finished it, and then went back later and beefed it up. 

It’s another free-for-all, with both teams finally at full strength and going toe-to-toe.  But as Shogun points out, it’s really all about those blood brothers.

And boy is Cabbot ready for it.  Mychaels really pumps the ‘roids into him for this panel.

A solid five pages of big, bold panels are devoted to Battlestone and Cabbot trading blows.  I especially appreciate this sequence of Battlestone spotting a knife to swipe and rolling through to brandish it. 

Battlestone eventually gets Cabbot on the ropes, but rather than kill him, gives him the option of a truce.  As long as Bloodstrike stays out of Brigade’s business, Stone will keep what he knows about all the government’s dirty secrets to himself.  Cabbot agrees and the whole mess comes to an abrupt end. 

Seahawk speaks for the reader.

Both leaders give their teams a pep talk as they lick their wounds, warning that while this battle has ended, there is sure to be another conflict in the future. 

There wasn’t.

Brigade certainly took the hardest hits, losing Stasis and having Coldsnap transformed, but they also gained some members and set a new status quo for the future.   Bloodstrike went relatively unscathed, but not for long.

Before signing off, I will leave you with these deliciously demented panels from Bloodstrike’s next conflict.  In issue #5 of their title, they face off with “Old Man Superman” himself, Supreme.  It goes… poorly.