Père fondateur d’Image Comics, le brillantissime Rob Liefeld, l’artiste qui dessine les pieds comme personne (et dont personne ne veut dessiner les pieds comme lui), revient à la maison avec une nouvelle série Bloodstrike dès juillet 2015.
Publiée entre 1993 et 1996, la série suit les missions d’une escouade d’assassins ressuscités par le projet « Born Again » et travaillant à la botte du gouvernement. Elle suivait particulièrement le destin croisé des frères ennemis Cabbot Stone, chef de l’équipe, et Battlestone, membre de Youngblood et de Brigade. Bloodstrike reparut brièvement en 2012 lors du « revival » des séries Awesome (Prophet, Glory) sous la supervision de Tim Seeley et Franchesco Gaston avant que Liefeld ne décide de reprendre ce titre (ainsi que Youngblood) en main. Aucun numéro ne fut jamais publié.
En complément, Rob Liefeld distribuera gratuitement la nouvelle série Brigade qu’il a financé l’année dernière via la plateforme Kickstarter.
Ce qui est épatant, c’est que lors de la rencontre internationale organisée par Urban au FIBD, Staples, Vaughan et consorts disaient que les projets étaient tout de même proposés à un des éditeurs avant d’être potentiellement lancés, qu’Image ne produisait pas n’importe quoi. J’ai l’impression qu’une fois qu’on a les pieds dedans, on peut quand même faire n’importe quoi !
[quote]« Bloodstrike » is seen through fresh eyes, a fresh recruit gets in over his head and an agenda is revealed which leads to a target being presented that connects it to « Brigade. » Meanwhile in « Brigade, » Battlestone is trying to connect numerous mistakes and errors that have occurred during the course of Extreme’s turbulent history. He is literally fighting to prevent a future that puts everyone at odds. It was caused by a series of events that tie into my last issue of « Youngblood » which ended with Lord Chapel opening the gates of hell and taking over the world. Battlestone observes all from the Brigade dimensional platform and is constantly battling through time portals in order to preserve the reality that he believes is best for the world at large. On one end there is the group that won in the future actually there are many variations of groups that won in the future, and they all want to stay victorious, and defeat Battlestone in our present.
Then there is the present day opposition that believes he is dangerous and should be taken out and prevented from waging his war to protect us all. It’s wonderfully simple it wonderfully complicated. It tasks Battlestone and his Brigade with an important calling, protect our present which is under constant, pressing attack. They have become dimensional police as well as practical police. And John Stone is worn out when we find him in issue #0 just as all the shit hits the fan. Everything is laid out, the stakes, the odds, in the first chapter. It was a blast to do.[/quote]
[quote]Brigade is about one man leading his team to save the fabric of reality even as it comes undone. Going back to the original Kickstarter pitch, there is a threat that has taken over the future, a leader named Imperator and his powerful family rule the planet. We glimpse that at the outset and then we see how Battlestone is fighting to prevent that future from becoming a reality. The by-product of all this time-tampering has altered several timelines, providing the gateway for everything that has come before and since. Brigade provides the portals that create Joe Keatinge’s Glory and Brandon Graham’s Prophet and Mark Millar’s Bloodsport… And every unfinished storyline in the history of Extreme. Meanwhile there are forces in the present that are trying to prevent Battlestone and his Brigade, leading to a conflict with Bloodstrike.
The conceit and story can easily be digested by any new reader but there are Easter eggs for longtime Extreme fans all over the place, making it more compelling for them. [/quote]
[quote]Bloodstrike #1
Story by Rob Liefeld
Art by Rob Liefeld
Cover by Rob Liefeld, Dan Fraga, Karl Altstaetter
Publisher Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date Jul 8th, 2015
MATURE READERS ONLY
X-Force, Cable, and Deadpool creator ROB LIEFELD returns to comics with a new ONGOING series, a lively romp that reveals a more mature side to LIEFELD than fans have previously experienced. A new recruit to the Bloodstrike program, (his identity as a mystery man from the historical Extreme Universe soon to be revealed!) struggles on a covert mission and loses his life as well as his junk to the mysterious TRAGEDY ANN![/quote]
[quote]Bloodstrike #2
Story by Rob Liefeld
Art by Rob Liefeld, Karl Alststaetter
Cover by Rob Liefeld
Publisher Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date Sep 9th, 2015
All guns and ammo are pointed at Brigade as Bloodstrike fights to destroy Battlestone’s trans-dimensional network![/quote]
