To be honest, I find Liefeld's minimalist aesthetic pretty fascinating. Possibly it's because of the dual nature of his heroes--on the one hand, Youngblood is a civil defence organization like the Avengers, responding to emergencies, apprehending and restraining superpowered criminals, that sort of thing. Precisely the sort of group that should be easily recognisable to the public as superheroes. Yet on the other hand, Youngblood also acts as a team of superpowered commandoes, carrying out wetwork operations for the US government. Liefeld's team is trying to carry out two often-contradictory missions at once and it shows. Even their choice of personnel reflects that, because there's no way a sensible superteam would allow someone like Chapel on their roster, but every reason for a team of special operators to do so. And it's reflected in their dress--our heroes, both halves of the team, wear spandex in bright colours. But at the same time, they're special operators in the testosterone-soaked '80s action movie hero sense of the term, so instead of using their costumes to further distinguish his heroes, he instead pours miscellaneous pouches, shoulderpads and headgear and other stereotypically commandolike attire as "distinguishing" feature on half the team, and leaves the other half to soldier on their very plain spandex. Compounding all this, of course, is the fact that Liefeld really can't design anything very well at all. But we've all heard enough about Liefeld and his lack of talent, so I shan't go into that now.
As for Psi-Fire's malevolence, it's not so much that Psi-Fire is a pretty nasty fellow and more the fact that it's obvious the man is either unwilling or unable to put business before pleasture. This would be a liability anywhere, but in this group, doing the kind of work they do, it becomes downright dangerous. One has to wonder when such a man would turn on his teammates, just because he felt like it. Psi-Fire's presence jeopardises whatever mission he's sent on. And it doesn't make sense that Youngblood's controllers are willing to allow him to do so for as long as they appear to have.
As for Psi-Fire's malevolence, it's not so much that Psi-Fire is a pretty nasty fellow and more the fact that it's obvious the man is either unwilling or unable to put business before pleasture. This would be a liability anywhere, but in this group, doing the kind of work they do, it becomes downright dangerous. One has to wonder when such a man would turn on his teammates, just because he felt like it. Psi-Fire's presence jeopardises whatever mission he's sent on. And it doesn't make sense that Youngblood's controllers are willing to allow him to do so for as long as they appear to have.
Reply
Leave a comment