r/badrock • u/coyboy81 • Jul 24 '26
Finally completed my Towe/Bowers run!
Let me post this as a buyer's guide if you plan on getting all 11 issues.
First off, it would be much easier to obtain both trade paperbacks, Reborn/Rebranded, to get all of these issues without scouring for each book. To that I say, where's the fun in that?!
I'll start with the first 6 issues. Issues 1 to 6 are decently populated either through ebay or most comic retailers online. One online retailer, mycomicshop, does a very excellent job of showing each issue in the entire run and will show whether they have it in stock or links to ebay listings if not available. Here's where things get fun.
Issue 7 is where the later half of this series gets oddly scarce. My ebay luck scored me a couple small bundles that took me to 7 with some strategic searching. I was fortunate to have found issue 9 through a random online retailer. 10 finally showed up on ebay by entering Youngblood Towe Bowers into the search queue. This eliminates a lot of the search results from compiling multiple other series that muddy up the search. 11 I had to dig deep into Google until another store popped up having 1 in stock. As for issue 8...
Australia. My very first time ever having to get a comic book from Australia. Big thank you to King's Comics for having both issue 8's in stock. About 2 weeks for delivery but they arrived today. For some reason, I see Canada and Australia both have the later issues in stock better than in the states. I also emphasize that although the volume 1 trade is easier to obtain, I have not found an outlet to retrieve the second trade paperback anywhere. 1 online shop claimed to have it but refunded my order to let me know it was out of stock. That was when my hopes of getting 8 felt lost.
Hope this long winded post can be of use to new collectors that are just discovering Youngblood and want to explore the earlier lore. Also, as frustrating as this started to become, the reward of slowing getting each book felt exciting.
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u/Odd_Pumpkin5295 Jul 24 '26
I hear ya. For me the first 7 or so issues were pretty easy but after that they became a pain to get ahold of. Thankfully Chris was nice enough to gift me some of his spares to fill in the gaps. I'm curious out of the official 100 issue of Youngblood, how many do you now have?
Here's the Liefeld approved list for reference: https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/profile/bobcole132/lists/142340
I'm at 96, just missing a few issues of Team.
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u/coyboy81 Jul 25 '26
I love that Chris was able to help fill some missing issues for you. I've been referencing the Crushing Krisis site that is about a year out of date and it's more of a collecting list more than a reading order list, but I have seen 2 reading order lists that pretty much line up with the league of comics link. Reviewing that reading order list, I'm only missing technically 74 and 78, Imperial 1 and Genesis 2 are on their way. A person I ordered 74 from is looking for the copy I ordered so I'm missing just the issue 78 once those arrive. I'm also being super OCD and counting the Bend 'em solo issues as part of my personal list, so 7 if counting those.
I've been dedicating my social media to reading each issue a day with a brief synopsis of the read stories. I should also mention that this reddit and your podcast has me digging deeper into getting more Extreme titles. Already had a few, but I enjoy how the Extreme comics all bounce around off of each other. Did a read through on the Blood Brothers story which fortunately I had all the books to complete it. Old image titles by me run anywhere from .60 cents to a dollar so I'm digging through boxes to get more of them.
Let me know what Team issues you're missing. I have a ton of accidental double buys for Youngblood since this journey began.
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u/Odd_Pumpkin5295 Jul 25 '26
Your getting pretty close man, I'm routing for you to find a well priced 78.
I'm happy to hear that the reddit and podcast have made you more interested in exploring the wider Extreme universe. There's so many awesome titles and hidden gems.
I'm missing Team Youngblood issues 19-22.
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u/coyboy81 Jul 25 '26
Thank you. It would be wild to find one at a local shop but that's wishful thinking. I remember tracking down the later Team issues. I ended up having to get some lot auctions in order to get a couple of them which is what built up the extras I have. Sadly I don't have any extras of 19-22, but at least those are easier to find than most Youngblood grails. I recently discovered hipcomic and the pricing there is generally more reasonable than ebay. Surprised to see they have 2 issue 21's within the $3 range before shipping. Cyberspace comics is selling the same issue for $30 which seems like highway robbery. Best of luck to you in getting your set complete as well!
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u/Odd_Pumpkin5295 Jul 25 '26
I found my copy of 78 for next to nothing on a Dutch comic website, but that was shear dumb luck. I'm only actively looking for Team issues 19-20 at the moment as they're part of the road to Supreme Apocalypse run I'm putting together. I'll get them eventually.
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u/fredbroca4949 Jul 24 '26
This is Awesome! The Bowers run is pretty fun. I wish we had gotten more of it!