Badrock
Encyclopedia
Badrock is a fictional
comic book
superhero
who appears in books published by Image Comics
. Created by Rob Liefeld
, he first appeared in Youngblood
#1 (April 1992).
. Badrock has been a part of every incarnation of the Youngblood team to date (1992, 1995 and 2008 series as well as the Team Youngblood and Youngblood Strikefile series).
Badrock is proficient with a number of weapons, including the many guns and knives available to him in the Youngblood arsenal. Not one to hide behind gadgetry, however, Badrock often uses the incredible power of his fists to pummel opponents into submission. Despite his massive size, Badrock's reflexes exceed normal human levels.
Badrock is impulsive, having picked dangerous, property-damaging fights with the police officer Savage Dragon
and Mighty Man
. The Dragon fight was a test to see if he was up to joining Youngblood. Instead, Dragon arrests him.
Being one of the most popular members of Youngblood (both in the fictional Image Universe
and with real life comic readers), Badrock starred in more spin-off comics than any other member of the team.
Many of Badrock's non-Youngblood adventures involve his father, Dr. Joseph McCall, and his mother, Angela McCall, with whom he has a close and loving relationship (he is only 16 years old, after all).
He starred in his own team-up book entitled "Badrock and Company" which lasted for six issues and paired him with other Image heroes, all of whom were creations of one of Image's other studios. These included Pitt
(Full Bleed Studios
), Fuji
of Stormwatch
(WildStorm
), Mighty Man (Highbrow Entertainment
), Velocity
(Top Cow Productions
), Grifter of the Wildcats
(also from WildStorm
) and Shadowhawk
(ShadowLine
).
Badrock once visited Hell, confronting Spawn
's old enemy the Violator
. This was after being named temporary security head of a scientific installation that was investigating the realm of hell. He was more responsible at this point, trying to protect the many innocent people who had unwittingly made the trip to Hell with him. He had to deal with the interference of heavenly and hellish agents and the unwillingness of some of the humans to actually obey his orders. At one point, Violator tricks Badrock into freeing him because the heavenly agent that had torn into the building was willing to kill anyone and everyone. Violator uses his human form to convince the angel, Celestine
, that Badrock is the demon. The hero is defeated and the angel is fatally injured. She manages to keep it together until her life force returns Badrock and the innocent humans back to earth.
Around this time, and in a follow up to the story from Badrock and Company #5, Badrock teams up with Grifter to save his mother, Angela, who has once again been captured by the Covenant of the Sword
. The story further explores the fact that Grifter once had an intimate relationship with Badrock's mom. Only two issues of the limited series were produced, even though the story was incomplete and promised "To Be Continued...".
Badrock is part of a vital effort of keeping reality from duplicating itself, in the 'Shattered Image' limited series.
When Youngblood was discontinued after the death of Riptide, Badrock took some time off. It did not last long though, and through a series of events, he became part of the fourth incarnation of Brigade
(although the series, published by Liefeld's company, Awesome Comics
, only lasted one issue).
He also joins another incarnation of Youngblood, this one based out of 'Liberty Island'. He joins with Shaft
, Cougar, Diehard, Doc Rocket and Johnny Panic. During his time with the team, he is injured and must use crutches. He also confronts evil, super-powered doubles of his parents. The entire team confronts a government controlled 'super-villain' team; each member of Youngblood has a focus-tested 'rival'.
In the year 3000, Badrock was still alive and returned for a brief period of time to get some help from Youngblood to stop the Katellans. The continued attempts of the Katellans to reacquire the defector Combat back led to the destruction of Earth, Katella and Acura in Badrock's timeline. Badrock then returned to 1995, where he prevented this from occurring. The mission succeeded.
Badrock also starred in three inter-company crossovers with Marvel Comics
. Badrock and Wolverine
of the X-Men
joined forces to battle the Savage Land Mutates
. While being interviewed for the Daily Bugle
, Badrock teamed up with Spider-Man
to take on Spidey's rogues gallery thanks to the illusions of Mysterio
. As a member of Youngblood, Badrock and his pals teamed up with X-Force
to battle the media madness of Mojo
Badrock is also part of the 'Image United' crossover that began in November 2009.
' town
, as well as avoiding a possible legal threat from Hanna-Barbera Productions
, especially with the Flintstones movie
being released at the time. This legal threat is also parodied during a television report seen in Spawn
#12.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
who appears in books published by Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
. Created by Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld is an American comic book writer, illustrator, and publisher. A prominent artist in the 1990s, he has since become a controversial figure in the medium....
, he first appeared in Youngblood
Youngblood (comics)
Youngblood is a superhero team that starred in their self-titled comic book, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in the 1987 one-shot Megaton: Explosion before later appearing in its own ongoing series in 1992 as the flagship publication for Image Comics...
#1 (April 1992).
Fictional character biography
Thomas John McCall was an average underachieving 16-year-old. When he swallowed a vial of top secret genetic material in his father's lab, a transformation occurred, and McCall's body became a mass of granite-like organic rock, while still exhibiting the emotional immaturity of a 16-year-old. Later, Thomas assumed the identity of Badrock when he was recruited to join the high-profile government superteam, YoungbloodYoungblood (comics)
Youngblood is a superhero team that starred in their self-titled comic book, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in the 1987 one-shot Megaton: Explosion before later appearing in its own ongoing series in 1992 as the flagship publication for Image Comics...
. Badrock has been a part of every incarnation of the Youngblood team to date (1992, 1995 and 2008 series as well as the Team Youngblood and Youngblood Strikefile series).
Badrock is proficient with a number of weapons, including the many guns and knives available to him in the Youngblood arsenal. Not one to hide behind gadgetry, however, Badrock often uses the incredible power of his fists to pummel opponents into submission. Despite his massive size, Badrock's reflexes exceed normal human levels.
Badrock is impulsive, having picked dangerous, property-damaging fights with the police officer Savage Dragon
Savage Dragon
Savage Dragon is an ongoing American comic book series created by Erik Larsen, published by Image Comics and taking place in the Image Universe. The comic features the adventures of a superheroic police officer named the Dragon...
and Mighty Man
Mighty Man
Mighty Man is a fictional hero created by Erik Larsen some years before he began drawing professional comics, possibly in his adolescence. He has been a major character in Larsen's self-created title Savage Dragon and its spin-off Freak Force, as well as in Gary Carlson's Big Bang Comics series...
. The Dragon fight was a test to see if he was up to joining Youngblood. Instead, Dragon arrests him.
Being one of the most popular members of Youngblood (both in the fictional Image Universe
Image Universe
The Image Universe is a fictional shared universe wherein many of the comic books published by Image Comics take place.-Publication history:The Image Universe began with the founding of Image Comics in 1992, launching with series such as The Savage Dragon, Spawn, Youngblood and WildC.A.T.s.Image...
and with real life comic readers), Badrock starred in more spin-off comics than any other member of the team.
Many of Badrock's non-Youngblood adventures involve his father, Dr. Joseph McCall, and his mother, Angela McCall, with whom he has a close and loving relationship (he is only 16 years old, after all).
He starred in his own team-up book entitled "Badrock and Company" which lasted for six issues and paired him with other Image heroes, all of whom were creations of one of Image's other studios. These included Pitt
Pitt (comics)
Pitt is a fictional character who appears in a comics series by American publisher Full Bleed Studios. Created by Dale Keown, he first appeared in Pitt #1 . Pitt is a human/alien hybrid, created by an alien race known as the Creed, genetically engineered to serve as a killing machine...
(Full Bleed Studios
Full Bleed Studios
Full Bleed Studios is a small comic book publishing company founded by Canadian artist Dale Keown in 1992....
), Fuji
Fuji (comics)
Toshiro Misawa, also known as Fuji, is a comic book superhero in the Stormwatch series, first appearing in Stormwatch #1. He has immense size and strength as well as the ability to control the density of his body granted by his containment suit...
of Stormwatch
Stormwatch (comics)
Stormwatch is a fictional United Nations-sponsored superhero team that originated in the Wildstorm Universe and has since been revived as part of the DC Universe. The original version of Stormwatch first appeared in Stormwatch Stormwatch is a fictional United Nations-sponsored superhero team that...
(WildStorm
WildStorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
), Mighty Man (Highbrow Entertainment
Highbrow Entertainment
-Highbrow Titles:In the past Highbrow produced such comic book titles as the Savage Dragon, Freak Force, Vanguard, the Deadly Duo, and Superpatriot...
), Velocity
Velocity (comics)
Velocity, is an Image Comics/Top Cow Productions character from the comic series Cyberforce, created by Marc Silvestri in 1992. She is one of, if not the main character in the Cyberforce series, and often serves as the reader’s guide or eyes through the story arcs...
(Top Cow Productions
Top Cow Productions
Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, a partner studio of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992.-History:...
), Grifter of the Wildcats
Wildcats (comics)
Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildC.A.T.s, is a fictional superhero team created by the American comic book artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi.-Publication history:...
(also from WildStorm
WildStorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
) and Shadowhawk
Shadowhawk
ShadowHawk is a fictional comic book vigilante anti-hero created by Jim Valentino.He was first introduced in the Malibu Sun free promotional magazine in May of 1992...
(ShadowLine
ShadowLine
Shadowline is a partner studio of Image Comics established by Image co-founder Jim Valentino. The name is an homage to Valentino's character, ShadowHawk.-History:...
).
Badrock once visited Hell, confronting Spawn
Spawn (comics)
Spawn is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1...
's old enemy the Violator
Violator (comics)
Violator is a fictional character that appears in the Spawn comic books published by Image Comics. The character first appeared in Spawn #2 and was created by writer-artist Todd McFarlane. He is the main antagonist of the comic issues 1-100 and later became a secondary antagonist in the recent...
. This was after being named temporary security head of a scientific installation that was investigating the realm of hell. He was more responsible at this point, trying to protect the many innocent people who had unwittingly made the trip to Hell with him. He had to deal with the interference of heavenly and hellish agents and the unwillingness of some of the humans to actually obey his orders. At one point, Violator tricks Badrock into freeing him because the heavenly agent that had torn into the building was willing to kill anyone and everyone. Violator uses his human form to convince the angel, Celestine
Celestine (comics)
Celestine is a fictional character from in the Image Comics comic book universe created by Alan Moore, Rob Liefeld and Brian Denham. She was described as an avenging angel, responsible for the destruction of the Tower of Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah and other Old Testament atrocities...
, that Badrock is the demon. The hero is defeated and the angel is fatally injured. She manages to keep it together until her life force returns Badrock and the innocent humans back to earth.
Around this time, and in a follow up to the story from Badrock and Company #5, Badrock teams up with Grifter to save his mother, Angela, who has once again been captured by the Covenant of the Sword
Covenant of the Sword (comics)
Covenant of the Sword is a fictional, covert organization bent on global domination appearing in the Image Universe and created by Erik Larsen. Although appearing in Larsen's flagship title, Savage Dragon, the Covenant also appeared in a number of Extreme Studios comics by Rob Liefeld, most notably...
. The story further explores the fact that Grifter once had an intimate relationship with Badrock's mom. Only two issues of the limited series were produced, even though the story was incomplete and promised "To Be Continued...".
Badrock is part of a vital effort of keeping reality from duplicating itself, in the 'Shattered Image' limited series.
When Youngblood was discontinued after the death of Riptide, Badrock took some time off. It did not last long though, and through a series of events, he became part of the fourth incarnation of Brigade
Brigade (comics)
Brigade is a comic book published by Image Comics and later by Awesome Entertainment, created, plotted, and originally written by Rob Liefeld and first illustrated by Marat Mychaels as a spin-off to the then-popular series...
(although the series, published by Liefeld's company, Awesome Comics
Awesome Comics
Awesome Comics or Awesome Entertainment was an American comic book studio formed in 1997 by Image Comics co-founder Rob Liefeld...
, only lasted one issue).
He also joins another incarnation of Youngblood, this one based out of 'Liberty Island'. He joins with Shaft
Shaft (comics)
Shaft is a Marvel Comics character and pupil of the blind warrior Stick, former mentor of costumed crime-fighter Daredevil and pro assassin Elektra Natchios. He is a highly trained ninja and a member of good ninja cell the Chaste. He fights with fellow Chaste warriors Stone and Claw, occasionally...
, Cougar, Diehard, Doc Rocket and Johnny Panic. During his time with the team, he is injured and must use crutches. He also confronts evil, super-powered doubles of his parents. The entire team confronts a government controlled 'super-villain' team; each member of Youngblood has a focus-tested 'rival'.
In the year 3000, Badrock was still alive and returned for a brief period of time to get some help from Youngblood to stop the Katellans. The continued attempts of the Katellans to reacquire the defector Combat back led to the destruction of Earth, Katella and Acura in Badrock's timeline. Badrock then returned to 1995, where he prevented this from occurring. The mission succeeded.
Badrock also starred in three inter-company crossovers with Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. Badrock and Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
of the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
joined forces to battle the Savage Land Mutates
Savage Land Mutates
The Savage Land Mutates are a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain group based in the Savage Land, a hidden Antarctic environment of dinosaurs and primitive people in the Marvel Universe.-Fictional team biography:...
. While being interviewed for the Daily Bugle
Daily Bugle
The Daily Bugle is a fictional New York City newspaper that is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, most prominently in Spider-Man comic titles and their derivative media...
, Badrock teamed up with Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
to take on Spidey's rogues gallery thanks to the illusions of Mysterio
Mysterio
Mysterio is the name of three fictional characters, all of which are supervillains and enemies of Spider-Man in the . The original Mysterio was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appears in Amazing Spider-Man #13, although it was later retconned that the aliens seen in Amazing...
. As a member of Youngblood, Badrock and his pals teamed up with X-Force
X-Force
X-Force is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team, one of several spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team was formed in New Mutants, vol. 1 #100 and soon afterwards was featured in its own series.The group was a new incarnation of the 1980s...
to battle the media madness of Mojo
Mojo (comics)
Mojo is a Marvel Comics supervillain, primarily an enemy of the X-Men and one of its members, Longshot. Mojo is one of the "Spineless Ones," an alien race that is immobile without advanced technology. He is a slaver who rules the Mojoverse, a dimension where all beings are addicted to his...
Badrock is also part of the 'Image United' crossover that began in November 2009.
Name change
Upon Youngblood's debut, the character's name was originally "Bedrock", but Liefeld changed the name to "Badrock" to avoid confusion with The FlintstonesThe Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
' town
Bedrock (The Flintstones)
Bedrock is the fictional prehistoric city, which is home to the characters of the animated television series, The Flintstones .- Size :...
, as well as avoiding a possible legal threat from Hanna-Barbera Productions
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
, especially with the Flintstones movie
The Flintstones (film)
The Flintstones is a 1994 American live-action comedy film based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon television series of the same name about a Stone-Age man, his family and his best friend. The film was directed by Brian Levant, written by Tom S. Parker, Jim Jennewein and Steven E...
being released at the time. This legal threat is also parodied during a television report seen in Spawn
Spawn (comics)
Spawn is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1...
#12.
See also
- Image ComicsImage ComicsImage Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
- List of Image Comics publications
- YoungbloodYoungblood (comics)Youngblood is a superhero team that starred in their self-titled comic book, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in the 1987 one-shot Megaton: Explosion before later appearing in its own ongoing series in 1992 as the flagship publication for Image Comics...