Missing Links: Badrock and Company #6

Badrock and Company #6
Writer: Jim Valentino
Artist: Todd Nauck
Inkers: Steve Montano, Danny Miki and Lary Stucker
Colors: Byron Talman, Donald Skinner and Laura Rhode
Letterer: Kurt Hathaway
Color Separations: In Color
Editor: Eric Stephenson
Associate Editor: Kurt Hathaway
Released: March 9, 1995

For much of my youth, I was a loyal Marvel Zombie, occasionally sampling comics from other publishers but seldom buying anything else regularly (other than that frenzied period in 1991 when I was grabbing anything I could find related to the Death of Superman, both for its historical significance and my financial future). But I did make a couple of attempts to get into Image Comics, with several issues of Sam Kieth's “The Maxx” and five issues of “Badrock and Company,” a six-issue limited series featuring the youthful, heavyweight member of Rob Liefeld's Youngblood.

I fully intended to buy the last installment but didn't find it until about 20 years later in a bargain bin at the River City Comic Con. With 2022 marking Image's 30^th anniversary, it seemed like a fitting entry in my Missing Links series, looking at issues that fill longstanding gaps in my collection.

I'm not sure what attracted me to Badrock, other than his passing resemblance to the Thing. Perhaps it was the limited series' premise of him teaming up with other Image characters, giving me a sampling of the then-not-quite-three-year-old comic universe. Having the series drawn by Todd Nauck, who I would later (re)discover penciling one of my favorite series, DC's “Young Justice” (the original, not the awesome-but-more-like-Teen-Titans cartoon version), certainly helped.

Between teaming up with high-profile Image stars like Pitt and Grifter, of WildC.A.T.S. fame, Badrock allied himself with Stormwatch's Fuji, Freak Force's Mighty Man and Cyberforce's Velocity. The writers changed with each issue, but Nauck penciled the entire series.

The finale featured Shadowhawk, written by that character's creator Jim Valentino. While each issue of the series told a self-contained tale, #6 fit between issues 16 and 17 of Shadowhawk's series. It was part of a storyline called “The Monster Within,” following Shadowhawk's quest through time and space to find a cure for the HIV with which he'd been infected by a crime boss he was investigating as a district attorney. It was a topical plot element at the time and, honestly, one of the only things I knew about Shadowhawk, besides the fact that he was a rather violent vigilante.

Like many good comics of my youth, this issue made sure I wasn't lost, with mutiple flashback/splash pages (splashback pages?) catching me up on the character and story. The disembodied spirit Phoebe that has been teleporting Shadowhawk all over the place deposits him in Youngblood headquarters, where he is confronted by a surprised Badrock. Instead of the traditional first-meeting fight, Badrock actually hears Shadowhawk out and offers to help.

Badrock believes his scientist father can expose Shadowhawk to the same process that gave him his powers and make him invulnerable. Shadowhawk's willing to give it a shot, though Badrock's dad is concerned it could do more harm than good, given the armored hero's current health.

Before they can debate any more, the lab is breached by a generic-looking squad of thieves apparently after the machine Badrock is hoping will help Shadowhawk. The duo make short work of the intruders, but the machine is severely damaged during the melee. Shadowhawk thanks Badrock and his dad for their help, then is teleported by Phoebe to a New York alleyway where he comes face to face with fellow Image icon Spawn, setting up their encounter in the finale of “The Monster Within.”

Nauck's art is terrific as always, and it was nice to see Badrock and Shadowhawk avoid coming to blows. I presume I got a decent taste of Shadowhawk's character since Valentino was writing, but there wasn't much to the story.

While the point of the attempted robbery was not the threat it presented but the devastating result, the bad guys didn't make Badrock break a sweat (assuming he sweats). Part of the appeal, I presume, was seeing the characters share the spotlight, but I'd almost bet you could go from Shadowhawk #16 to 17 without even reading this issue.

If you want to hear more about Badrock teaming up with Image elites, check out this episode of the Unspoken Issues podcast featuring yours truly and Chris Armstrong talking "Badrock and Company" #5, featuring Grifter!