Bloodstrike is a comic-book series created by Rob Liefeld and published by Image Comics as part of their Extreme Comics imprint. It is a Spin-Off of Youngblood (Image Comics).
The series follows the adventures of a super-powered assassination squad led by Cabbot Stone. Each member is a super-powered operative who died in the field of battle and got resurrected by a secret government program called Project Born Again. Because they need regular treatments in order to avoid dying again, the government is able to force them to go on missions that would be too dangerous for living operatives.
The original run lasted for 22 issues, after which Image tried to relaunch the franchise as Bloodstrike: Assassin. There was also Cabbot: Bloodhunter, a solo miniseries focused on Cabbot, but it was cancelled after a single issue.
In 2012, the series was revived by Tim Seeley, with a more satirical bent, focusing on the implications of the government using resurrection technology, but was put on hiatus after eight issues. It was revived once more in 2018 by Michel Fiffe of Copra fame, this time as a three-issue miniseries called Bloodstrike: Brutalists numbered #0, 23 and 24, that plugs the continuity gap between the original issue #22 and #25 (originally published as part of a “flash-forward” event between issues #10 and #11.)
This series contains examples of:
- Aborted Arc: Seeley's run ended abruptly, with no resolution of the overhanging subplots of Cabbot's role in the Path of Ptah or Chelle Scott's plot to get revenge on Project Born Again.
- Abusive Parents: Cabbot's dad was an honest-to-God supervillain who used to beat him. Then Cabbot's older brother beat him.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: In the Seeley reboot, the new Tag is a Latina, the new Shogun is black (and Buddhist), the new Fourplay is a bisexual woman, and the new Deadlock is Jewish.
- And I Must Scream: Quantum gets beheaded by Bloodstrike, and then wakes up to learn that he's now a disembodied head connected to a machine.
- Asshole Victim: Due to Tag's powers not allowing her to have sex without slowly killing her partners, she deliberately picks up scumbags when looking for sex, so she won't care what happens to them. The one we meet, Max Sutherland used took advantage of drunk women so he could get them to bed. The other was a creepy dude who turned out to be a Serial Killer, who tried to kill Tag the moment he got her in his house and had a basement filled with dead women.
- Big Brother Bully: Cabbot's big brother John, also called Battlestone, used to beat the crap out of him when they were kids. He's not become any nicer in adulthood.
- The Big Guy: In the original run, Shogun is built like, and functions like, a walking tank.
- Blood Knight: Deadlock usually revels in the carnage and challenge of the tougher missions.
- Bury Your Gays: Kennedy Marx, the modern Fourplay, was murdered when her abusive boyfriend found out that she was cheating on him with another woman. The other woman, Melanie, was also murdered during the same rampage.
- Crusading Widow:
- The Black Bride was a KGB enhancile assassin who tried to settle down with a nice guy and move to the countryside. The KGB instead sent a hit-squad to her wedding who killed everyone except her. She tried to clone her fiancee, but the technology wasn't there yet, and she ended up with the Dead-Eyed Grooms, an army of zombies. Now she and her zombie army go around committing atrocities for money so that she can hunt down her former bosses and kill them.
- Chelle Scott, the widow of former Bloodstrike director Dale Scott, keeps making trouble for Keyes and Milne after they meddle to prevent Dale from being resurrected. Eventually, she turns to the original Fourplay for help.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: When the team goes up against Supreme, they're all easily beaten, with Tag being the Sole Survivor. Thankfully for them, Death Is Cheap.
- Death Is Cheap: This series doesn't just abuse the concept of comic-book death, it works it over repeatedly with a lead pipe. The main characters die repeatedly in obscenely violent ways, only to get resurrected soon after.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Tag pretends to be drunk and lets her scummy date take her back to his apartment. Once inside, she uses her powers to immobilize him and pushes him back onto the bed and forcibly has sex with him as the scene cuts away with her laughing at him. Given he tried to take advantage of her while drunk, Tag finds it to be a Pay Evil unto Evil situation. The whole thing is played for Black Comedy Rape, especially since the encounter had long-term effect on him and his body slowly begins to deteriorate, and all his friends mock him when he tells them a woman paralyzed him and forcibly had sex with him.
- Driven to Suicide: In the first issue of the Seeley reboot, Cabbot's therapist ends up killing herself after talking to him.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Kennedy has chalk-white skin and black hair, as does Sam. This is presumably a byproduct of their resurrections, although Sam is slightly less pale, possibly because he died of a drug overdose, whereas Kennedy was bludgeoned to death.
- Expy:
- Cabbot is a thinly-veiled copy of Cable, while Deadlock is a straight-up rip-off of Wolverine, except with clawed fingers instead of Wolverine's pop-out claws. Tag also bears a strong physical resemblance to Liefeld's version of Boom-Boom from X-Force.
- The later issues of Seeley's run include appearances by Cabbot's former teammates Suprema and Twilight. The former is a clear expy of Supergirl, while the latter is a mix of Domino's looks and Psylocke's powers.
- Fan Disservice: When Tag pulls off her dress to have sex with Max, we see the skin beneath her dress is actually rotting. A later flashback we get of that scene in uses a Sexy Silhouette to conceal the action.
- Finger Poke of Doom: Justified, when Tag paralyses Supreme, he's only mostly paralyzed and can still muster enough strength to do a finger poke on her, which thanks to his Super-Strength, still sends her flying.
- Flying Brick: In the final arc of Seeley's run, the team has to fight a mind-controlled Suprema, who is basically an expy of Supergirl, with all the power that implies.
- Forced to Watch: As part of her "punishment" for cheating on him, Kennedy's boyfriend forced her to watch as he sliced up her girlfriend.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Kennedy Marx was once a mousy underemployed waitress with a shitty, abusive boyfriend. Now she's Fourplay, a government operative with mass-manipulation abilities. She considers the fact that she had to die to become Fourplay to be an acceptable trade-off.
- Full-Frontal Assault:
- Chapel Sleeps in the Nude in his bedroom, so when he has a dream about the rest of the team attacking him in his sleep, he fights them off naked, with Censor Shadow preserving his modesty.
- When Tag finds Deadlock peeking at her and Fourplay in the shower she starts kicking her ass while still naked. It's only when she notices he's Eating the Eye Candy that she bothers putting her clothes back on (which only takes a second with Super-Speed). Her actual bits are covered by Hand-or-Object Underwear or Toplessness from the Back shots.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: If it wasn't for Project Born Again, the team would be dead several times over. Life-threatening injuries are very common in their line of work.
- Gratuitous Spanish: New tag uses a lot of Spanish words and slang in her dialogue. She also goes on a Spanish Foreign-Language Tirade when angry.
- Immigrant Patriotism: Ventura was born in Mexico, but came to America for cancer treatment. She has few qualms about becoming a property of the US Government, as she feels she owes them for resurrecting her.
- Juxtaposed Halves Shot: One issue has a shot that splits Deadlock and Lethal's faces as they argue about politics.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Despite the utterly shitty hand Cabbot's been dealt, it has apparently never occurred to him to stop trying to be a hero.Marilyn: Something must connect you to other people, because you've been fighting to save them your whole life.
- Mission Control: Roam functions as the team's mission control system.
- Modesty Bedsheet: Used on the heroes whenever they end up on the base's morgue to prep for revival.
- More Diverse Sequel: The original team was all white. The reboot by Tim Seeley changed things up, with the new Tag being a Latina, the new Fourplay being bisexual, the new Deadlock being Jewish, and the new Shogun being black (and possibly Buddhist.)
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The original Fourplay had four arms.
- The Nothing After Death: Cabbot used to be a devout Christian hero, but then he died and instead of waking up in Heaven, he woke up in a Born Again tank. He doesn't remember anything in between, so he assumes that his good deeds were all for nothing.
- The Paralyzer: This is part of the original Tag's power set - she can paralyze people with a touch.
- Power Perversion Potential: Dealock uses his Invisibility to peek on Tag and Fourplay while they were showering. When they notice it, Fourplay covers herself in a Modesty Towel while Tag beats him up.
- Preserve Your Gays: Bisexual Kennedy is constantly put in harm's way, but as one of the Born Agains, she can be patched up later.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin:
- Kennedy has extremely pale skin to contrast with her jet black hair. She usually has lipstick too.
- Twilight, one of Cabbot's old teammates from his days in the Young Americans, has white skin, black hair, and black patches over her eyes.
- Sarcastic Clapping: Due to her four arms, Fourplay manages to do this to mock Cabbot's orders while still using her other arm to maintain a Badass Arm-Fold.
- She-Fu: The original Tag's fighting style involves a lot of acrobatics and kicks. This suits her given as she needs is touch her opponents in order to use her paralyzing powers.
- Shower of Angst: Post-Ressuction, Cabbot showers while numbly examining his body. Upon exiting the shower, he sees his face in the mirror and smashes it in rage.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Dale Scott and Linzie Leganza are both killed early in Seeley's run, but their deaths end up having impacts on the rest of the run.
- Spicy Latina: In the Seeley reboot, the new Tag is a blonde Latina with a temper.
- Spin-Off: The series was originally a spin-off of Youngblood (Image Comics), of which Cabbot's brother Battlestone is a former member, while Deadlock was an antagonist in early Youngblood issues.
- Teleportation: Roam is capable of teleporting the team around, but needs time to charge up between ports.
- Teeny Weenie: During one physical exam where the team has to undress, Kennedy mocks Deadlock, asking him if he turned his dick invisible or if it's just impossible to see with the naked eye.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted in the Seeley reboot, where the first issue has Cabbot forced to sit down with a counselor. And then played straight when it turns out that Dr. Marilyn Hammel is just another Born Again. Later, a new counselor is hired to deal with Cabbot and his team. The new doctor works out much better.
- Wham Shot: The "Reborn Under a Bad Sign" arc ends with the original Fourplay showing up and offering her services to Mrs. Scott.
- Wolverine Wannabe: The original Deadlock was one of the most shameless Wolverine knock-offs ever, with his original costume being essentially Wolvie's classic costume but with a different color scheme, clawed fingers instead of the claws on the back of the hand, and just enough other cosmetic changes to avoid lawsuits. The second Deadlock, Samuel Christopher Hicks, has a costume that's only slightly less obvious in its Wolverine homages.
