Introduction In 1997, following the success of his run on Supreme, acclaimed writer Alan Moore was given the opportunity to write a mini-series that would feature the entire fledgling Awesome universe, only recently inherited from Maximum Press and from Rob Liefeld's studio at Image Comics before that. Moore was given the title, Judgment Day, but disliked the idea of yet another apocalyptic event, a staple of company-wide crossovers. Instead, he chose to frame the story around a trial, which would provide the impetus for the title. During that trial, as super-heroes testified while a member of Youngblood was tried for murder, flashback sequences would redefine the entire company's universe. Moore further would write summaries of the various characters to help launch the reconstituted books that were planned following this universe-redefining event. It seemed a stroke of genius: a comic book company had finally given the great Alan Moore the reigns to redesign it entirely, and one could only imagine that the company would benefit far into the future. Though the main thrust of the three-issue Judgment Day story was illustrated by Rob Liefeld, inked by Jon Sibal, the numerous flashback sequences were illustrated by a wide variety of artists. A complete list of pencilers includes Rob Liefeld (39 pages), Stephen Platt (8 pages), Cedric Nocon (8 pages), Marat Mychaeis (7 pages), Chris Sprouse (4 pages), Rick Veitch (4 pages), Gil Kane (4 pages), Jim Starlin (4 pages), Ian Churchill (4 pages), Kieth Giffen (2 pages), Steve Skroce (2 pages), Dan Jurgens (2 pages), Adam Pollina (2 pages), Jeff Johnson (2 pages), and Terry Dodson (2 pages). Inks were provided by Jon Sibal (41 pages), Lary Stucker (15 pages), Norm Rapmund (8 pages), Al Gordon (8 pages), Rick Veitch (4 pages), Gil Kane (4 pages), Alan Weiss (4 pages), Joe Weems V (4 pages), Bill Wray (2 pages), Dan Panosian (2 pages), and Rachel Dodson (2 pages). As it turned out, Alan Moore did his job spendidly. The Awesome universe was taken from a group of inherited titles of embarrassing quality to a top-notch universe with a shockingly deep history given the brevity of the three Judgment Day issues. Awesome's notorious poor decisions, however, were immediately evident. The three issues, though they continued into each other, were each given their own individual titles, each numbered #1: Judgment Day Alpha #1 thus continued into Judgment Day Omega #1, which might have made sense had it not been continued into Judgment Day: Final Judgment #1, which defeats the entire point of entitling an episode Omega. The final issue was also substantially delayed, although all three issues were made extra-long at the same price. The mini-series was followed in December with a short story, written by Moore and featuring the new Youngblood team he had invented, in the otherwise lackluster Awesome Holiday Special. Judgment Day: Aftermath #1, an oversized special pencilled by comics great Gil Kane (who himself was written into the story), set the stage for Moore's revised Awesome universe. It featured short stories for Youngblood, Glory (given a new mythological focus), the Allies (an equivalent of the Justice League previously seen in Moore's Supreme), the New Men (reconstituted as adventurers in the model of the Fantastic Four), Maximage (newly redefined), and Spacehunter (an ignored Allies member in the model of Martian Manhunter). Although the special appeared some six months after the mini-series, it was intended to set off a slew of new ongoing series following Moore's blueprints and largely initially written by Moore. Youngblood, Liefeld's flagship title during the Image years, would be the first to be so relaunched. Written by Moore and illustrated by Steve Skroce, the series proved great fun with a tone less campy than Moore's Supreme. Although Moore outlined the first twelve issues, those issues were published only sporadically. The first issue appeared, illogically, prior to Judgment Day: Aftwermath #1 in early 1998. The second issue appeared almost half a year later. It would be the last. Much as Supreme would be relaunched as the sporadic Supreme: The Return, simply continuing Moore's scripts, Youngblood would be relaunched as Awesome Adventures -- in 1999, a year after the second and final Youngblood issue. Only one issue of Awesome Adventures would ever see print, however, and even its story would be truncated. The dream of this material ever being published seemed dashed. The Moore-scripted Glory was to be launched about the same time as Awesome Adventures, but it would not see a single issue -- only a preview issue numbered zero. It would later be published by Avatar Press, where it would similarly face great delays in publication. CONTENTS PERIODICALS BOOKS Alan Moore's Awesome Universe Handbook #1 Awesome Adventures #1 Awesome Holiday Special #1 Glory (second series) #0 Judgment Day: Aftermath #1 Judgment Day Alpha #1 Judgment Day: Final Judgment #1 Judgment Day Omega #1 Youngblood (second series) #1-2 Judgment Day IMAGE TITLE DESCRIPTION STATUS 1. Judgment Day Judgment Day Alpha #1, Judgment Day Omega #1, Judgment Day: Final Judgment #1, Judgment Day: Aftermath #1, Youngblood story in Awesome Holiday Special #1, Youngblood (second series) #1-2, Awesome Adventures #1, Glory (second series) #0, Alan Moore's Awesome Universe Handbook #1: Alan Moore script Judgment Day Alpha #1, Judgment Day Omega #1, Judgment Day: Final Judgment #1, Judgment Day: Aftermath #1, Awesome Holiday Special #1, Youngblood (second series) #1-2, Awesome Adventures #1, Glory (second series) #0: no interior art data entered Judgment Day Alpha #1, Judgment Day Omega #1, Judgment Day: Final Judgment #1, Judgment Day: Aftermath #1, Awesome Holiday Special #1, Youngblood (second series) #1-2, Awesome Adventures #1, Glory (second series) #0: no cover data entered Judgment Day Alpha #1, Judgment Day Omega #1, Judgment Day: Final Judgment #1, Judgment Day: Aftermath #1, Awesome Holiday Special #1, Youngblood (second series) #1-2, Awesome Adventures #1, Glory (second series) #0, Alan Moore's Awesome Universe Handbook #1: published by Awesome Entertainment Judgment Day Alpha #1 cover-dated June 1997 1 Judgment Day Omega #1 1 Judgment Day: Final Judgment #1 incorrectly numbered #3 on the cover; cover-dated July 1997, though the indicia indicates October 1997 1 Awesome Holiday Special #1 a flip-book, with two covers and the contents divided into halves; contains an 8-page Youngblood story (showing the new team's formation and concluding with their battle with Stormhead), and three other 8-page stories cover-dated December 1997 1 Judgment Day: Aftermath #1 within a 3.8-page framing sequence featuring Gil Kane and the Fighting American, contains a 6-page Youngblood story (featuring their battle with Stormhead), a 6-page Glory story (featuring her incarnation as a human waitress), a 6-page New Men story (with them reconstituted as adventurers in league with the Conquerors of the Uncanny), a 6-page Maximage story (in which she relocates to San Francisco and moves in to her predecessor's house with their assistant Lei-Ling), a 7-page Allies story (in which the reconstituted team is newly in its satellite headquarters and Glory is already a waitress), and a 5.2-page Spacehunter story (almost entirely in alien tongue); cover-dated March 1998 1 Judgment Day collects Judgment Day Alpha #1, Judgment Day Omega #1, Judgment Day: Final Judgment #1, the Youngblood story from Awesome Holiday Special #1, and Judgment Day: Aftermath #1; brief Mark Thompson foreword; published by Checker Book Publishing Group; softcover [REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK] 1 Alan Moore's Awesome Universe Handbook #1 consists of Alan Moore's text with Alex Ross sketches; Alex Ross sketched cover; cover-dated April 1999 1 2. Youngblood Youngblood (second series) #1 30 pages; cover-dated February 1998 1 Youngblood (second series) #2 cover-dated August 1998 1 Awesome Adventures #1 the story strangely runs only 18 pages; cover-dated August 1999 1 2a. Glory Glory (second series) #0 the story strangely runs only 10 pages, clearly written and drawn as 8 though 2 pages are doubled in size and rotated 90 degrees to consume 2 pages; also includes sketches by Alex Ross; cover-dated March 1999 1 On The Continuity Pages: Supreme The Continuity Page for Supreme, the success of Alan Moore's run on which spurred Judgment Day and the Youngblood revival. The Continuity Pages: Alan Moore Miscellany The Continuity Page for Alan Moore's miscellaneous work, including all the links relevant to Alan Moore. Off-Site Please be aware that the continued quality, and even existence, of these sites cannot be guaranteed. None at present. PersianCaesar The website of author Julian Darius, creator of The Continuity Pages. Please support (y)our site. First published online on 10 March 2003. Supreme and related characters and art are copyrighted by Rob Liefeld. This site is copyrighted by Julian Darius and intended for scholarly purposes and to increase interest in its topic.