Awesome's Collapse
Awesome eventually collapsed for a number of reasons, in which "cause" and "effect" appear muddled and linked. Its launch and success occurred towards the tail-end of the 90s comics boom, in which speculation forced sales up artificially and unseasonably. The speculator boom was fueled in no small part by the trend for multiple variant covers — something which the artist-led Image had a hand in, and a trend which was followed to ludicrous extremes by Awesome. Youngblood featured at least (and probably considerably more than) eleven variant covers on its debut issue (see below). Concurrently, internal disputes among its partners and the abrupt departure of its primary investor hamstrung the company, while the erratic content of some comics (sometimes not including the solicited content, featuring multiple artists, etc.) and unpredictable publishing schedule hurt sales. Allegations and lawsuits surrounding Liefeld did nothing to raise his popularity with the comics-buying public, while the increasing drive towards less-muscled, more realistic artwork may also have played a slight factor.
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