Legal trouble ahead for BOOM! Studios?

BOOM! Studios could face a legal dispute over its recently rebranded children's imprint Kaboom!

Following the unveiling of the firm's new subsidiary, Image co-founder Rob Liefeld laid claim to the publishing rights to the title 'Kaboom'.

Liefeld's now defunct Awesome Comics studio previously published a series by Jeph Loeb and Jeff Matsuda titled KABOOM. It was compiled as a hardcover and trade paperback last year.

According to his Twitter account, Liefeld is planning legal action against BOOM! "My lawyers are drafting a complaint. Busy week. Shouldn't be an issue since we released the KABOOM! HC and trade last year," he wrote.

Speaking to CBR, comic book legal expert Brian Cronin explained that the Image co-founder may have a case for trademark infringement as a comic book and an imprint sharing the same name could create a "likelihood of confusion" among readers.

"While it certainly isn't absolutely clear, I think it is fairly safe to say that a line of comic books sharing the same name as an in-print comic book is close enough to create a likelihood of confusion, particularly when both comics are aimed at the same specific subset of the comic book market (younger consumers)," he added.

BOOM! Studios is yet to comment on the matter.