Battle Chasers... is back!
 

https://i.postimg.cc/Y0Qkn3WS/s-l1600.jpg

Remember "Battle Chasers"? That came out from like 1998 to 2001 (issues #1-9), from Joe Madureira? It was a huge hit, and JoeMad promised he'd one day return to it and finish it as he got more involved in video game creation, but then never did. Fast forward to 2019, when JoeMad did a Kickstarter for a Battle Chasers video game. Again, the promise that he'd one day finish the book happened, but nothing really came of it.

Well, now it's here. #10, #11, and #12 are already out. Joe isn't doing any of the interior art (talk about a copout, after all this time) but he is writing it, and doing alternate covers for all.

LOVE Battlchasers. Actually have issue #12 sitting here next to me at my computer.... This is such a great I.P.

For hardcore fans I would strongly, strongly suggest "Battle Chasers: Nightwar" - the PS4 game Andrew mentioned above. It's terrific too.

I think the fact that there is still grassroots fan-demand for it speaks volumes, given it's sordid production history. Basically a 9-issue comic book run that took 3.5 years to get to the market, 1 video game and a few follow-up issues 22 years after the fact as total output. And it's still wildly popular.

Oh, sure, do it now after I sold my 9-issue run -- with #s 0 and 1/2, no less. I've only been waiting since MySpace was popular. What the ever-loving ass. Goddamn s**t.

Do you mean the prelude issue as the "#0" - probably.... but what about the 1/2? I didn't think Battlechasers ever got a 1/2 issue.

The closest thing to that is the now hard to find and often forgotten Frank Frazetta Fantasy Illustrated magazine, issue 2. That had an original Battlechasers story in it and isn't very well known.

Yeah, he's probably thinking of Danger Girl or Lady Death or one of the myriad other similar books that launched around the same time.

That era of Image had some neat releases. Image 2.0 in a way - Battlechasers, Crimson, Danger Girl. The Cliffhanger stuff that gave way to Aspen and more. I love Danger Girl to this day. Such a fun book all the time. Whenever they crap out another nonsense mini-series of that one I'm onboard every time.

Aspen... oh yeah. I completely forgot about those. Like Fathom. Wow, what a book. Every issue was like opening up a present, art-wise. Michael Turner was a hell of a talent. It looks like that IP has largely been abandoned now... shame.

I was at a convention in Rosement, IL on the day he died. I think when it was still "Wizard World" maybe.... They announced his passing over the intercom at the convention. It was weird and unexpected level of news you don't normally get at a con. Those things are usually just pure escapism from reality.

But Cliffhanger basically opened the doors for extreme art books. It was like... what Image did to Marvel, Cliffhanger did to Image but without the vitriol.

Crap, I was referring to Cliffhanger #0 and the Prelude issue. I was too flustered to correct myself.

Maybe when all is said and done and if everything is reprinted in a trade I'll pick it up.

Does Cliffhanger #0 have any exclusive Battle Chasers stuff in it?

It's been possibly decades since I've opened that comic, but I feel like it didn't have any story-panel content in it, but instead read like a "Wizard Magazine Special" for the launch of Cliffhanger.

I remember back in the day - around launch time - that #0 and those Preludes had an aftermarket feeding frenzy for them. If you could even call it the "aftermarket" at the time - the books were still distributor-fresh. If those guys could have held a schedule, Battlechasers could have been a Spawn or Savage Dragon-like run. Danger Girl not so much - the I.P. on it's own merits is better served as some kind of "random adventure" anthology-style book or mini-series runs.

I think it was just sketch work.

Yeah, that's what I was hoping for. It had an engaging and quasi-unique story going.

I was just thinking about this series last week. The different artist is an immediate turn-off though.

The interiors are decent and stay true to the brand. But I know what you mean - a big part of the appeal is the 100% Madureira sensibility. His worldview through art is absolutely ridiculous - borders on schizophrenic (like Sam Keith) but still attractive and fun.

His art MADE the book. But barring him, I'd be OK with Jonboy Meyers doing the art, who's a long known Madureira copycat of a sort. Ironically he actually DID do some of the alternate covers on these new issues.

I like Meyers art, his headspace not so much.

I just recollected all the old Battle Chasers stuff while I await the new stuff to arrive... and man, it's not just the art. It's the super detailed and elaborate coloring, too. From what I've peeked at the new guy's art, the coloring seems fairly flat and boring by comparison. Surely JoeMad could have at least sprung for some far-out coloring?