Joe Madureira is bringing back long dormant comic book IP Battle Chasers, as both a comic and a new video game.
Gaming and comic book fans may be familiar with Battle Chasers’ troubled releases. At a time when IDW and Udon hadn’t made the anime/Western style of comic art ubiquitous, the original Battle Chasers was a welcome outlier.
Madureira got his start in Marvel Comics in the mid to late 90s, making his name as penciler for Uncanny X-Men when he worked on the Age of Apocalypse. He left in 1997 to work on Battle Chasers for Wildstorm. He would release nine issues of the comic within four years, with only two to three issues coming out annually.
Madureira reemerged for many fans when he was revealed to be creative director for Vigil Games’ Darksiders, but he also worked on two projects, the cancelled Dragonkind, and Dungeon Runners. So, he definitely paid his dues for both industries
Today, Madureira and Ryan Staffeli, formerly of Vigil, have unveiled plans for the new Battle Chasers game under a new company, Airship Syndicate. It will be an RPG reminiscent of Darksiders, and will allow you to play the original series protagonists, Garrison, Gully, and Calibretto.
Many details have still not been fully fleshed out, but it will be a relatively small, 10 to 15 person project, staffed mostly by former Vigil Games staff. The game is definitely coming to PC and consoles, and they are considering tablets. As for the comic, it will come in three issue arcs, perhaps to ensure fans don’t wait too long. Airship is considering a Kickstarter, and possibly even an animated series.