Battle Chasers
Encyclopedia
Battle Chasers is an American fantasy
comic book
series by Joe Madureira, launched in April 1998. It was one of the most popular American comics series in the late 1990s, but suffered from extreme scheduling problems, with an average of about six months between issues, including a delay of 16 months for issue #7. Madureira produced a total of nine issues in four years (publishing two to three a year), a pace for which he was criticized.
Originally published by WildStorm
under its Cliffhanger
imprint (founded by Madureira with J. Scott Campbell
and Humberto Ramos
), the series moved to Image Comics
in 2001.
The last issue, #9, was published in September 2001 and had a cliffhanger
-ending that was never concluded, as #10 (scheduled for November 2001) was never released and Joe Madureira left the comic industry to pursue a career as a video game designer.
label, which Madureira founded with fellow artists J. Scott Campbell
(Danger Girl
) and Humberto Ramos
(Crimson) for Jim Lee
's Image Comics
imprint, WildStorm
. When, effective in 1999, Wildstorm was sold to DC Comics
, the Cliffhanger titles moved along, and issues 5 through 8 of Battle Chasers were published by DC, until Madureira left the publisher, and released Battle Chasers #9 through Image Comics. Madureira canceled Battle Chasers #10, and placed the series "on hold" after forming a game development company called Tri-Lunar with Tim Donley and Greg Peterson.
When it was announced in August 2005 that Madureira would return to the comic industry, working on a then-unspecified project with Jeph Loeb
for Marvel Comics
(which was later revealed to be The Ultimates 3
), he also stated that a conclusion to Battle Chasers is "one of those things that I think about every once in a while, and not having finished it bums me out… I would love to do it at some point, but it would be very far out."
setting. The story stars a quintet of main characters, including a nine-year-old girl named Gully, whose father mysteriously vanishes, leaving behind a pair of magical gloves. A pulchritudinous warrior named Red Monika tries to enlist a swordsman haunted by the death of his wife, Garrison, to assist in freeing a prisoner, which Garrison turns down. Red Monika accidentally releases four extremely powerful villains during the breakout. Garrison overcomes his grief and joins Gully, the wizard Knolan, and the towering war golem
Calibretto to stop the villains' rampage.
Gully
Calibretto
Knolan
Red Monika
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series by Joe Madureira, launched in April 1998. It was one of the most popular American comics series in the late 1990s, but suffered from extreme scheduling problems, with an average of about six months between issues, including a delay of 16 months for issue #7. Madureira produced a total of nine issues in four years (publishing two to three a year), a pace for which he was criticized.
Originally published by WildStorm
WildStorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
under its Cliffhanger
Cliffhanger (comics)
Cliffhanger was an imprint of Wildstorm, publishing creator-owned comic books. It was founded in 1998 by Joe Madureira, J. Scott Campbell and Humberto Ramos, when Wildstorm was still part of Image Comics ....
imprint (founded by Madureira with J. Scott Campbell
J. Scott Campbell
Jeffrey Scott Campbell is an American comic book artist. He has had several pen names, including "Jeff Scott", but is best known as J. Scott Campbell...
and Humberto Ramos
Humberto Ramos
Humberto Ramos is a Mexican comic book penciller, best known for his work on American comic books such as Impulse, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and his creator-owned series Crimson.-Career:...
), the series moved to Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
in 2001.
The last issue, #9, was published in September 2001 and had a cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
-ending that was never concluded, as #10 (scheduled for November 2001) was never released and Joe Madureira left the comic industry to pursue a career as a video game designer.
Publication history
Battle Chasers was one of the initial three comic book series published under the CliffhangerCliffhanger (comics)
Cliffhanger was an imprint of Wildstorm, publishing creator-owned comic books. It was founded in 1998 by Joe Madureira, J. Scott Campbell and Humberto Ramos, when Wildstorm was still part of Image Comics ....
label, which Madureira founded with fellow artists J. Scott Campbell
J. Scott Campbell
Jeffrey Scott Campbell is an American comic book artist. He has had several pen names, including "Jeff Scott", but is best known as J. Scott Campbell...
(Danger Girl
Danger Girl
Danger Girl is an American comic book series created by J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell. The comic features a group of female secret agents led by a mentor named Deuce. The series follows the James Bond and Indiana Jones action-adventure formula, with the Danger Girls being an homage to the...
) and Humberto Ramos
Humberto Ramos
Humberto Ramos is a Mexican comic book penciller, best known for his work on American comic books such as Impulse, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and his creator-owned series Crimson.-Career:...
(Crimson) for Jim Lee
Jim Lee
Jim Lee is a Korean-American comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher. He first broke into the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, before gaining a great deal of popularity on The Uncanny X-Men...
's Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
imprint, WildStorm
WildStorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
. When, effective in 1999, Wildstorm was sold to DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, the Cliffhanger titles moved along, and issues 5 through 8 of Battle Chasers were published by DC, until Madureira left the publisher, and released Battle Chasers #9 through Image Comics. Madureira canceled Battle Chasers #10, and placed the series "on hold" after forming a game development company called Tri-Lunar with Tim Donley and Greg Peterson.
When it was announced in August 2005 that Madureira would return to the comic industry, working on a then-unspecified project with Jeph Loeb
Jeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost, writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf and was a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the NBC TV show Heroes from its...
for Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
(which was later revealed to be The Ultimates 3
The Ultimates 3
The Ultimates 3 was a five-issue, monthly comic book miniseries published in 2008 by Marvel Comics. Written by Jeph Loeb, and illustrated by Joe Madureira, it is a sequel to The Ultimates and The Ultimates 2. A sequel entitled Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates was released in 2010 also written by...
), he also stated that a conclusion to Battle Chasers is "one of those things that I think about every once in a while, and not having finished it bums me out… I would love to do it at some point, but it would be very far out."
Overview
The story takes place in an arcanepunkArcanepunk
The word arcanepunk refers to a fantasy world where both magic and science exist. It applies to a genre or a design.The magic and science are advanced enough that most people have access. Everyone is not scientist or wizard, but most people know how to use technologic and magic items. Scientific...
setting. The story stars a quintet of main characters, including a nine-year-old girl named Gully, whose father mysteriously vanishes, leaving behind a pair of magical gloves. A pulchritudinous warrior named Red Monika tries to enlist a swordsman haunted by the death of his wife, Garrison, to assist in freeing a prisoner, which Garrison turns down. Red Monika accidentally releases four extremely powerful villains during the breakout. Garrison overcomes his grief and joins Gully, the wizard Knolan, and the towering war golem
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
Calibretto to stop the villains' rampage.
Characters
Garrison- At the beginning of the series, Garrison is a drunk in despair with the passing of his wife. He is a legendary swordsman and owns a powerful magical sword. Trained in swordplay by Red Monika and mentored by Aramus. From Joe's original concept sketches of the characters, Garrison's sword was able to open similar to the ThundercatsThunderCatsThunderCats is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions debuting in 1984, based on the characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf. The series follows the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens...
- Sword of Omens
Gully
- Gully is a nine year old girl whose father, Aramus, mysteriously vanishes leaving a powerful set of magical gloves behind. Through the series she shares a friendship with Calibretto and Knolan while searching for her father.
Calibretto
- An outlawed war golem with a very gentle personality. The last of his kind after all previous war golems were ordered to be destroyed. His arms can fire projectiles.
Knolan
- A powerful wizard, approximately five hundred years old, who takes Gully under his wing. His companion is Calibretto, a war golem.
Red Monika
- A voluptuous bounty hunterBounty hunterA bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
who originally trained Garrison, and has an apparent history with him. Joe's concept sketch notes refer to her as "sort of the Jessica RabbitJessica RabbitJessica Rabbit is a fictional character from the Roger Rabbit film-and-novel franchise.Jessica Rabbit may also refer to:* Jessica Rabbit vibrator, a sex toy* Melyssa Ford , Canadian model-See also:...
of the Battle Chasers world".
Reception
Although issue 10 of Battle Chasers was not released, it was 14th in the Top 300 comics list with an estimated pre-order of 60,860.Core issues
- Battle Chasers Prelude (1998, Image Comics/Wildstorm)
- Story in Frank Frazetta Fantasy Illustrated #2 (1998, Quantum Cat Entertainment)
- Battle Chasers #1–4 (1998, Image Comics/Wildstorm)
- Battle Chasers #5–8 (1999–2001, DC Comics/Wildstorm)
- Battle Chasers #9 (2001, Image Comics)
Reprints
- Battle Chasers: Collected Edition #1 (reprints Battle Chasers #1–2)
- Battle Chasers: Collected Edition #2 (reprints Battle Chasers #3–4)
- Battle Chasers: A Gathering of Heroes (ISBN 1-56389-538-2; reprints Battle Chasers #1–5, the Prelude and the story from Frank Frazetta Fantasy Illustrated #2)
- Battle Chasers Anthology HC (reprints #0-9; and a few sketches and pages of the unprinted issues 10) release April 26, 2011.