Posted in: Comics | Tagged: battle chasers, image comics, joe madureira

22 Years Late, Joe Madureira's Battle Chasers #10 In June. Probably.

We have the return of Joe Madureira's Battle Chasers, written by Madureira, now drawn by Ludo Lullabi, from Image Comics in June.

We had the return of Airboy. The return of Miracleman. The return of Fables. The return of Ronin. The return of Bone. And now we have the return of Joe Madureira's Battle Chasers, written by Joe Madureira, now drawn by Ludo Lullabi and published by Image Comics again with Battle Chasers #10 from June.

Battle Chasers was a fantasy comic book by Joe Madureira that he launched in April 1998 as part of Wildstorm's Cliffhanger creator-owned line through Image Comics. It was slow coming, with many months between issues, including a delay of 16 months for issue #7.  The last issue, #9, was published in September 2001 and had a cliffhanger ending that was never concluded. Battle Chasers #10 was scheduled for November 2001 but was never released. Joe Madureira left the comic industry to pursue a career as a video game designer, but promised its return as part of a crowdfunder – but that promise never paid out.

Joe Madureira said he had plans to release issue #10, starting directly where issue #9 ended, and two more issues as part of a 3-part story arc set sometime after the release of the Battle Chasers: Nightwar game in October 2017. Then in June 2019, Joe Madureira stated when it returned, he wouldn't be drawing it, saying "Unfortunately, it's proven difficult to work on them alongside my responsibilities at the studio. Realistically, the only way to get the books finished and into your hands any time soon is to recruit some highly talented individuals to help out. I'll still be working on the story of course, and drawing as many pages as I can manage. One of the reasons I haven't let anyone take over the series in the last 20 years is because I always felt that if it were to continue, it had to be me. Or a team I had complete faith in, and I think I've found that team. I'll be releasing more details on that soon. Issues #10-12 will pick up exactly where the last issue left off, and focus on Garrison, his past, and his complicated relationship with the fugitive Red Monika."

In 2021, Joe Madureira posted a Battle Chasers image to Instagram, with the legend "#10" as part of the design, naming artist LudoLullabi as artist on the series, beginning with Battle Chasers #10. Joe Madureira posted the pages and announced on Twitter that "it will be oversized with 32 full pages of story! BCNW backers will of course get theirs, and it'll be available in shops later this year."

It wasn't. The Kickstarter backers especially, they have been waiting a very, very long time.

Battle Chasers takes place in an "arcanepunk" setting with four main characters, including a nine-year-old girl named Gully, whose father mysteriously vanishes, leaving behind a pair of magical gloves. A rogue named Red Monika tries to enlist Garrison, a swordsman haunted by the death of his wife, 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.

These were the Battle Chasers pages posted in 2021:

And the new pages posted today:

Battle Chasers takes place in an "arcanepunk" setting with four main characters, including a nine-year-old girl named Gully, whose father mysteriously vanishes, leaving behind a pair of magical gloves. A rogue named Red Monika tries to enlist Garrison, a swordsman haunted by the death of his wife, 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.

 Battle Chasers Anthology trade paperback was rereleased by Image Comics in 2019, promising extra stuff, including new stories, that didn't actually make it into the finished products. Nevertheless, Image Comics reports that the book was hit by sales spikes, went back to print multiple times in order to keep up with demand for the series and will be reportinted again ahead of the new story arc.

Battle Chasers #10 issue will also showcase variant covers by top talent, including: J. Scott Campbell, Humberto Ramos, Chris Bachalo, Skottie Young, and Mirka Andolfo. Battle Chasers #10 "promises fans an action-packed new story, with art by game and comics sensation Lullabi. In this new story arc, titled "Martial Law," readers are introduced to the bloody tale of retired swordsman Garrison and the fugitive Red Monika as they face off against Maestro's gang of supernatural killers—the Martial Paladins!"

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