Battle Chasers Anthology
After more than 20 years I’ve finally gotten around to reading the hottest comic of 1998! Words can’t describe how hot “Battle Chasers” was when it launched, with its artist Joe Madureira coming off a hugely popular run on “Uncanny X-Men” that was largely driven by his art. Now he was launching his own series, with co-plotter and writer Munier Sharrieff, that would allow him to indulge his love of anime and manga to the hilt. That was the idea, at least.
While “Battle Chasers” launched to stellar sales and good word-of-mouth, it was quickly beset by delays, leading to only nine issues being published over the course of three years. Aside from “The Ultimates 3” and a couple of three-issue “Spider-Man” team-up stories, it was also Madureira’s last major work in the comics industry before he jumped over to create videogames like the “Darksiders” series, one based on “Battle Chasers” itself, and an upcoming one set in the “League of Legends” universe. As one of the people who followed the artist’s work on “Uncanny X-Men,” I was really looking forward to reading it after all the previews and attention it got from “Wizard.” My enthusiasm was also dampened by the magazine’s reporting regarding the many delays the series went on to experience after the first few issues…
Which is why I’m only getting around to reading it now, twenty-odd years later and after I picked it up in that Amazon sale a few weeks back. What I got was a reminder of how great an artist Madureira was back in the day as his work here is incredibly vibrant and full of energy and easily the best thing about the volume. The story is boilerplate fantasy stuff that mainly reads like writer Sharrieff was getting paid by the word here. I’ll admit that the story and character had potential to become interesting, but it’s potential that’ll never be realized. Based on the reviews and Metacritic score, you’d likely be better off spending the $30 this volume costs on the video game if you’re looking for a truly memorable “Battle Chasers” experience. (Sorry, Myron.)