Legendary Comic Book artist Joe Madureira is best known to Video Game fans as the man who designed the Darksiders games. What they may not know is that Joe had a very Video Game-y Comic in the late 90s called Battle Chasers. That series ended on a cliffhanger (ironic considering the Wildstorm imprint the book was under was called Cliffhanger) and many fans (myself included) figured that we’d never return to that world again since Joe got back into doing other comics and of course, Darksiders.
A few days ago however our old pal tweeted this:
Looks like there’s a storm coming… @AirshipSyn #teaser #DyingToTellYou pic.twitter.com/obE33E7Bd2
— Joe Madureira (@JoeMadx) February 20, 2015
Many speculated that this image was from a new Darksiders game since the tweet tagged Airship Syndicate which is headed by Madureira and some ex-members of Vigil Games. However, fans of Battle Chasers knew this was an image of Garrison’s sword. However, what was unclear at the time was what the image meant. Was it a Battle Chasers game or an Anime? Today we know the answer.
Joe Madureira and Vigil Games co-founder Ryan Stefanelli revealed to Polygon that the company is indeed working on a Battle Chasers Video Game. Though they didn’t have many details about the game itself, the men said it would be a Role Playing Game and it will let players control Garrison, Gully and Calibretto. The game will “feature a sense of adventure similar to the Darksiders games.”
Though the game will be different from Darksiders, the heavy emphasis on dungeon exploration will be kept intact. The development team itself will comprise 10-15 members and the game will balance old-school sensibilities with modern mechanics. The team hopes to have it on the PC and current-gen consoles and are considering a version for tablets.
As for the Comic Book, Madureira says it will be updated and overhauled due to his art style and tastes having changed since the original book was released. He wants to do three-issue arcs and plans for the first of these to wrap up the original story he started. A publisher for the books and a release date have not been announced.
Right now the Battle Chasers game and comic are still in the early stages. Airship Syndicate is looking for funding for the project but hasn’t decided if it will be from an investor, a publisher or even Kickstarter. There is also talk about an animated series and other venues for the franchise to branch into.
Stay tuned to more news on the Battle Chasers game and Comic Book. In the meantime, check out a gallery of concept art below.
Source: Polygon, Airship Syndicate
