| |
|
 |
 |
December 10, 1999 |
 |
|
 |
'Battle Chasers' pure fun, brilliance
What: "Battle Chasers" #1-6 (Cliffhanger! Image) by Joe Madureira, Munier Sharrieff and Tom McWeeney. The Scene: Picture a young girl, named Gully, searching for her father, running from the wolf-human monsters who are after the parcel our brave little Gully will protect at all costs. Her savior is the wargolem Calibretto, a gigantic, artillery-packed robot who prefers the simpler pleasures of reviving nearly extinct flowers and bird-feeding. The wargolem's master, Knolan, an old wizard suffering from insomnia, agrees to help the young girl find her father, the great warrior Aramus. And so the journey begins, with fantastical creatures, mystical gloves, fallen warriors, mercenary women, and vengeful villains around each corner. The story reaches a climax in issue 5, which contains not one, but three(!) simultaneous battle scenes. And issue 6 introduces a whole slew of new questions which indicate that there will be many more battles to come. The skinny: When you look back at the comics of the '90s, there is one artist you cannot ignore -- Joe Mad. He succeeded where many others failed in importing Japan's manga style to American comics -- witness the X-Men. His work with comicdom's favorite band of mutants was incredible. With "Battle Chasers," Joe Mad's creator-owned book, the manga style has been appropriately transferred over to a tale of fantasy. Mad's style is perfect for combining the giant robots, wolf monsters, mystical weapons, and brave little girls, as if such a potpourri was completely natural. His artwork truly transcends the two-dimensional nature of comic books. Joe Mad, along with the help of his pal Sharrieff, also tells a pretty darned intriguing story. The characters are as vibrant as the colors they are presented in. The innocent Gully represents all that is good and pure. The fallen warrior Garrison envelopes all that is pain and hurt. And the mercenary Red Monika is all attitude. The tale which winds around these three characters will win no literary awards, but it's well-paced, and does a fine job of keeping the reader guessing while rendering this land of fantasy as an old, familiar friend. The question: There is one major problem with this book, however. Joe Mad, artist extrodinaire, doesn't really get the concept of "deadline." I mean, he really doesn't get it. Supposedly a monthly book, it took over a year for the first six issues to reach the stands. It's been over six months since issue 6 came out. Which leads one to question whether issue 7 will ever materialize. The first six issues were once mega-popular. They sold out immediately and their prices rose at extraodinary rates. However, comic readers have never been known to be patient, and this wait has left a lot of people pissed. The books' prices are dropping and it remains to be seen if anyone will actually buy number 7 if it ever arrives. My call: As if I needed another comic on my reading list ... I want number 7. And I want an issue 8, 9, all the way up to 100 and beyond. I love Joe Mad, missed deadlines and all, and his book is pure fun. I doubt that this work will go down as a classic in any sense of the word, but one cannot argue with the fun of Joe Mad's realm of fantasy. And in the end, this fan-girl just wants to have fun.
|
|
