Joe Madureira’s ‘Battle Chasers’ Returning With New Game and Comic, Maybe

Almost fifteen years after the comic disappeared from shelves, Joe Madureira's Battle Chasers is set up for a big comeback. Of course, since he's gotten a taste of video game development, Joe Mad's not content to just revisit the fan-favorite in comic book form.

In an interview with Polygon, Madureira discussed bringing Battle Chasers out of retirement, so to speak. After abandoning the comic over a decade ago, Madureira went on to help form Vigil Studios, which you might remember as the developer of the cult hit, Darksiders. After THQ went belly-up, and the Darksiders brand was sold off, Joe Mad and fellow Vigil co-founder Ryan Stefanelli formed a new company --- Airship Syndicate. With this new venture, the duo is looking to bring back Battle Chasers across a variety of media, including comics and games.

Airship Syndicate is hoping to create a PC and console game around the fantasy story of Gully, and unlikely companions Garrison and Calibretto. It's likely we'll see fan art favorite, the well-endowed Red Monika, as well, but details about the game are fairly sparse at the moment. Beyond the concept of the adventure being an RPG following in the original comic arc's narrative footsteps, Airship is keeping the pertinent details under wraps.

"Even though the game mechanically is going to be very different from Darksiders, I think we're still really going to be doing everything we can to make sure that the dungeon exploration side of the game is soaked with lots of fun adventurous elements," Stefanelli told the site.

As for the comic, don't get too excited about seeing Joe Mad's return to the printed page just yet. There's no release date or even publisher attached at the moment, but Madureira definitely has a plan in place to help Battle Chasers see the light of day once more.

"I partially just want to update it," Madureira explained to Polygon. "I think it's going to get a visual overhaul too. My art style and storytelling style, everything's sort of changed and evolved over the years." The current plan is to finish off the original storyline, which will lead into the game, and then do a series of short arcs expanding on the world and characters.

Battle Chasers may expand beyond the realm of comics and games, too, if Airship has its way. The company is also contemplating an animated venture for the franchise, though those talks are a long ways away. Both the game and the comic are currently seeking funding, though Airship isn't sure whether it will take to Kickstarter to drum up interest and investments.

Until more can be ascertained, you can follow along for further developments at the Airship Syndicate website. It would be great to see the long-lost franchise return, but at this stage it's a little too early to get excited at the prospects of Joe Mad's return to either world.