COMIC REVIEW - Battle Chasers #10: The Long-Awaited Return Has Arrived! (Image Comics)

RECAP

Joe Madureira's beloved fantasy series returns in an action-packed new story, with art by game and comics sensation Ludo Lullabi! "Martial Law" tells 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!

CREATIVE TEAM & COMIC INFO

Author: Joe Madureira
Artist: Ludo Lullabi
Colorist: Ludo Lullabi
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Comicraft's Tyler Smith
Publisher: Image Comics
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Magic, Otherworld, Sword and Sorcery
Published Date: 06/14/2023

REVIEW

The world of Battle Chasers first started in 1998 with issue #1, which would last for a total of 9 issues through 2001 with many fans wishing for more. Finally, after more than 20 years, Joe Madureira returns to the world of Gaia and the beloved characters he created with issue 10. Since its announcement, the buzz has not died down, and it doesn’t seem to plan on quitting anytime soon.

Writing

Madureira has done a fantastic job of taking a familiar story from something like Dungeons and Dragons and creating a new one on its foundation that is exciting and filled with drama and action. The sexually-charged tensions between Red Monika and Garrison draw the reader in, which leads to their being chased by the Paladins. The second half of the story leads in with Gully visiting Sebastias Nefar, asking him if he lied about her father before the tides turn with her and Calibretto. The story is a page-by-page thriller, making it hard for the reader to stop reading for fear of losing their own momentum in the story.

Artwork

The art by Lullabi and lettering by Starkings and Smith usher in the triumphant return of the popular series with their skills and talents. Lullabi’s drawings and colors enhance all of the emotions that the characters (and the readers, vicariously) feel throughout the story: fear, infatuation, adrenaline, etc. It hones in the intensity of Gully with the prisoner that claims to be her brother, the menacing presence of the Paladins, and gives the reader another reason why Monika has the nickname “Red” with their reaction to those opening pages. The highlight of the issue is the knife-throwing scene where one of the characters is throwing a set of knives at the same time, where the knives break out of the panel of the character and appears in other panels to their final destination. It is a fantastic way to show action going out beyond the confines of the panel boxes that leads the readers’ eyes to the movement of the scene.

The letterers did a phenomenal job of creating artistic effects with the various sounds of the natural environment, battle noises, and explosions. They created the traditional dialogue speech bubbles while at the same time breaking away with that art style to highlight the rather intrusive and surprising yelling that happens in the story from time to time.

Variant Cover Highlight

This issue touts a main cover plus nine variant covers. One of those variants is from the writer himself, Joe Madureira. The art here seems to draw inspiration from anime, giving Gully the classic anime eyes and having the main characters pose in an overlapping way to highlight them with minimal background. This easily could have been the main cover art to serve as a way to re-introduce this story to the world of comics.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This issue is an exemplary way of picking up where a story left off 20 years prior that appeases loyal fans and gains new readers. For those who are looking for an exciting and excellent fantasy-based comic, there is no other story this year better than this.