Joe Madureira is taking the manga-influenced style he brought to superheroes and is using it to re-define the world of fantasy.
Madureira hopes that sword-and-sorcery comics can be brought into the limelight through Battle Chasers, his creation that he's co-plotting with comic newcomer Munier Sharrieff. A scripter for the series is yet to be determined.
    Battle Chasers will take place in a Dungeons & Dragons- like environment that's full of technological know-how , as well as the usual medieval setting. This backdrop sets the stage for four main characters to meet. The party will include Garrison (the greatest swordsman in the world, who's vowed never to use his sword again), Gully (a nine-year-old girl who'll be the muscle of the group), an unnamed powerful space cadet of a wizard who lugs a huge spellbook on his back, and a half -machine/half-golem creature that's a combination of technology and magic. The group meets coincidentally, but stays together our of necessity. "I'm trying to combine fantasy characters with robots," said Madureira. "I'm creating a world and characters that I can do anything I want with, whether that means killing them off or making them into gods.
    "It will be a very visual book, very cinematic and almost like 'Indiana Jones' in its action, " continued Madureira. "It'll be filled with adventure, insane villains and dizzying action sequences."

   -Reprinted from Wizard 77