Future of Battle Chasers

[Madman!]

Well that's kinda what I meant. He did Ultimates while working at Vigil. He could do like 4 or 5 issues (like he did with Ultimates) and still work on a game or the BC game..which would be perfect because by the time he finished the BC comics the game would just be about done too.

But it wouldn't be for awhile like you said from what I've read there is already Darksiders 2 coming after Darksiders.

[artxtra]

well.......

i support the idea of BC continuing in a video game format....and its possible for Mad! to pencil another comic book while at THQ but, is it gonna be BC? dats the question.

either ways, am still a BC/Mad! fan for life no matter the path he walks.

[DaveCummings]

Aug 22, 2009 6:18:25 GMT -5 mikebowden said:

Well here are the sales figures for BC, I think these may have been a factor in the demise of BC. What's obvious straight away is the big drop between issues 6 and 7. This is probably due to the general drop in comic sales. Every top 10 comic in Oct 1998 sold over 100K but by Feb 2001 only Uncanny X-men did.

Then after the $3.50 price hike for issue 9 the sales figures slumped badly and didn't recover for #10. 65k sales would be respectable at this point but of course this wasn't a monthly book.

It's a shame because I get the feeling if it had continued to sell 100k + per issue then we would've seen a lot more BC. I think a Darksiders companion comic would sell really well, especially if it made it's way into game shops. Gears of War sold over 400k without batting an eyelid for that exact reason. Even putting finances aside I would rather a Darksiders comic, I think it has a lot more potential.


Battle Chasers 1 $2.50 Image 78,500 APRIL 1998

Battle Chasers 2 $2.50 Image 63,000 MAY 1998

Battle Chasers 3 $2.50 Image 80,200 JUNE 1998

Battle Chasers 4 $2.50 Image 143,500 AUGUST 1998

Battle Chasers 5 $2.50 Image 107,400 SEPTEMBER 1998

Battle Chasers 6 $2.50 Image 122,400 OCTOBER 1998

Battle Chasers 7 $2.50 DC 86,700 NOVEMBER 2000

Battle Chasers 8 $2.50 DC 86,900 FEBUARY 2001

Battle Chasers 9 $3.50 Image 68,800 JUNE 2001

Battle Chasers 10 $2.95 Image 65,300 NOVEMBER 2001

#10s numbers shouldn't count, since that issue never shipped. But 9's drop had less to do with the price and more to do with the move back to Image. People are more prone to order a book if it's from the big two.

[DaveCummings]

Aug 22, 2009 19:18:27 GMT -5 mikebowden said:

Aug 22, 2009 8:42:53 GMT -5 DaveCummings said:

#10s numbers shouldn't count, since that issue never shipped. But 9's drop had less to do with the price and more to do with the move back to Image. People are more prone to order a book if it's from the big two.

It doesn't really matter that it didn't ship, quite often comics get cancelled based on pre-order figures.

Also issue #4 was the highest selling issue and that was through Image. Although in general I would agree that retailers aren't as willing to take risks on Image books.

It truely would be awesome if Joe could bring it back to at least tie up loose ends. I just don't expect it to ever happen!

Number 4 may have came from Image and it may have been the best selling issue, but it was in 1998 and 9 and 10 came out in 2001. It may have been only 3 years, but the sales at the time were a bit different. In 1998, the best selling comics were selling around 150,000-200,000 copies, still in the middle of the comic sales freefall. In 2000-2001, which was pretty much the low point in comic sales in recent years, the top selling comics were lucky to even break 100K.

[LabSOUND]

Also, issue 4 had 4 different covers. At the time, I remember the retailer telling me most people were buying all 4

[marvin000]

Personally I agree with Madman, as much as I adore Olivier Coipel's work on Thor, it just isn't the same and distinct as the work that Joe Mad puts out. That also goes for LeSean, amazing artist as well, very energetic and kinetic, but just not Joe Mad.

There's just a certain level of energy that Joe is able to infuse his work with that can't be replicated. I'd love to see Battlechasers come back as an oversized European graphic novel format, so we can truly marvel and awe at Joe Mad's work. But at this point, I'll take anything, because it's just so inspiring to look at, as a fellow artist.

Hopefully one day, I'll be able to hold a new copy of Battlechasers in my hand, reading it, and re-reading feverishly over and over again, pouring over the artwork, lol.

[garn]

Do you remember that feeling you'd get when you bought the new issue of Battle Chasers? I still enjoy a lot of comics these days but nothing quite beat the antcipation and thrill of a new issue. Joe Mad's art was the main part of that (although I dug the story too). It was great seeing work that you could tell he was getting into as much as you were, ( That fight with the blue guy....good God, I've forgotten his name! Bin that long!)I hear Darksiders is being really well received though, well done Mad!

And Marvin000 I'm loving your Garrison, are you on deviantart at all?

[marvin000]

Hey Garn, why yes I am on DeviantArt. You can check out my work here: marvin000.deviantart.com/gallery/ Thanks for the really nice words about my Garrison sketch.

And yeah, I understand what you're saying about Battlechasers. Whenever I went to the comic book and bought a copy of Battlechasers, it would always go on the top of my reading pile that week. It was a great combination of good story with amazing, beautiful artwork.

Sometimes, I'd sit there and look over the pages, looking at the different techniques Joe Mad had used to create textures and to marvel at how intricate it all was. Gosh, I miss those days.

[DaveCummings]

I still think Coipel is the person I'd love to see work on Battle Chasers aside from Joe. But, I think he's on a new level now with his work on Siege and it'd be pretty d**ned impossible to get someone like him working on Battle Chasers. But his work is insane now.