I think I read Battle Chasers #1 when it was released back in 1998. It didn't grab me. Primarily, it wasn't the sort of fantasy I was interested in at that (I was a bit more finicky then than I am now), and the delays I heard about that the series was plagued with never caused me to regret that decision.
But, you know, time passes. I have a greater appreciation for Madureira's influences today than I did then, and novelty and variety in my reading is more important. So, when I saw the entire series (Of the original run. The 2023 follow-up issues haven't been collected.) for pretty cheap in digital format, I picked it up.
The plot of Battle Chasers is pretty standard fantasy stuff. The young daughter of a warrior is pursued by the forces of evil, but luckily, she's able to assemble a band of reluctant heroes around her--and wield powerful magical artifacts that once belonged to her father--to save the land.
Late 90s time capsule that it is, it's a lot. There's a lot of detail on the page; bombastic characters with bombastic designs. Coloring and lettering are really in your face, exuberant with the capabilities that digital technology offered (and to be fair, a certain excessiveness is sometimes still observed today's comics in those areas). It also feels earnest and bursting with ideas, which if not really novel, are at least pretty cool.
I wish there had been more of it to see how it developed. I hear there was eventually an computer game, which is really probably bringing the concept full circle.
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