Review: ‘Battle Chasers’ #12 Answers Questions, Asks More, And Then Goes On Hiatus

Welcome to the table,

Here we go…

That’s the turn of phrase, right? When you are reluctant to write things down. I have a problem. I don’t do endings very well. I avoid them altogether when I can help it. I tend to not like stories that wrap up in a neat bow without leaving possibilities for larger more expansive stories to follow later down the line unless we, as the audience, have had a long time to come to terms with these things. Even then, I really struggle with the end of things. Issue #12 of Battle Chasers is not The End, but it’s definitely an “until next time.”

I’ve had this book for a while. Something tells me I could have been one of the firsts to come with a review, but the weight of it sat with me.

Battle Chasers #12 is phenomenal. Let’s get that out of the way first. If you want to know if this book is good or not, yes, 100%, it’s great. If you love Sword and Sorcery, you are going to think this is a fantastic issue.

That’s why I think this is so damn hard to get through. I am going to start with the ending. Odd because the approved pages I can preview for you are from the very beginning of this ad-free issue and serve as a reminder of how much Joe Madureira and Ludo Lullabi bring to this title.

Joe pens a note at the end of this issue that lets us know that this is the end for a bit. Not forever as he wants to continue to make the comic and already knows what the next arc is, but that much like a TV series we are going to have to wait for the next “season” of Battle Chasers.

It makes total sense as Joe has a full-time job in the game industry and he is not going to put out a book he is not proud of. I respect it, I understand it, and frankly, it does not matter if I do or not, this is not my title and I do not own it. The direction it takes and how it is released to the public is fully up to Joe and the team.

That is what makes this even more difficult, though. Twenty years ago, this story started and it was something so special, something so elevated from what I was used to that when it went away I was a little heartbroken.

When it came back it came back with all the energy and fun that I had remembered and then some. It was not just “The Battle Chasers” I remembered. It was a story I loved being told with even more skill and spectacle on every page.

This was not some aged rocker trotting out on the stage to an older crowd with a backing track and nostalgia, fueling an evening of overpriced beer and bad hips trying to dance to 20-year-old tracks. This was thunder and fury and passion, telling secrets that had been hidden from most for a lifetime. I could have had a child and sent them to college in the time I had waited to learn about Garrison’s sword… to think about that is really heavy.

Oh, and that sword? This story pays off on the sword front in a way that is nothing short of perfect. I can’t really say anything about it because to spoil it would be unfair to you all but it is great and the design that unfolds as we learn more is really well conceived.

I will circle back and do a recap of these three issues in a couple of weeks once everyone has time to read them. I’m sure I’ll need to, so I can process having to wait but it is safe to say that Battle Chasers #12 answers questions, asks more, and continues to be one of the best sword and sorcery titles to date.

Until next time, seriously great issue. I wish I was not as worried about how long it will be until the next time we see these characters.