If you read mainstream American comics in the 1990s, odds are you have an opinion on Joe Madureira. Controversially named by Wizard magazine as one of the ten most influential comic artists of all time (others on the list included Jack Kirby, Osamu Tezuka and Will Eisner), Joe's work on Marvel's Uncanny X-Men and his creator-owned Battle Chasers single-handedly launched the American manga craze that is still being felt today. He abruptly quit comics in 2001 to follow his dream of working in the video game industry. Not a whole lot has been seen of him since.
Joe contributed to the all-around meh Playstation brawler Gekido, then worked on Tri-Lunar's Dragonkind, which vanished when the company went out of business. After several years of delays, Joe finally saw the release of a game with his direct influence in the 2007 PC MMORPG Dungeon Runners. Ever heard of any of those games? No, I didn't think so.
Well, things are finally looking up for Joe Mad's gaming career, because THQ has been showing off the 3D Action Adventure Darksiders from Vigil Games, of which Joe Mad is both founder and Creative Director. Scheduled for an early '09 release on Playstation 3 and XBox 360, the game has already drawn numerous comparisons to both The Legend of Zelda and Gears of War. Following War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Darksiders looks to have players clear the horseman's name when a premature armageddon is called. What is probably most shocking about Darksiders is that so far it looks good! Check out this trailer from E3:
Oh yeah, he also recently started doing some comics again in the form of Marvel's Ultimates volume 3.
Above artwork, Joe Mad's take on Metal Gear Solid.
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