| Joe Madureira | |
|---|---|
 Madureira at theBig Apple Convention inManhattan, October 2, 2010 | |
| Born | December 1974 (age 50) |
| Area | Penciller,Inker |
| Pseudonym | Joe Mad |
Notable works | Darksiders Battle Chasers Uncanny X-Men |
Joe Madureira (/ˈmædəˌrɛrə/;[1] born December 1974), often calledJoe Mad,[2][3] is an Americancomic book artist and game developer, best known for his work onDarksiders,Marvel Comics'Uncanny X-Men and hiscreator-owned comic bookBattle Chasers. He is the founder of video game development companiesVigil Games andAirship Syndicate.
Madureira's style combines Western comic book influences (most notably the influence of artistArthur Adams) though it evolved to incorporate heavy influences fromJapanesemanga and video games.[4][5][6]
Joe Madureira was born December 1974,[4] and is of Portuguese descent.[7] He attended theHigh School of Art and Design in Manhattan.[8][9]
At age 16, while still in high school, Madureira started atMarvel Comics as an intern,[10] working under editorDanny Fingeroth.[11] Madureira's art, which was heavily influenced byArthur Adams,[12] was first published in an eight-page story for theanthology seriesMarvel Comics Presents #89 (November 1991), starringMojo, and then a story starringNorthstar in issue #92 (December 1992). Despite the order of publication, Madureira drew the Mojo story second, as the influence of Arthur Adams, who co-created Mojo, is more evident in that story, and is closer to the style for which Madureira was known in the initial part of his career. His style would later evolve as he incorporated the influence of Japanesemanga.[4]
In 1993 Madureira penciled the firstDeadpool mini-series,The Circle Chase. That same year he drewVanguard #3 forErik Larsen's studio, which was published byImage Comics.
Madureira became the regular penciler onUncanny X-Men in 1994. During the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline, allX-Men titles were renamed; Madureira illustratedUncanny X-Men's replacement as the four-issue miniseriesAstonishing X-Men, Vol. 1.
He leftUncanny X-Men in 1997 to work on his ownsword and sorcery seriesBattle Chasers forWildstorm Comics' creator-ownedCliffhanger imprint (before it was sold toDC Comics). Shortly before leavingUncanny X-Men, he commented that he felt the series had become too "dark and depressing" for his taste.[13]
Madureira produced a total of nine issues in four years (publishing two to three a year), a pace for which he was criticized.[3] He canceledBattle Chasers #10, and placed the series on indefinite hiatus after forming a game development company called Tri-Lunar with Tim Donley and Greg Peterson.
With Tri-Lunar, he created concept art on a game calledDragonkind which was canceled when Tri-Lunar went out of business. He then went to work for Realm Interactive, another start-up company, onTrade Wars: Dark Millennium. When Realm Interactive was acquired byNCsoft, he continued to contribute to the game as it evolved intoExarch, and was eventually released asDungeon Runners. As Creative Director atTHQ, he helped develop the gameDarksiders, including designing the game's characters and settings; collaboratorJoe Kelly wrote the game's script.[6]
Madureira returned to the comic book industry as the artist on Marvel'sThe Ultimates 3, with writerJeph Loeb.[14] The second issue was published in January 2008, the third issue released on February 20, 2008. Ultimates 3 #4 came out on June 25, 2008. The run received negative reviews and sold less than previous Ultimates volumes.
In July 2007,Vigil Games'Darksiders was announced, of which Joe Madureira was creative director. It follows War, one of theFour Horsemen of the Apocalypse, on his quest to find out who prematurely triggered the apocalypse.[15] It was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on January 5, 2010.[16]
Madureira has also provided cover artwork forCapcom'sMarvel Super Heroes for theSega Saturn andSony PlayStation, and the Sony PlayStation gameGekido: Urban Fighters andDarkened Skye.[17]
On June 13, 2011, it was announced that he would be handling art duties on a new series written byZeb Wells entitledAvenging Spider-Man.[11] Following a three issue run on the title, Marvel announced on March 11, 2013, that Madureira would be re-teaming with Wells for a story arc onSavage Wolverine beginning with #6 in June 2013.
Early in 2015 Joe Madureira and Ryan Stefanelli, co-founders of Vigil Games, formed a new studio,Airship Syndicate, located in Austin Texas, and announced that their first project a game adapted fromBattle Chasers.[18]Battle Chasers: Nightwar was released in October 2017 forMicrosoft Windows,macOS,PlayStation 4 andXbox One,[19] and in May 2018 forNintendo Switch andLinux.[20][21]
In February 2023, Madureira confirmed toio9 that after having leftBattlechasers on a cliffhanger 20 years earlier, he would produce the conclusion to the story withBattle Chasers #10, which had originally been solicited for November 2001, and would release it June 14 through Image. Madureira would write the issue and produce the cover art, while Ludo Lullabi would provide the interior art.[22]
As of 2021, Madureira lives in Austin, Texas.[23]
Madureira has a daughter, who was six years old as of June 2011.[11]
| Preceded by | Uncanny X-Men artist 1994–1997 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
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| Other | |
