Joe Madureira Documentary - From Comics to Games | Gameumentary

During our recent trip to Austin, TX for the filming of our Darksiders documentary, we took some extra time to sit down with Joe Madureira to tell his personal journey from developing comics to video games.
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[@Graavigala85]

Its thanks to this guy that I am now working in game industry as concept artist/comic artist

[@Lordradost]

Me2.

[@mickmons3267]

Oh cool! Where can we see your work?

[@FormalFilmsProductions]

Same here

[@eiffno.01]

Yep he nice. Love his art

[@Darwin327]

Does JoeMad realize he's someone who created a generational style shift in the American comic book industry? Much like Kirby, Buscema, Romita, Neal Adams, Arthur Adams, Byrne, Jim Lee. He was the one who successfully merged the Japanese art style with American comics. Put simply... He's an art LEGEND

[@mcslackerton6697]

Absolutely true.

[@Darwin327]

Slacker McSlackerton. I have to correct myself. He was a double style shifter. Not only did he successfully merge the Japanese art style with mainstream American superhero comics, Battle Chasers successfully merged the fantasy genre with mainstream American superhero comics. Like he said, aside from Conan, there were no fantasy books. And I'm hoping he understands how powerful that is to his fans.

[@GamerArtTv]

He’s very laid back and yet he made something major. My art teacher says he loves the Joe Mad style of art

[@ken52682]

what about Samwise from blizzard. his style was also very manga-ish

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

He probably doesn't care much and just love to do what he does on his own time.

[@justinvargas1116]

Age of Apocalypse is one of the greatest X-Men stories of all time.

[@Buet-yb6ht]

I’m sure like a lot of fans of Joe, I wish he finished BattleChasers. Such a great imaginative series!

[@FormalFilmsProductions]

Absolutely. I got the anthology

[@tobishades]

Say no more, #10 is coming soon!

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

Joe Mad truly is an inspiration on anyone who wants to get into a life of drawing as a career. Anyone can do it, but you just gotta work for it!

[@UNCANNYGEORGE]

I love his comic work! Age of Apocalypse is one of my all time favorite storylines!

[@5ecretcode]

I don't know why but i'd love to see him do a few pages of a iconic BERSERK manga scene

[@luxuriousmindset1906]

Yeah no his art is not even that good

[@quickso0385]

@@luxuriousmindset1906 It's way better. And that comes from a manga fan.

[@theanimelibarian7881]

​@@quickso0385nah fam

[@theanimelibarian7881]

​@quickso0385 your not a manga fan

[@theanimelibarian7881]

​@@quickso0385yeah sure fake bootleg american anime that he stole and ripped off the faces of ryu and akuma from street fighter is some how better than actual manga and not to mention fron the likes of miura nobody wants to see his failed attempt to make manga

[@fireman3857]

Age of Apocalypse. Was my oxygen. The Sabertooth/Holocaust story line with Joe's artwork. I still own those comics and at least once a year I would read it. Just phenomenal work

[@mcslackerton6697]

Been a Joe Mad fan since his Uncanny X-Men days.

[@davidhovik7176]

Ditto

[@numbernine5044]

??

[@seanwillets4913]

Ever since I saw his Ultimates book Who Killed Scarlet Witch I've never forgot about this guy's stunning style. Not to mention I saw him talk about the book at a panel way back when it came out, made a big impression. Keep killing it, Joe!

[@Backtothehat]

Met Joe back in 2010 at a comic convention here in NYC. Dude is super chill, respectful and appreciative. He’s a great person and deserves every penny of his success. Took some pics of him signing my comics at the convention, but somehow lost the pics over the years. Dang.

[@KeelanJon]

Joe is such an inspiration. I was one of those kids that used to draw all the time as kid, but when I was younger I didn't know I could do it as a career so I went into programming, but I always kept a sketchpad growing up out of pure enjoyment of the craft. Now I'm older, wiser, and with a lot of hard work I'm now making a decent living as a creative with people like Joe constantly inspiring me to keep growing everyday. Thank you!

[@gmannumerouno]

My first intro to Joe was his entry into the Xmen series and I followed him ever since.

[@davidhovik7176]

Bingo

[@LevelHeadedGamer]

"Drawing Comics The Marvel Way"... wow, absolutely on point! I used the same book before going to School of Visual Arts! Helped a great deal, esp. understanding perspective.

[@bhoqeem1975]

I have that book! Lol. It's like "the holy book" for beginner comic artists. Back then, that is.

[@BossMonsterKaiju]

This is so awesome! I've been replaying Darksiders 2 and I am in love with his art style and the world that was built. Can't wait for the full Darksiders doc!

[@marshallross3373]

This dude is so chill. LOL. Seems really cool and easy going. I thought his art stood out immediately when I first saw it--very expressive and animated.

[@Moodboard39]

Slow to speak

[@EliSchwab]

Glad I was there from the beginning!!! Love you Joe Mad!!!

[@cjsopinion]

Thank you so much for this interview. MAD! is my favorite artist and a true legend

[@Gameumentary]

You're very welcome. And thank YOU for watching it!

[@randehead1]

How does a humble, fellow artist and fan get an audience with the great J.MAD!? I didn't think Joe could get any cooler...... BUT then he said, "Record of Lodoss War." Joe now sits on the top of my comic "HEROES" list alongside Jim Lee and a few others.

[@arisvrazitoulis5274]

have been waiting for this!

[@Gameumentary]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@LevelHeadedGamer]

Thank you for delivering a completely fresh gaming content the likes of which we haven't seen, and sorely needed! #JoeMadureira is the artist who got me into comics when I first came to US. at a local shop here in NYC where I picked BattleChasers! Can't wait for more videos.

[@JoeMadArt]

Awesome documentary! ... Still want a lot more! ;) Can't wait for what is coming next!

[@JimmyGoodYT]

Great doc! Really loved it!

[@Mitismagnus]

love Joe"s art and love your documentary guys! Awesome work! Thank you a lot

[@Gameumentary]

Thank you for watching!

[@lemao438]

The one reason darksiders caught my attention was the amazing art style

[@aeoncalcos7830]

DS also caught my attention! I just LOVE his creature design and his exaggerated anatomy like big ass delts and forearms idk it's just so badass

[@Soulofjazzman]

My idol. Thank you for doing this, guys.

[@Gameumentary]

Thank you for watching!

[@sorcerer1975]

Joe Mad is the first comic book artist who's work actually moved me ... I was heavy into Uncanny X Men ... His work blowed me away ... Long live Joe Mad !

[@eiffno.01]

Idk watching this made me really happy. I seriously and sincerely want to thank all the donors and patrons from the kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for making this documentary possible. I followed a plethora of artist like S.platt, Jim Lee, Joe Mad, Todd McFarlane, Mark Sylvestri, Michael Turner, even Rob Liefeld, etc etc. Too many to name and remember. I thank you all

[@crystallizationofthesoul7095]

Joe Madureira had mad skills of drawing!

[@algridas4633]

to me.... Mad is maybe the very best #1 american comic artist

[@hussamkj403]

This guy doesn't seem to comprehend how good he is!

[@designybits4709]

This man, I owe him so much and he doesn't know. Professional video game developer but my my career to this point pretty much started through drawing, redrawing, and redrawing his work on Uncanny X-Men.

[@landonhuber]

Joe Mad! What a great artist he is. Battle-chasers was a great book. The artwork was so energetic and bold. Great colors by liquid too. I recently illustrated a graphic novel called, "Bleen". As a young artist, I was very inspired by The Art of Joe Mad. You rock Joe!

[@thathandleistakentrythisone]

Your art is something else man, Bleen looks so twisted.

[@landonhuber]

@@thathandleistakentrythisone Thanks For Checking it out man.

[@sanathkomire4719]

Yes exactly your art definitely has unique vibe to it

[@human144]

Man I Love his art...one of my favorites ever.

[@megagearsx8432]

Great stuff. Subbed.

[@robbclarkjr]

Joe was one of my favorite X-Men artists

[@israelleonchacon9291]

He is simply the BEST of the industry currently

[@reginaldweaver904]

Great stuff!!!! Joe is a killer artist and still a big fan of his art. Would love to see a one shot book of his take on Moon Knight, Ghost Rider,Hellboy, even a Dr Strange would be awesome!!

[@SotNist]

Blizzard's art team has basically been doing a not-as-good-as-the-real-thing Joe Madureira impression for more than a decade. He's had incredible influence on the medium of video games.

[@ken52682]

SotNist what?! Samwise is an amazing artist and his style is similar.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

His art was too good for people not to imitate.

[@theanimelibarian7881]

Lol stop

[@SotNist]

It's true. Even John Linneman from Digital Foundry saying just a few months ago that he thought Airship Syndicate's new game "Wayfinder" ripped off World of Warcraft's art style. Airship Syndicate is Joe Madureira's game studio and it's literally his art style circa 1998. Once Blizzard games went 3D, they needed something which lent itself to polygonal modeling and have been imitating him ever since. Prior to that transformation, Blizzzard's art direction was more evocative of 70's fantasy novels and 80's comics. Beyond just the fantasy genre, even the Eastern influences on hair and costume design that Madureira popularized in his X-Men work became apparent with the release of Overwatch. They've been taking cues from him since the early 2000's.

[@theanimelibarian7881]

​@SotNist there not taking cues because he didn't popularize anime in the west nobody know who this dude is his art style is a westerners attempt to ripoff anime especially the capcom art style where he literally stole the faces from ryu and akuma from street fighter and pasted it on all his male characters

[@casgrafx1347]

Great interview

[@deltad208]

I collected all Battle Chasers books and was and am still fascinated with Joe's skills. I am hopeful that he returns to his line. I am a true fan.

[@joemartin1631]

My favorite artists since I was a kid

[@ken52682]

awesome video, one of my fav comic artists, i bought every issue i could get my hands on when he was doing xmen

[@sinchman1]

Joe MAD! another great artist from the mid 90's

[@Bazools]

Madureira is an icon!

[@pandakodiak3529]

AWESOME, one of my favorites, maybe THE favorite comic artsit, and always loved the shift towards game art, Battle Chasers is an amazing property that deserves mor love in comic book form and game form, and the work he did in Darksiders just gorgeous, also I like how humble he seems to be...

[@numbernine5044]

His hands were drawn so fucking big it was bigger than his heads!

[@caioalexandre8143]

Joe Madureira You need to create more Battle Chaser style games but with Assassin and Rogue class characters your art is very good and Battle Chaser style RPGs need to be created. Congratulations

[@Trip8201]

My favorite comic book artist of ALL TIME #🐐

[@Tatsu0ni]

Yasss! My fav artist!

[@bdboricua3128]

Great doc

[@marconeves1979]

lol that ending was hilarious.... that laughter is highly contagious! LOL

[@TheDumontShow]

My friend who I consider as my brother is a huge fan of Joe Madureira and he's a budding illustrator trying to develop his own comic ( I should know because I am assisting with some elements) Seeing this made me see why he is. This is why it's always important to show the faces behind our entertainment. We got to delve into this man's thought process. Before this doc, I was an admirer of his art but by the end of the doc, I'm a fan of the man himself. This doc has probably influenced more people to pick up a pencil and draw. That's always a good thing. Always remember that you can be where he is. Just keep working at what you do and never let others tell you that you aren't good enough. If you really know you have the talent, that's enough validation. Peace y'all

[@Gameumentary]

This is a great comment! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@TheDumontShow]

@@Gameumentary no problem. I know how hard it was to even get in the room with this man, let alone interview. Doing a doc is always strenous but you gotta see it through. All the hours spent editing B roll. Such a pain but at the end of the process, you look at your work and say it was all worth it. Bring us another one, guys. I will be waiting

[@miguelangelbeninca1264]

What I think is great about this vídeo is how Joe Mad credits everyone, from his influences to J. Scott Campbell, Humberto Ramos, Munier Sharrieff, David Adams and Ryan Stefanelli, among others. I know it shouldn't surprise me, but it does.

[@r.hewlin8328]

All time favorite artist...

[@johnspencer7838]

Finish damn battle chasers!!!!

[@ashikmd.rashid6284]

Joe looks jacked... almost as a superhero.

[@bhoqeem1975]

I love his works in Wolverine series in the 90's and early 2000s.

[@Wien]

I've been a fan of Joe Mad since I was a kid reading X-Men way back in the day, and despite also being a game dev in Austin, Ive never crossed paths with him. Having said that, I only watched this video to see how his name is pronounced. I have not once in my life have ever heard anyone say his name, and I have no idea to this day how to pronounce it.

[@Retrohut305]

Same here since the 90's

[@dablackangel]

Joe Madureira is my FAVOURITE artist. Followed by Kohei Horikoshi ❤

[@YuGo_Wolverino]

awesome!

[@Noatification]

Joe! Finish Battle Chasers!!!

[@javiercruz5481]

I wish this would have been a 2 hr interview at least!, but it was great as it was though!

[@Gameumentary]

Plenty more to come in our Darksiders and Airship Syndicate documentaries!

[@shohamblau]

Joe mad is the reason im in the field now

[@netmasterx]

I also went to the High School of Art & Design. Much more than drawing bowls and fruit. Great specialized high school, for a young artist. Great teachers and creative atmosphere.

[@spartan3460]

He went there in the early 90's ,so I'm more than certain the curriculum was different then. Concept art,comics and other entertainment art wasn't as prevalent as it is today. Schools just put that in the curriculum within the past 10 years to be competitive with online education.

[@haisee1671]

as a concept artist, i look up to this guy's work as references

[@darioscomicschool1111]

Thank you! Man I wish be an Inter at Joe MAds, or Adam Kubert!

[@redflag4255]

Cool channel! Thanks

[@kinketsu9103]

What I find so weird is how many of these incredible artists do not appreciate how much they impacted people around the world. I was exposed to Akira and so on just two or so years before I was exposed to Joe Mad doing X-Men. At first, as a kid, I hated Joe Mads stuff. The change from JRJR and so on was just too wild for me. But I was so won over after a few issues that I was like "Why not?". A few issues down the road, when there would be a fill in, not to name any names but I would be like "WTF is this?" He has drawn some of my favorite X-Men comics of all times, stories that I will never forget because of the pacing, detail and a million other things I couldnt really appreciate then. The kinetic energy of fights just totally went out of it when it was a fill in. As nice as it is to be humble, I really feel sad that people like Mads and even Frank Quietly and Darrow are out there saying they dont feel their work is any good when they were absolutely crushing it. I guess an artist is never happy with his work and sometimes you are given some bullshit stuff to draw, but my goodness. I remember sitting on the other side of the world reading a Wizard profiling a young Mads about to or just had started on X-Men and just being so jealous. Artists, big up yourselves

[@duberdurm]

My art sucks, but this man is the reason I even started trying. And after years of wondering, I finally know how to pronounce his last name.

[@lablueguy2000]

the time he was a new artist at Marvel, that was when i was beginning to collect xmen comics... i thought he was just swiping anime but he slowly incorporated his americanized style and it looked fantastic, until now, i still have all his uncanny xmen issues.

[@luxuriousmindset1906]

Can't swipe an art style dumb statement

[@bsbolte]

He is the best

[@DeVstatrOmga]

If JoeMad ever came back to the Comic Book industry it would be like Prime Michael Jordan coming back to today’s NBA and taking everyone to school of Hard Knocks and reminding everyone why he’s the GOAT.

[@johnfrogman3710]

i’m still waiting for he’s come back on battle chasers comics

[@Desasteroid]

Jesus Christ, man... Joe Madureira is amazing!

[@donkung6446]

Joe Madureira you are talented bro wish you were there to make and be part for Darksiders 3 !! and wish for the forth darksiders design by you!

[@reddbutton2711]

Does Joe know that a lot of comic fans would rather read BC 10-12 and have a conclusion rather than playing his okay games?

[@zwick6890]

Do the hearts on that glass on his desk change to red as you fill it? That’s pretty cool...

[@m0isessilva]

comecei a desenhar por causa desse cara !

[@MrRuff-cc3lg]

I still read Battle Chasers. What I wouldn’t give to have the series continue ...

[@89BatmanFan]

It seemed really strange when he abruptly left Battle Chasers behind... I know a lot of fans were left wondering wtf had happened to him. It's a shame because I think he could've made much more of an impact had he stayed in comics... but he seems happy now with what he's doing so good on him

[@rickytoddbotelho9555]

Been a fan of Joe's since X-men. One of the best comic book artists of all time. Just fantastic. Major influence in the industry. One of the biggest, baddest artists I've ever followed. Up there with Miller, Todd, Bisley, Corben, Steranko, Adams, Chaiken, Wrightson, Starlin, Byrne. Just a fantastic visionary.By the way fantastic doc. Long time coming.

[@sorcerer1975]

ricky todd Botelho I agree !

[@humanafterallTF2]

Battle chasers: nightwar is incredible jrpg in my opinion. It was my favorite game of 2017. And perhaps my personal fave on jrpg style games. I really wish Joe with airship syndicate/gunfire games would make darksiders 4 to be more akin to darksiders 2. That also is a 9/10 game to me. I had to get the battle chasers anthology after playing these games.

[@MrUser324234]

All of my yes

[@davemaio8985]

One of his works is a my favorite I talk about Deadpool the circle chase but if that Deadpool’s first comic was came out on 1994 or 1995 it was really better

[@58632hhhh]

Wow tease much lol giving me that Darksiders wallpaper and soundtrack at the end but not even a single question of that I get it I get it it will be in the Darksiders documentary.

[@Gameumentary]

Check our channel! We have a sizzle reel with some footage and also a quick 1 min question with John Pearl as well :)

[@gabrielduarte4965]

it would be interesting if he did the following a thor one shot and a green lanter serise

[@AdamsDigitalInk]

Who dislikes these vids?....seriously?!

[@tolontolon5538]

the people that r still waiting for battle chasers to finish!!

[@mindandbody9427]

@@tolontolon5538 LOL that's exactly what I was thinking!

[@EpioN]

Battle Chasers fans, we’re forever salty about the abrupt end of it.

[@EpioN]

And all we got was a decent rpg out of it. Not great, just decent.

[@level9drow856]

Could you imagine Joe Mad the plumber or construction worker?

[@magaman9173]

I like how he was shocked at how women like Red Monika too, the media seems to put a bad spin on characters like her but it's clear with all these cosplaers that women love characters like her as well. Hell Red Monika was the comic book Christina Hendricks and you know how much women love Joan from Mad Men.

[@1982sketcher]

Was there ever any elaborate explanation as to why I'm still waiting for Battle Chasers 10?

[@riadm2959]

What happened to Battle Chasers... the last issue was a Cliffhanger?

[@johnburnett6489]

Stay focus finish on what you started

[@ciaranmurren]

The Crimson cover you showed wasn't drawn by Humberto Ramos.

[@obadel5092]

Loved his art but he was always so late to publishing his comics that I stoped buying his stuff

[@biker944]

wow

[@deadlineplays5505]

I loved his early style of his art better than the later stuff. I didn't care for the anime look in his characters. I liked when they looked a little more realistic but not to realistic. I hate super realistic art. Looks stiff and boring. He had a well balanced style, before the Battle Chasers stuff. Like his 90s style was super dope!!

[@Bat-Twenty-Two]

I guess whatever genre inspires consistent output from him...

[@Hynotama]

This breaks my heart. I too once had the chance of going down an artistic path, but my parents saying stuff like “become -insert wage slave job here- because you can’t live of drawing” made me miss out on my passion. My art teacher not giving a fuck didn’t help either. And now I feel so out of touch with art that no matter what I try, I just feel inadequate and it just feels too late for anything to change. I missed my chance because the art teacher couldn’t spare 5 minutes.

[@Gameumentary]

Keep at it! I've been doing games journalism since I was a freshman in highschool 10 years ago now and spent all that time honing the craft until starting Gameumentary where I now work on these docs full-time! Many times I told my parents that I was going to make money doing this, and it continually never turned up, but I kept at it until I got what I wanted out of it. Of course you need to make money to sustain yourself, but if you really enjoy art and it's your passion, keep going for it and don't let anyone tell you that you can't do what you wanna do. Just keep your head up, keep working and good things will come! - Nick

[@Hynotama]

Gameumentary Thank you for the encouragement Nick. But I already tried it multiple times. Unfortunately it’s me that feels like there’s no going back to it. I’m no longer a child and I lack that imagination and excitement. And the lack of using it left it to get extinguished. Sort of like a muscle that atrophied from lack of use. On top of that I no longer have the necessary patience to make mistakes and learn. Either way, I thank you for your kind reply. And I’m happy to hear you’re doing what you like.