Warriors Comic Issue # 1 Review

When the movie The Warriors came out in 1979 I distinctly remember my brother, who was 16 at the time (I was 12) heading out to the theater to see this movie with his friends. Being a time when gaining access to a Rated R movie as a teen was more about simply having the stones to walk up to the window and purchase a ticket and less about having any proper form of ID, my older brother loomed large in my world. In this environment, my brother was a bit of a icon to me and my friends. He had just purchased a beat-up 68 Fastback Ford Mustang, had begun to steal cans from my dad's six packs of Blatz beer from the fridge and basically was well on his way to becoming your typical late 70's teenage punk. Though I hated him to the core of my being, I also wanted to be just like him. And we all wanted to be just like the characters in the movie the Warriors - larger than life, answering to no one, running with the pack and raising hell.

I had first seen the preview for The Warriors while watching Saturday Night Live a few weeks earlier. This viewing took place covertly, with my bedroom door locked and the sound turned way down as I was forbidden to watch Saturday Night Live at the time. This was toward the end of the era of John Belushi, Dan Akroyd and the rest of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players", a time when you never knew what you might see on the TV at 11:00 pm, but you knew that you did not want to miss it. The most striking thing about that original trailer was the music (written by Barry De Vorzon) that kicked off as the first frames started to roll and the camera panned over the gangs that had gathered to hear Cyrus speak. That music set the tone and told you that something very cool was about to happen, that you were about to get a view into a world far from the mid-western suburbs of St. Louis where we lived at the time. I was immediately drawn in by the visual style of the film, the diversity represented both by the colors and costumes of the gangs and by the very diversity exhibited in the faces of the gang members themselves. By the time I got to Cyrus' "Can you dig it" speech, I was hooked. I knew that I had to see this film. I finally had the chance to view the movie when my brother brought home a copy on Beta (Google it if the term is unfamiliar) and the warriors have been part of my personal Lexicon ever since. I have seen this movie over 100 times, in every format from that original Beta tape, to Laser Disk, to VHS and DVD. I have watched it in theaters at midnight, sober and drunk, with friends and by myself. And I still get a little chill each time that I hear those opening chords of music and see the New York Subway traim flash across the screen, colored with graffiti. I love this movie.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P6MqHccBSI[/youtube]

1978 Trailer for the movie The Warriors

So when I walked into my local comic book store a few weeks ago to pick up the latest issue of the Gears of War series, I was surprised to see the familiar logo of The Warriors tag spray painted across the cover of a book on the racks. I immediately picked it up and started to page through the copy to check out what was up with this new title.

I have to admit that I was very skeptical at first. As I have seen much of my youth rehashed (and more often than not trashed) in modern media remakes, I figured that this was just one more attempt by someone to cash in on yet another "retro" icon from the 70's. However, I was intrigued by the way that the cover artwork on the comics captured that same colorful diversity mixed with darkness that I remember and love about the movie. Immediately I was impressed with the way that the artists (Chris Dibari on Artwork and Kieran Oats on Color) captured the play of vivid colors against deeper background shadows. It was also obvious to me, before ever opening to the first page, that the folks involved in this project were fans of the movies and planned to stay true to the original characters in the film. Swan retains the intense look that Michael Beck portrayed so well and you can see Ajax's (played by James Remar in the movie) impatience almost jump off the page and start a fight with the members from other gangs on the cover.

Two Cover Versions for Issue #1

I was also very happy to see that the story in Issue #1 of this comic series follows the movie very closely, almost verbatim. This allows the artwork to really shine on the page and pull the reader into this familiar tale of a gang from Coney Island (The Warriors) stuck on the wrong side of Queens. Faced with the task of "bopping" their way back home through the hostile territory of almost every gang in the Five Boroughs, the stage is set to introduce a wide variety of colorful characters, both in terms of their visual appearance and ethnic & social diversity. In a medium where the artwork has to take the place of background music, mood lighting and sound effects, visual style is what will make or break a comic book title. And this issue has style in spades. Taking advantage of the vibrant characters within each different gang, Dibari and Kieran really breathe life and depth into their two-dimensional depictions of the Gramercy Riffs, the Turnbull A.C.'s and, as depicted int the page below, the emergence of my personal favorites, the Baseball Furies.

If you are a fan of The Warriors movie, or even if you have never heard of this story before, I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy of this new series and check it out for yourself. And if you are every in NYC and have the chance to check out Coney Island, see if you can locate this mural (pictured below) inspired by the story of the Warriors. Last time I was there, it was still in tact. However, I have heard rumors that the building this piece was painted on was set for demolition.

I am very happy that Paramount Pictures and Dabel Brothers Publishing have resurrected this story and brought it to a new generation of fans. I can't wait to check out the rest of this series and look forward to hearing Luther taunt the Warriors once again with "Warriors, come out and play!"

More Warriors Goodness to Come

If you would like to see more of Issue # 1 of The Warriors comic series, you can see a preview over at previewsworld.com/public/default.asp and at Wizard's web page at www.wizarduniverse.com/021209warriors.html . Also, as a special follow up, I will be doing an interview with Chris Dibari, principle Artist for The Warriors comic series, tomorrow night. So keep an eye on this blog for more on that coming to you shortly.

Warriors Video Game Coming to XBLA This Summer

And if all this wasn't enough Warriors goodness for you, look for The Warriors - Street Brawl, coming our way this summer from the folks at Paramount Games. I hope to have some interviews with the development team working on this title coming your way soon.