The Warriors #1 The Movie Adaptation (Dabel Brothers – Atchison / DiBari / Oats)
The Warriors Official Movie Adaptation is something that fans and non-fans alike are sure to dig! In this issue The Warriors are framed for killing Cyrus, a rival gang leader who had been trying to unite all the gangs in the area. With other gangs gunning for them, they must get back to their home turf of Coney Island alive!
So, it’s the 30th anniversary of the cult classic movie and Dabel Brothers is celebrating by bringing all of the old fans (and maybe some new ones too!) into the world where street gangs rule and 70’s slang is king!
In the not so distant dark future, gangs have the real power with the police only having nominal control. One man, Cyrus, has a vision to unite all the gangs under himself to control everything and bring an order to the chaotic cityscape. He calls everyone who’s anyone to come and listen to his plan. The Warriors are a small group of hardcore fighters who make the long trek under the protection of the common truce to see Cyrus. Too bad for them, on his “inaugural speech” night, with over 200 gangs present and buying into the “peace talks”, Cyrus is assassinated and the Warriors are framed!
David Atchison (Occult Crimes Taskforce) does a great job of grabbing the dark and gritty feeling of the classic movie while keeping the story moving and the narrative fresh. Mixed in with Atchison’s excellent story-telling is the art of Chris Dibari (Starship Troopers). Dibari’s style leaves little to be critical about; the scenes are well laid out, details are good on both close-up and back grounds, the lay-out of the pages to show a comic version of cutting-scenes is phenomenal (i.e., on the subway on the way to the meeting). Overall, Dibari does an outstanding job for someone who has quite gotten his share of the center spotlight yet.
This series will finish out the movie adaptation and then will hopefully explore some more stories in this “Warriors-verse”. I think this “urban punk meets Mad Max” setting has a lot of potential and needs some more exploring.
In short, Dabel Brother’s The Warriors is true to the movie, engaging, well put-together and overall a real winner. No doubt about it, I can dig it!
The Warriors will be at your local comic shop on the 18th, I suggest you dig it too!
Issue Grade: A
