Comic Break: The Warriors #1 (Dabel Brothers)

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The Warriors
Issue: #1
Writer: David Atchison
Artist: Chris Dibari
32 pp. Dabel Brothers. $3.99

Reviewed by Paul Stotts

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Those long forgotten idyllic days of gang warfare. When gangs had a code, an identity. And a costume. One gang embracing the leather vest over a bare chest look. Another finding their fashion identity in a baseball uniform accessorized with custom facepaint. Another dressing like crime mimes, rocking black top hats, faces painted up like Marcel Marceau. Everyday was Halloween in gangland. Trick or Creep.

Life was simpler then. You could trust people. When gangs called a truce, you could bank on their word. You could travel a hundred miles from your Coney Island home turf, to go see the man, Cyrus, without fear of getting in a tangle on your way there. Or even on your way back.

But truces can be fragile creatures. Like people. One bullet can end them. And, then, they’re gone. Like Keyser Soze. Not even a whisper in the wind. And you’re left behind, stuck, stranded, a hundred miles from home. Unarmed. Vulnerable.

With all the New York City gangs suddenly gunning for you.

So you fight, battling just to make it back home, to make it back alive. You’re tested. Constantly. Your mettle, your heart, your worth. Because only the strong survive.

So are you strong enough? Strong enough to wear the leather vest. Strong enough to be part of The Warriors.

Dabel Brothers, best known for creating solid comic adaptations of fantasy staples like Jim Butcher’s Storm Front and George R.R. Martin’s Wild Card series, have shifted focus to a new medium here—film. And—in particular—Walter Hill’s cult classic The Warriors.

It’s a risky move, adapting one visual medium to another. But it pays off here. Splendidly. Scripter David Atchison and artist Chris Dibari deliver a solid issue, always reverent to the source material. Always passionate about doing Hill’s film justice. More a celebration of the movie than an adaptation.

The debut should delight fans eager for a comic homage to Hill’s action-packed gang opus. However, those not familiar with the film would be best served to view the movie first, to gain an appreciation of the source material and Hill’s original vision, before immersing themselves into the comic. Only then can you fully enjoy the issue.

Final Grade: 79 out of 100

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