The Golden Girls Turn Violent in Vicious New Battle Royale Comic
Golden Girls meets Battle Royale in a comic by debut writer Chrissy Williams where old women survive on an island in a world that doesn’t want them.
A new miniseries from Image Comics is giving the Battle Royale treatment to the concept of The Golden Girls, and fans will never watch the beloved sitcom the same way again. The Golden Girls was a huge hit during its run in the 80s and early 90s. The ensemble sitcom starring beloved actresses like Beatrice Arthur and Betty White focus on a group of elderly women and the friendship that kept them together as they go through their golden years. The series still runs in syndication to this day and has been referenced millions of times right down to its iconic theme song “Thank You for Being a Friend.”
About eight years after the final season of The Golden Girls came to an end, a film by Kinji Fukasaku called Battle Royale hit theaters and became a massive hit worldwide. The film was based on a novel by Koushun Takami and followed a group of high school students that are forced to fight each other to the death or else risk being killed by the collars strapped to their necks. The story’s immense popularity leads to many notable inspirations including a massive modern trend in video games called the Battle Royale, which has players fighting each other for survival as the map around them pushes them closer to each other. Now, these two unlikely worlds are about to collide in a new comic landmark by Image.
In a post on their website, Image Comics revealed Golden Rage. Golden Rage is an upcoming comic miniseries by Image created by Chrissy Williams and Lauren Knight. The story follows a dystopian future in which elderly women that have reached a point where they’re “deemed useless by society and abandoned on an island.” Left with nothing more than their basic instincts to survive, these women find themselves in different factions and fight to the death to ensure that they will continue to live throughout their golden years. The new comic will be told from the perspective of a young woman who finds herself on the island and is taken in and observes the now murderous culture of the island.
Writer Chrissy Williams states that this Battle Royale-inspired story actually comes from a place of respect for the elderly. “Old women are formidable,” she explains. “I wrote Golden Rage to reflect that. These characters are tough, capable, kind, and funny.” It seems like this story will showcase that these older women are still the same deep down – they just had to make adjustments to survive. In a way, this new story could be seen as a continuation of The Golden Girls because the wholesome elements from the 80s sitcom sound like they’ll still be there. It’s just going to have a different outcome if they find out one of their own stole the last slice of cheesecake. Acclaimed artist Lauren Knight will be providing the art for Golden Rage, and it looks like she’s already in her element. Based on the art provided from the previews for this comic, it like Knight is letting her passion show perfectly as she depicts a massive duel between grannies that isn’t shy to get violent.
Golden Rage is expected to debut its first of five issues on August 3rd, 2022. This mash-up between The Golden Girls and Battle Royale is something comic fans aren’t going to want to miss, and it has the promise to be another hit by indie studio Image Comics.
