Dark Horse Comics
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Netflix will adapt more Dark Horse comics into shows and movies
Netflix might become home to lot more Dark Horse Comics show and movie adaptations. The streaming giant has forged a deal with its production arm, Dark Horse Entertainment, giving it first look at all the comics companies' titles for TV and movie projects. Some of the more popular Dark Horse properties include Hellboy, The Mask and Frank Millar's Sin City. All three had previously been adapted for the big screen -- with the Hellboy reboot being the most recent -- but it's not outside the realm of possibility for Netflix to create its own version of the stories.
World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 to be released in November
In a new press release, Dark Horse Comics has announced the upcoming release of a multi-volume series detailing the history of the Warcraft universe. Warcraft Chronicles will reveal untold stories about the birth of the cosmos and beyond, presumably filling in the details on all that history we've been missing regarding Azeroth's creation, the wars that took place, and other tantalizing pieces of Warcraft lore. Although it is being produced in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics, the book is not being presented as a graphic novel, but instead a hardcover book with over twenty full page illustrations by World of Warcraft artist Peter Lee. The first volume of the series is due out on November 4, 2015 in comic shops, and November 17, 2015 in bookstores. For lore fans, this looks like it's shaping up to be the definitive book to pick up this year, and sounds like it may very well be full of brand new lore spanning the length of Warcraft's history, starting with the mysterious beginnings of the cosmos itself -- something that plenty of lore fans have been wanting for a very, very long time. You can pre-order your copy of World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 today over via Amazon, or check with your local comic book retailers to pre-order a copy as well.
The Art of Naughty Dog from Dark Horse celebrates dev's 30 years
The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog has teamed up with publisher Dark Horse Comics to produce The Art of Naughty Dog, a compendium featuring rarely seen character designs, renders and concept artwork from the studio's back catalog. The Art of Naughty Dog will cover the studio's early days – back when it was founded as JAM (Jason and Andy Magic) Software – up to its recent work with The Last of Us and the Uncharted series. Artwork from the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter franchises will be showcased throughout, and with any luck, the team's lesser-known efforts for the Sega Genesis and 3DO will also get their dues. Naughty Dog will host a launch event for the book later this year. A release date was not announced. [Image: Naughty Dog]
Wolfenstein art book launches in May, more from Bethesda to follow
Bethesda has partnered with print publisher Dark Horse Comics to produce a series of hardcover art books detailing the creation of Wolfenstein: The New Order, Dishonored, and The Evil Within. "The Art of Wolfenstein: The New Order," due in May, showcases concept art, characters designs, and developer commentary across 200 pages. "The Art of The Evil Within" will launch in August, while "Dishonored: The Dunwall Archives" will hit shelves in November. Series books retail for $39.99 each. "The Art of Wolfenstein: The New Order" is currently up for pre-order at Amazon for $25.88. [Image: Bethesda / Dark Horse Comics]
CCP Games reveals big plans for EVE Fanfest 2014
The universe of EVE Online may be best known as a crazy virtual galaxy full of back-stabbing pirates and political betrayal, but for a few days each year it becomes something altogether more tangible. At the annual EVE Fanfest, hundreds of the game's most devoted fans make the long pilgrimage to the game's birthplace in Reykjavik, Iceland. In addition to the official talks and reveals on the game's future from developer CCP Games, Fanfest plays host to charity raffles, roundtable discussions with developers, and informal get-togethers for players to share their stories. Last year's 10th anniversary Fanfest was the biggest one yet, with information included on World of Darkness and DUST 514 and the official reveal of Oculus Rift-based dogfighter EVE Valkyrie. This year's attendees can look forward to the first ever live demo of EVE's yet-to-be-revealed summer expansion, hands-on experience with the next major evolution of DUST 514, and playtests of a brand-new build of the virtual reality dogfighter EVE Valkyrie. This year's Fanfest will also see a special monument dedicated to EVE Online players revealed to the world; The "Worlds Within a World" monument will be installed in Reykjavik Harbor and will be etched with the names of all active EVE subscribers on March 1st. It's also hoped that crowdfunded EVE Online documentary A Tale of Internet Spaceships will be premiered during the Fanfest weekend, and we'll reportedly hear the latest on CCP's new EVE comic book and live action TV series. The event takes place from May 1st to May 3rd, and I'll be attending this year's event on behalf of Massively to bring you in-depth first-hand coverage of all the big reveals. Stay tuned!
EVE graphic novel based on real player stories out now
EVE: True Stories is a graphic novel based on real stories from EVE Online players, and the first issue is now available. The 17-page first issue "Thieves Among Us" has been made available for free by Dark Horse Digital, on both the publisher's site and via the iOS and Google Play apps. EVE: True Stories is written by Daniel Way, a writer credited on a number of Marvel Comics novels like Deadpool volume 3, Wolverine: Origins and the 18-issue Venom series from 2003. The first issue is illustrated by Tomm Coker, the artist of Homage Comics' Nightfall: The Black Chronicles, Marvel's Daredevil Noir mini-series and Image Comics' Near Death series. The EVE Online-inspired comics will see future installments on March 5, March 19 and April 2, each available for free until June. All four comics will be bundled in a hardback collector's edition book, set to go on sale on June 4. [Image: Dark Horse Comics]
Yaiba Ninja Gaiden Z delayed, comic series from Dark Horse begins
Like a zombie slowly shuffling toward tasty, tasty brains, the release date for Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z has limped from March 4, 2014 to March 18. For those who can't wait to witness zombie murder at the hands of a ninja cyborg, however, Team Ninja and Dark Horse Comics have released the first of a three-part comic series that provides insight into the world and story of the upcoming game. Written by Tim Seeley (Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash) and Josh Emmons (Ex Sanguine), the debut issue has main character Yaiba explaining how his sword came to be known as "Heartless." Just a wild guess here, but we're going to wager it has something to do with it being used to kill a lot of people. Maybe we're wrong, though! You can find out by downloading the first issue for free from the Dark Horse digital store or via the iOS or Android apps. The comic will also be available in physical format when the game releases.
True stories of EVE Online to become comic book and TV series
The CCP Presents Keynote at the annual EVE Online Fanfest is usually a fairly tame retrospective on how CCP has a company has done the past year and where it's going in the future, but for EVE's tenth anniversary, CCP broke out the big guns. In addition to announcing a massive new collector's edition, the studio has also revealed plans to turn real stories of events inside the sandbox into professional comic books and even a TV series. Industry giant Dark Horse Comics, the company responsible for comics like Hellboy and Sin City, will be publishing the 54-page graphic novel this winter in both a paid-for print form and a free digital download. For the lore buffs among us, Dark Horse will also be producing a colossal 184-page glossy colour hardback book covering all of the NPC backstory and lore behind EVE Online and DUST 514. Titled EVE Source, the book will be an in-character almanac of everything in the EVE setting that isn't player-created and will even include previously unreleased concept art.
Mass Effect: Foundation comic series announced
Dark Horse Comics recently announced a return to the Mass Effect series in comic book form at Emerald City Comic Con. Mac Walters, writer for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, will write the series, which is planned for 12 issues. Walters wrote Dark Horse Comics' other four-issue comic mini-series centered around the BioWare property."Rather than going into an area where we tell brand-new stories in a universe that people know already, maybe we could find ways of fleshing out some of the stories that we've heard hints of already," Walters told Comic Book Resources. "At a high level, that's where we thought about going with 'Foundations' and that's where we went with it."Click past the break to see a page from the series' first issue, courtesy of Comic Book Resources.
The Art of BioShock Infinite wants you to pre-order its propaganda
The Art of BioShock Infinite, a compendium of concept art, character designs and production stills, will launch on February 27, the day after the game itself drops, MTV Multiplayer reports. The art book is published by Dark Horse, who is behind the Hyrule Historia and many other gaming-comics crossovers, such as the Valve and Mass Effect collections.The Art of Bioshock Infinite will feature an introduction from franchise creator Ken Levine. Along with confirmed character designs for Booker, Elizabeth and Songbird, we expect to see a few sketches of the game's notable enemies as well. Amazon has the book available for pre-order, with a list price of $40 and a release date that doesn't yet match up with the official announcement.See the full cover for The Art of BioShock Infinite below.
Dark Horse Comics graphic novels coming to Nook Tablet and Nook Color
Dark Horse Comics has penciled a contract with Barnes & Noble (it'll be sent off to be inked and colored next week*) to get the former's content onto the latter's Tablet and Color e-readers. Available in the Nook Comic store, you'll be able to pick up a mix of the publisher's licensed titles like Mass Effect and Star Wars as well as home-grown fare like Hellboy and Sin City. The range will gently expand month-on-month and is available from today, with titles priced around $10 depending on what you want. * This is a comic book joke.
Pre-order a Mass Effect artbook for an in-game rifle on PC or Xbox
Three games in, the true meaning of "Mass Effect" is revealed: it refers to the masses of stuff you're tempted to buy for in-game DLC. Joining the recently announced DLC-laden action figures is the "Art of the Mass Effect Universe" artbook, which includes a download code for "the collector's rifle, among other cool content to beat out your opponents" when pre-ordered from Barnes & Noble.The "collector's rifle" refers to the Collector Assault Rifle, described by artbook publisher Dark Horse Comics as a gun whose "power source appears to be an internal organ with biotic capacitance; its ammunition resembles pellets of metallic enamel that strip shields off enemies with deadly efficiency." Strangely, Dark Horse also specifies that the codes work only on PC and Xbox 360, so PS3 owners will get nothing for their book purchase but the book they purchased.[Thanks Mark!]
Prototype comic series available digitally next month
If you need to be reminded about Prototype 2 periodically -- by, say, a tie-in iOS app or another promotional item -- we've got great news. Dark Horse will publish a bi-weekly comic series starting February 15. The first issue, "The Anchor," catches up with Prototype 1's Alex Mercer. The second, "The Survivors," focuses on a few New York residents trying to get out of the city. And the third introduces Prototype 2 protagonist Sgt. James Heller. The comics will be sold through digital.darkhorse.com. If these are successful, they might continue with all your favorite comic book tropes, like the universe-rebooting event and the Alien and Predator crossovers.%Gallery-144929%
Dark Horse Mass Effect digital comics free today
Ahead of the San Diego Comic-Con, Dark Horse has announced that all of its digital Mass Effect comics are free for 24 hours, starting at 3PM EST today. In addition to the free comics, Dark Horse is also offering a seven-page preview of its next Mass Effect series, Invasion. The comics are available via the Dark Horse online store or the Dark Horse app on iPad and iPhone. And, again, they're only free today, so you'd best get your mass in gear.
Hyperspace Beacon: The Lost Suns
This week, we are taking a break from studying the class powersets, although I do plan to return to them eventually. As I was contemplating what to write, it occurred to me that I really haven't covered any lore for quite some time. While my editors and I are talking about doing a specific series of lore-based articles leading up to the game's release, I definitely wanted to focus on more of the canon history behind the game. After all, this is Star Wars: The Old Republic, and it epitomizes the fourth pillar of MMO design: story. I finally got my hands on the latest comic book with direct ties to SWTOR this past week. It's called The Lost Suns, and while it's fresh on my mind, we should probably discuss some of the main points and characters in the story. BioWare writer Alexander Freed and comic book artist Dave Ross collaborated to bring us this first of a five-issue comic book series about Theron Shan. As Freed said on the official TOR forums, "I like to describe The Lost Suns as our 'ninth story' -- every class in The Old Republic tells its own Star Wars epic, and Theron's tale intersects with the other eight and pushes the greater game story forward, just as they do." Follow after the break to discover how this "ninth story" is starts out.
Dark Horse Digital coming to iOS April 27
The wait is finally almost over, Dark Horse Digital will be releasing their iOS app on April 27! I love reading comics on the iPad, the form-factor and experience is perfect. In fact, I prefer it to paper comics. However, while Marvel, DC Comics and some other publishers have been adding more and more issues from their libraries to a number of applications, such as Comixology, Dark Horse has been notably absent. The Dark Horse app is something I've been following pretty closely for a while now. Originally, it was slated to be released in January, but they weren't finished, so they postponed the launch and promised to make it up to excited fans. That's a promise they're making good on by including the first issue of Hellboy: Seed of Destruction bundled with the app, and they'll be giving away a few other titles if they can get enough people to subscribe to the newsletter before it launches.
Crysis 2, Dungeon Siege 3 comics in the works
Can't be bothered to actually play a game, but want something a little more visual than novels? You're in luck. First up, Crysis 2 is getting its own comic, thanks to publisher IDW. The six-issue series, written by Richard K. Morgan (who also penned the story in the game) and drawn by Peter Bergting, connects the events of Crysis and Crysis 2. It arrives in June. Next, Square Enix is working with Dark Horse Comics to release a digital Dungeon Siege 3 comic online. The book will appear on the official Dungeon Siege site, with writer Jeremy Barlow, along with artists Iban Coello and Sergio Abad, telling three tales of the kingdom of Ehb. Yet another comic will be packaged with the game itself at Walmart when it arrives on May 31.
Rage prequel comic inbound from Dark Horse
There's evidently enough of a story to id Software's upcoming Rage beyond mutants and, er, shooting to warrant a three-issue prequel comic from Dark Horse Comics. With its first issue set to hit shelves on June 22, the limited series is being written by Arvid Nelson, whose comic Rex Mundi, a murder mystery about the quest for the Holy Grail, was also published by Dark Horse. The book is being drawn by Andrea Mutti, known for his work on Vertigo's DMZ. The three covers will be provided by Preacher and Hellblazer artist Glenn Fabry, who, like us, continues to draw inspiration from the cover of Dead Space: Extraction. You can see the full issue one cover after the break, startled female character and all.
The Guild ends the year with DVD release and new comic
The Guild, the award-winning web series by Felicia Day, has a couple of new offerings for this holiday season. Season 4 of the popular web series is now available on DVD through Amazon.com as well as iTunes. The DVD version of the release is packed with extras, including the Game On music video, recaps of earlier seasons, featurettes involving Cheesybeards and Zaboo's mom as well, as audio commentary with the cast and gag reels. The iTunes release is available in both standard and HD versions. An iTunes exclusive bonus feature, The Making of the Team Cawkes Painting, is included when you purchase the entire season. The Season 4 DVD is $10.99 on Amazon; the iTunes version is only $9.99 for HD, or $5.99 for standard edition. And if you happen to be looking for something to read rather than something to watch, The Guild has also released a new one-shot comic titled Vork. Written by Day and actor Jeff Lewis, who plays Vork in the series, this comic centers around Vork and his role within both the game world and real life. As with all Guild comics, the story takes place before the events in Season 1 of The Guild. The comic's only $3.50 from Dark Horse, and you can choose one of two variant covers: Darick Robinson's gladiatorial version of Vork, or the more simplistic, real-life Vork styling of Gilbert Hernandez. For more on The Guild, you can check out the entire series on MSN.
Mass Effect 2 DLC on PS3 explained, interactive comic confirmed
As rumored over the weekend, Mass Effect 2's PlayStation 3 iteration will come packed with "6+ hours of bonus missions" -- rather than being PS3-exclusive bonus content, however, it'll comprise the game's three big expansions: Kasumi: Stolen Memories, Overlord, and Lair of the Shadow Broker. EA corroborated the news this morning by releasing the game's PS3 box art (found in full below the break), which clearly details its contents just inches above Miranda's flowing locks. BioWare producer Jesse Houston also took to the company's forums to clear up what exactly will be on the Blu-ray disc (and what will be downloaded). "Of course Mass Effect 2 will be included. On top of that, Lair of the Shadow Broker, Project Overlord, Kasumi: Stolen Memory and the Blood Dragon Armour. Also included is, as on Xbox 360 and PC, an access code to the Cerberus Network. This will give you instant access to the same great lineup of Downloadable Content such as Zaeed and Firewalker." Furthermore, he confirmed an "interactive comic" will ship with ME2 on PS3, cursorily detailing it by saying, "BioWare Edmonton (the group that made Mass Effect 2) teamed up with the fine folks at Dark Horse Comics to create an interactive backstory. While I can't release all the details about this yet, what I can tell you is that we want to create a stunning visual experience that not only tells the core story elements of Mass Effect 1, but also is fully interactive allowing you to be faced with some of the major choices which will have consequences your Mass Effect universe. This interactive comic's initial release will be exclusive to PS3 owners who would be otherwise unable to realize the full effect of choice in the Mass Effect universe and will be included on the Cerberus Network." He also -- somewhat ambiguously -- described additional, exclusive DLC for PS3 owners, explaining that, "There will also be some DLC Bundles, such as the Aegis Pack as well as exclusive both Free and Paid DLC for all PlayStation 3 owners such as the Recon Operations Pack." Perhaps in an attempt to calm the seething forum member responses, the post was later edited with the explanation, "While I can't go into details, all of this content is or was available to Xbox/PC owners, but otherwise wouldn't be available to PS3 owners. More details about this will be released later." Though EA/BioWare have yet to give it a price, retailers are currently putting the DLC-packed release at a regular $60.
