BioWare and Dark Horse Comics are teaming up to create a sci-fi comic book series based on Mass Effect. Videogames are all over the comics world, with popular comics being produced based on such properties as Gears of War, Street Fighter, and World of Warcraft. Mass Effect: Redemption will chronicle the events following the conclusion of Mass Effect and lead up to where Mass Effect 2 takes off. The comic is set to debut in your friendly local comic shops on January 6, 2010, as the start of a four-part series.

The story opens with Commander Shepard, everyone's favorite galactic renegade with an attitude (or paragon of virtue, depending on the player), going missing. What happens next? Well, according to EA and Dark Horse, it will include new locations and aliens, while extending the storyline of the Mass Effect universe.

Remember these blue-skinned beauties? Looks like the Asari will be in the comic as well.

The Mass Effect: Redemption story is written by BioWare Lead Writer Mac Walters, the script writer behind Mass Effect 2. The comic is scripted by John Jackson Miller (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Invincible Iron Man) and drawn by Omar Francia (Star Wars Legacy).

Mac Walters and Omar Francia will be autographing a Comic-Con exclusive Mass Effect signing card at the Dark Horse booth on July 24th from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

"Fans of Mass Effect are going to be pleasantly shocked by the events in these comics," says Mac Walters. "We worked very closely with Dark Horse to make sure this story was built in to the Mass Effect 2 arc, right from the ground up. Reading the series won't just add to your experience of the universe, it will change the way you look at Mass Effect 2... and beyond."



Gerald says: While speculating on comics is in all likelihood a rather poor investment (and has been ever since I bought all those issues of X-Factor #1), you may still want to pick up Mass Effect issue 1 this January. If a Mass Effect movie ever gets made, you might be able to turn a profit.

I'll be attending Comic-Con on GameSpy's behalf, checking out the latest games at the world's largest pop culture event and bringing you the juiciest details. If you love comics, television, movies, and games, there's no better place to be this time of year than in San Diego.