Check out an exclusive clip from the ‘She Could Fly’ game by Wowbagger Productions

Christopher Cantwell and Martín Morazzo’s Berger Books series has been adapted into a video game about OCD and mental health.

She Could Fly by writer Christopher Cantwell and artist Martín Morazzo achieved liftoff in 2018 from Dark Horse Comics’ Berger Books imprint. It was the first published comic written by Cantwell, and also one that was very personal, as it featured a main character with OCD — something he’s spoken about suffering from since he was 10 years old.

Now She Could Fly has become part of a “documentary game” — the She Could Fly Documentary Escape Game, which is a point and click game from Wowbagger Productions that takes players on a looping adventure to explore OCD.

“For me, in the graphic novel, flying is a form of relief or freedom for the main characters,” Cantwell said. “In my life, what I look for, in terms of relief or freedom, is not happiness but peace of mind. Real peace of mind. Peace of mind is very important to me, and it’s something I’m always striving for. And I hope that by playing this game or reading our story, it helps you find some peace of mind as well.”

The game features artwork by Morazzo and colorist Miroslav Mrva from She Could Fly as part of the gameplay elements, and the creators hope it puts a spotlight on, and helps people understand, how OCD can affect someone.

“The work we do at Wowbagger Productions is very much about collaborating with creatives from marginalised perspectives to share less-known stories,” said Wowbagger Productions founder Sara Kenney, who wrote, directed and produced the game. “This is our first digital game and decades of storytelling and producing experience meant we ensured the comic, documentary and gameplay works together and flows in a meaningful way. Games for impact are an arena that the team at Wowbagger Productions are passionate about and want to continue our work, not just combining art and science, but also the different disciplines of games, comics and film.”

Check out our exclusive video clip below, which shows how some of the comic pages from She Could Fly are used in the game:

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Top Cow opens ‘Destiny Gate’ in October

Ryan Cady, Christian DiBari and Simon Gough bring the upcoming video game to comics.

Top Cow is teaming once again with video game designers EP1T0ME Studios to co-produce and to publish Destiny Gate, a “noir thriller” comic.

This will be the fourth title the two companies have collaborated on, following St. Mercy, The Clay People: Colossus, and Revolvers. This one is based on a video game concept by Paul Limon, which EP1T0ME plans to make in the future.

“I told Paul, an ex-Blizzard artist, that his Destiny Gate game pitch was one of the best I’d ever read;” said Richard Leibowitz, President at EP1T0ME. “We’re happy to work with Paul and Top Cow to make the comic and look forward to making the game next.”

Writer Ryan Cady, whose Haunt You to the End debuted a few weeks ago, will work with illustrator Christian DiBari, who drew The Clay People: Colossus, and colorist Simon Gough.

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Marvel adds a Spider-Man video game tie-in to Free Comic Book Day

The comic by Christos Gage and Ig Guara will be available tomorrow.

Marvel has added another comic to their Free Comic Book Day line-up for this year — Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 #1, a tie-in to the video game series from Insomniac Games.

The story is set between the Spider-Man: Miles Morales game and the upcoming Spider-Man 2, which is scheduled to be released later this year. This marks the return of video game world, aka the “Gamerverse,” to comics, as it previously appeared in the Spider-Verse crossover series Spider-Geddon as well as several miniseries that followed the first game.

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‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’ gets a comic book prequel

John Layman and Jesús Hervás bring to life ‘Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum.’

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is the upcoming video game that, like the title suggests lets you play as the Suicide Squad as you take on a mind-controlled Justice League.

The chaos begins on May 26 and will soon be followed by Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum, a prequel comic book set in the game’s continuity. It’s by John Layman (Chew) and Jesús Hervás (Are You Afraid of Darkseid?, Cyberpunk 2077), and will feature Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, King Shark and of course Amanda Waller, who just took control of Arkham Asylum as part of her latest recruitment drive.

Dc will offer codes for a free in-game cosmetic item in print copies as well as to Annual and Ultra paying subscribers of their DC Universe Infinite service. But purchasers of digital copies get nothing, which kind of sucks given that they charge just as much for digital comics as they do for print.

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‘Batman: Gotham Knights’ video game gets a prequel comic

‘Gilded City’ follows a mysterious virus that turns Gotham’s citizens into maniacs.

During Comic-Con today DC announced a prequel comic for their upcoming video game, Batman: Gotham Knights. Subtitled Gilded City, the comic is written by Evan Narcisse with art by ABEL.

The game features Nightwing, Red Hood, Batgirl and Robin in a Batman-less Gotham City. And following in the footsteps of the recent Batman crossover with Fortnite, each issue of the six-issue series will feature a code for in-game items.

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‘Batman/Fortnite: Foundation’ will include The Batman Who Laughs skin for Fortnite

Jim Lee shares more information on the next collaboration between DC and Epic Games.

The day before DC FanDome kicks off, Publisher and CCO Jim Lee took to YouTube to reveal more details about the upcoming Batman/Fortnite: Foundation one-shot that arrives Oct. 26.

The one-shot follows the fun Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point miniseries from earlier this year, which was written by Epic Games Chief Creative Officer Donald Mustard and comics writer Christos Gage. This time around, they’re being joined by Scott Snyder of Batman and Death Metal fame, along with artists Joshua Hixson and Roman Stevens.

And yes, like the previous miniseries, the one-shot will include a code for an in-game Fortnite item — a skin and loading screen for The Batman Who Laughs, a character Snyder knows quite well.

Here’s the video, which also features a guest appearance by Kevin Conroy voicing Batman:

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Skybound Xpo reveals new comic series, teases ‘Skybound X’

Creators appeared to discuss ‘Rick Grimes 2000,’ ‘Everyday Hero Machine Boy,’ ‘Clementine’ and more.

Robert Kirkman’s Skybound held one of its online Xpo events today, revealing a comic adaption of the video game Trover Saves the Universe as well as some addition details and preview art from the upcoming Skybound X miniseries.

Trover Saves the Universe is a video game created by Justin Roiland, co-creator of the hit cartoon series Rick & Morty. Skybound has enlisted Tess Stone to work with Roiland on the miniseries.

“When Skybound mentioned they were interested in doing a Trover Saves the Universe comic with the help of Tess Stone, I knew it was going to be something of high quality,” said Roiland, who is also CEO and co-founder of Squanch Games. “Important cosmic jobs is such fertile soil for storytelling, and Tess has successfully expanded it beyond the game’s DLC to create a whole new crazy adventure for Trover fans to follow.”

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Titan announces a second ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ miniseries

‘Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation’ begins in July.

Titan Comics is following up last year’s Horizon Zero Dawn miniseries with a second arc, titled Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation. The comic is based on the video game of the same name, which came out in 2017.

Returning for this second story are writers Ben McCaw and Anne Toole. They’ll be joined by artist Elmer Damaso, who previously worked on Titan’s Robotech title.

“All of us who worked on the story – myself, Anne Toole, Annie Kitain, and Ari Martinez – feel humbled by the praise the series has received,” McCaw said. “During the writing process, we could only hope that fans would connect with the characters the same way we do, and it’s gratifying to hear that we succeeded.”

Peach Momoko is providing the first issue’s main cover:

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Mail Call | The Avengers brace for ‘World War She-Hulk’

Plus: More news and announcements from Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, AfterShock, Top Cow, Skybound and more!

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

Marvel is dusting off a classic event title for an upcoming Avengers storyline — “World War She-Hulk,” which references the popular “World War Hulk” story from 2007.

The new storyline will find She-Hulk declared a global menace, so the Winter Guard decides to bring her in.

“When the Russian Winter Guard invade Avengers Mountain to arrest She-Hulk, it sets off a global espionage adventure that takes us from the notorious assassin training academy of the Red Room to an undersea kingdom on the verge of violent revolution,” said writer Jason Aaron. “Along the way, traitors will fall, regimes will crumble and the dark evolution of Jennifer Walters will reach its bloody red crescendo, all as we build toward the epic events of Avengers #50.”

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‘Dragon Age: Dark Fortress’ arrives in March

Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, Fernando Heinz Furukawa, Michael Atiyeh and Sachin Teng return for another volume that ties into the popular video game franchise.

Dark Horse has announced another Dragon Age series in their series-of-miniseries approach to the franchise, reuniting the same team that created Dragon Age: Blue Wraith earlier this year.

And that’s good news, as the team has been knocking these miniseries out of the park, with new characters and adventures that help grow the world of Thedas. Writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, who also worked on Dark Horse’s Knight Errant and Deception miniseries, return for Dragon Age: Dark Fortress, joined again by artist Fernando Heinz Furukawa, who also drew Knight Errant, and colorist Michael Atiyeh. Sachin Teng will again provide the covers.

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Skybound announces a ‘Summoners War’ prequel comic

Justin Jordan and Luca Claretti will bring the mobile game to comics.

Skybound has announced a prequel comic for the hit mobile video game, Summoners War, by the creative team of Justin Jordan and Luca Claretti.

Summoners War is one of the world’s top mobile games thanks to its rabid fanbase, roaring esports community and a rich in-game universe, so we’re expanding the IP into new frontiers by partnering with Skybound Entertainment on our first official comic book series, Summoners War: Legacy,” said John Nam, VP of IP Strategy Department at Com2uS, who make the mobile game. “Our friends at Skybound are a powerhouse of imagination and a perfect partner for helping Com2uS grow Summoners War in new directions.”

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Comics Lowdown: Standing behind retailers during the coronavirus

Plus: TCAF canceled, BookExpo postponed and more coronavirus news.

As the threat of the coronavirus continues to spread, and federal, state and local governments take action to try and stop it, “shelter in place” and social distancing orders inevitably harm small businesses, like comics retailers. Many retailers around the country have either closed up for a time or have moved to a mail order/”curbside pickup” system. In his weekly newsletter today, writer Cullen Bunn shared some tips for supprtoing your favorite shop during this time:

…SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL COMIC BOOK SHOP as much as you’re able. 

Running a comic book store can be difficult, even in the best of times. Right now, shops are taking a hit. The absolute last thing I want to see—as a reader, a fan, and a creator—is for comic book stores to disappear. It is vital that we all work together to support comic book stores as much as possible and help them get through the coming weeks. When comic book stores suffer, so does the comic book industry. A lot of stores are offering new services during this time of isolation and social-distancing. Some things you can do to help…

  • Inquiring about curbside pickup.
  • Inquiring about mail order or delivery options. 
  • Purchasing any books that are in your pull box.
  • Purchasing gift cards/gift certificates for upcoming birthdays, events, and holidays. 
  • Following your local comic shop on social media for updates on: curtailed hours of operation, events, special accommodations, and cleaning policy. 
  • Tagging your local comic shop on social media & posting photos of the comics you’ve purchased to read during self-quarantine and social distancing.

You can find a comic shop offering “safe services” during the pandemic by using this map from BOOM! Studios.

Image Comics, who issued a letter asking other publishers to help comics retailers during this crisis, also had Alex Cox, Skottie Young and Nate Piekos create a short comic on how fans can support their local shop:

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