October 16th, 2007

The first World of Warcraft comic book

Hold on to your shields and swords boys and girls, because Wildstorm Publishing has something new in store for you. Literally in store, because World of Warcraft based comic strips come to paper view for the very first time on November 14th. As with every big business opportunity one can’t ignore the massive appeal emanated by the Warcraft franchise, thus the veteran publisher asked comic book guru Walter Simonson (Superman, Hawkgirl) to take up the challenge of releasing the strip on a regular basis. We found an exclusive interview with the grand creator himself over at the Multiplayer Blog on MTV.com, along with some nifty pictures taken from the first issue.

Simply titled “World of Warcraft”, the story arc planned over the first six issues showcases the adventures of an amnesiac human washed ashore Kalimdor. Taken under the guidance of shaman Rehgar Earthfury, our hero soon finds out that life is hard in the company of orcs. Set on a quest to find the secrets of his past, he will start anew fighting both Horde and Alliance in the gladiatorial arenas and striking uneasy alliances with the other races. The second issue will see him off to Dire Maul and taking on the many challenges of battling the Gor’Dok ogres. But he’s not the only gladiator under Rehgar’s rule. The third issue will see Lo'Gosh and Broll taken to the Thunder Bluff Pools of Vision for a cleansing ritual.

Walter Simonson went heavy on the lore connections, although he only recently took up the task of leveling a WoW character. Writing a good story was easier than ever, he explained. Regular comics have huge history backgrounds on adventures that it’s almost impossible to create something new and original, unlike the freedom such virgin territory like WoW provides. “And it’s been a lot of fun. We were able to actually layer some stuff in a way that I’m delighted about. In a way it means that, again for gamers who read the comic, there will be elements of the familiar, because if you play that much of the game, you’ll know these locations. But there’ll be things happening there that didn’t happen when you were in the game. So there’ll be some surprises” he said.

Along with the Rehgar Earthfury path there will be additional story arcs featuring blood elf Valeera Sanguinar, dwarf warrior Thargas Anvilmar and night elf druid Broll Bearmantle. Ludovic Moulière and is doing the sketches, helped by Sandra Hope on the inking. Check out this tauren working piece.

Well now *chuckles*, a mainstream WoW comic strip coming our way? That’s got to be the first time anyone actually puts in on paper. As far as I know we’ve had two novels with heavy tie-ins to the World of Warcraft universe, but a full fledged comic strip series is something new. I did find several web based comics out there and they’re all lovely, but I can’t escape their underground feel. It’s just like discovering a hidden treasure in the dark recesses of a musty cave, unlike the lighter and more accessible feeling of mainstream paper based comics. But that’s my problem. Out of the 9 million strong which represent the WoW fan base, I’m confident this release will see plenty of praising reviews and will sell like crazy, available here for $2.99 USD.