10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

Contents

Games have tons of adventures, but often these don’t end at credits, and continue on the page. Which comics based on games are best?

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10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

Games are full of iconic characters and fascinating storylines. Over the past fifty years, gamers have been playing adventure after adventure as these characters. But these adventures go as deep as the games themselves. And in the case of the oldest franchises, that’s not very deep at all.

But comics had a similar evolution. They’re now seen as a medium for deeper stories than they were when they originally developed. And since the beginning, these mediums have intertwined, expanding the lore of different game universes. Comics based on games have often been the best places to find more adventures with fan favorites, but what are the best comics based on video games?

Plants vs Zombies

10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

Most games that take the graphic novel approach are serious. Even the Sonic comics take dark turns despite their colorful origins. But comics are great for humorous antics too, like in the Plants vs Zombies series. The tower defense mobile franchise’s colors and oddball characters make this an unexpectedly fun medium transition.

This family-friendly series is an anthology, focusing on many characters. Some issues may follow Crazy Dave, the game’s shopkeeper, but others feature the zombies or the final boss. It also adds elements to the universe, like time travel, which shows up in later comic installments.

Halo

10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

Through a partnership with Marvel comics, a graphic novel was produced in the Halo universe. The unimaginatively named The Halo Graphic Novel contained four stories from the game world, and the stories it contains center around the first two games. It’s possible that viewers see some of these stories in the television series.

Only one story prominently features iconic Halo protagonist Master Chief, “Armor Testing.” But franchise elements appear in all stories, like the Flood in “The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor.” But the two remaining stories might be the most relevant. The relevance of “Breaking Quarantine” is self-apparent, and “Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa” features a propagandist as the protagonist, making it a very interesting narrative.

Mega Man

10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

Iconic publisher Archie worked on official comics for the beloved game character Mega Man. Mega Man received a surprisingly compelling comic series run in the early 2010s.

This run chiefly adapted the classic Mega Man games, retelling that era’s shoestring plots. The battle of the robot Rock versus Dr. Wily was recolored with deeper themes concerning AI and pacifism. These elements were present in Mega Man work, but Archie pulled them to the forefront. What resulted was a series with respect for the source material that wasn’t afraid to get deeper. Unfortunately, it ended up being put on indefinite hiatus.

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Sonic the Hedgehog

10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

Sonic the Hedgehog had plenty of comics over the years. From official manga to comics from UK publisher Fleetway, he’s had tons of print media. But most famous is the Sonic comics from Archie. Archie’s comics have been plagued by art and copyright issues, however. The IDW series has had no such problems.

The IDW series that has been published since 2017 shares lots of staff with the later Archie issues. Head writer Ian Flynn is set to write the latest game, Sonic Frontiers. This series is more directly linked to the games, while the Archie comics were based on a 90’s cartoon. This gives it a stronger connection to the Sonic universe but still lets it play with new characters and ideas.

Street Fighter

10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

Canada-based publisher Udon has been intermittently publishing Street Fighter comics since 2006. Street Fighter’s continuity is messy, and the games have never been excellent at storytelling. But Udon’s various titles (centered on most of the main entries) helps compress and retell that narrative in a satisfying way. Even though the books are non-canon, fans view them as soft-canon.

Another thing that the books do well is cover as many eras and characters are possible. The book isn’t content to stay with Ryu and the Street Fighter II premise for most of its run, even though those are the iconic elements. It also features plenty of crossovers from Rival Schools and Final Fight, much like the SF series proper does. And its most recent entry was the long-awaited crossover with Capcom’s monster fighter, Darkstalkers.

Injustice

10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

While it may seem like cheating, the concept for this series was created by games. The DC fighting game Injustice used a fairly stock plotline to get its characters to fight; evil Superman. But unlike other storylines, the game created a canonical alternate universe with its own version of events. This alternate universe gave rise to a comic to tell the entire history.

With more time to expand, the canon became deeper. Superman was given more nuance instead of simply being a generic tyrant. Powerful DC fighters appeared in the Injustice comics that never appeared in the games (like Plastic Man) and got the spotlight to explain their role in the universe. It proved popular enough that the game’s sequel actually forewent the main universe altogether, and focused entirely on the Injustice universe.

Left 4 Dead

10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

Valve’s co-op shooter series Left 4 Dead is so popular that a spiritual sequel was recently released. Valve’s sardonic take on the zombie genre was so beloved that it’s one of the few games where the sequel was initially disliked for fear of being rushed. Both games featured a party of four, but people wanted to see both groups interact. However, when it happened in DLC, fans were underwhelmed.

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Survivor Bill Overbeck’s death was a sour spot for some fans. But this prompted Valve to release The Sacrifice, a comic retelling of the death. This resonated with fans much better and felt like an appropriate send-off. It also expanded on the overall gameplay loop of Left 4 Dead, giving players more understanding of its narrative.

Metal Gear Solid

10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

Usually, comic adaptations focus on expanding on elements of the original. But Metal Gear Solid is known for how long-winded it is. So when the time came for the IDW comic adaptation, they took a different approach. It streamlined the storyline and tried to add elements that would work better as a comic.

The biggest new element of the comic is the artwork. Ashley Wood’s art mimics the iconic box art of the Metal Gear video game series. Wood’s art evokes series artist Yoji Shinkawa, whose messier watercolor style is beloved by fans. It’s a treat for fans to see iconic game moments rendered in this concept art-accurate style.

Tomb Raider

10 Best Comic Books Based On Video Games

Much like Sonic, Tomb Raider has had more than one series, and it makes sense that more than one team wanted to take a crack at gaming’s most iconic heroine. Top Cow, the publisher behind The Darkness, worked on a comic during the early aughts. This series did a lot to establish Lara’s cocky personality and backstory more than the games did.

The other series is from Dark Horse and focuses on the reboot version of the character. This run features excellent writing from comic book legend Gail Simone. As such, it portrays the character with more humanity and less gravitas than her pre-reboot version. Both runs, both the grounded and original flavor takes, ended up being great.

Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress is perhaps Valve’s most oddball franchise. While the studio was no stranger to humor, they were mostly known for their excellent science fiction writing. But the retro warfare mixed with the sardonic wit of Team Fortress 2 slowly grew over the years, spiraling out into a complex universe. Perhaps it was to be expected, as Valve debuted each of the game’s playable characters with an The Office-like mockumentary video.

Each of the characters in the game developed fans not just of their gameplay, but also their personality. So eventually Valve published a series of comics focusing on the universe, that would both announce in-game events and add stuff to the world. Characters had their in-game interactions canonized, their relationships deepened, and plenty of buck wild adventures. Also, plenty of characters, like Saxton Hale, appeared in comics before appearing in the game. While it never finished, the Team Fortress 2 comic series is perhaps one of Valve’s best, funniest, pieces of work of all time.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-comic-books-based-on-video-games/

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