Morality Moments Illustrated: Army of Two: The 40th Day

EA Montreal has brought renowned comic artists Chris Bachalo and Jock onboard to lend their talents to Army of Two: The 40th Day. Bachalo and Jock have been enlisted to illustrate the long term impacts of these “morality moments.” and on a Comic-con related note, today and tomorrow from 2pm - 4pm PST, Chris Bachalo will be signing original Army of Two: The 40th Day artwork at EA’s booth (# 5213).

Chris Bachalo has worked on several high profile comic series including Sandman, Batman, Incredible Hulk, and Uncanny X-Men. He recently collaborated with Jeph Loeb, a producer for the TV show Heroes, to create the book Witching Hour and is currently working on Marvels’ flagship title, The Amazing Spiderman.

Jock is best known for his work with writer Andy Diggle on Vertigo’s The Losers and the DCU’s and Green Arrow: Year One. On top of creating production art for such films as Batman Begins, Hancock, and the upcoming adaptations of Dune and Judge Dredd, he’s also illustrated covers for DC Comics titles including Batman, Nightwing, Catwoman, Azrael and Scalped, as well as Marvel Comics Thunderbolts and Dark X-Men.

Army of Two: The 40th Day will be available this winter for the Xbox 360, PS3 and the PSP.

Defense Grid for XBLA to debut at Comic-Con

Hidden Path Entertainment’s Defense Grid: The Awakening will soon be released on Xbox LIVE Arcade, but first it will officially debut July 24 at the Microsoft booth at San Diego Comic-Con International. Defense Grid: The Awakening is a more hardcore approach to tower defense gameplay that features beautiful environments, spectacular effects, and a dynamic, engaging soundtrack. The controls are intuitive and the gameplay is deep - the special attacks and properties of each tower work together to provide many ways to succeed. Defense Grid: The Awakening will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade later this summer.

Defense Grid: The Awakening for Xbox LIVE Arcade features 12 hours of story-driven play, 24 environments across the Awakening campaign and four bonus Borderlands maps, plus over 100 unlockable challenge modes. There are also 10 different tower types that can each be upgraded twice. These towers all have tradeoffs that affect ideal placement, such as line-of-sight attack or ballistic trajectory fire; a large area of effect or damage over time; and minimum and maximum ranges. Over the course of the game, players battle 15 different types of enemies, each with unique capabilities and strategies.

Look for Hidden Path’s game soon on XBLA, but if you’re at Comic-Con this week, visit Mictosoft’s booth on July 24.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand iPhone game invades Comic-Con

San Diego Comic-Con attendees will be able to get the first look at the Starz original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, from 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM PT (room 6BCF). Starz is bringing some of the leading creative and on-air talent for attendees to meet in person. Set to debut on Starz in January 2010, the violent gladiator tale will have a graphic novel look and style unlike any other series on TV.

Stars Lucy Lawless (”Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Battlestar Galactica”), actor Peter Mensah (300, Avatar), Executive ProducersRob Tapert (Evil Dead 1-2, Drag Me To Hell) and Steven S. DeKnight (”Angel,” “Smallville, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), and actress Erin Cummings (”Dollhouse”) will discuss the narrative approach to the ancient legend and offer exclusive first look footage at the series. Andy Whitfield, who plays the title character, will deliver a video message and Comic-Con greeting from New Zealand.

The official Spartacus: Blood and Sand mobile game designed for iPhone and iPod touch was also announced. Created by with Artificial Life, the game basd on the series utilizes the touch screens and motion sensitive features to control the “violent” action soon to be seen in the series.

The first 2,000 fans attending the “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” panel will be given a complimentary “Ultimate Spartacus: Blood and Sand Fan Packs,” ** which will include  the following:

- Limited edition copy of “Spartacus: Upon The Sands of Vengeance, ” issue #1 in the “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” comic book mini-series with an exclusive Comic-Con cover

- Autographed 8X10 headshots, featuring 1 of 10 randomly selected autographed photos from a member of the cast of “Spartacus: Blood and Sand”

- “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” trading cards

- “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” USB flash drive featuring cast/unit photos, graphics, poster art, cast and series biographical background information, and more.

- “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” poster with mailing tube

- “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” collectible t-shirt (one of four being created)
You can learn more about the series at www.starz.com/spartacus.

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Dead Space Extraction debuts at Comic-Con

EA’s Visceral Games and Image Comics have released an all-new comic based on Dead Space Extraction, the prequel to Dead Space for the Wii. The Dead Space Extraction comic reunites renowned illustrator Ben Templesmith and writer Antony Johnston with the game’s dark and mature fiction. This one-time special issue comic follows the successful partnership for last year’s Dead Space comic mini-series. The comic will be on store shelves in September 2009 for SRP $3. A limited edition version of the comic featuring exclusive cover art will be available for the special price of $2 at the EA Comic-con booth (#5123).

Ben Templesmith and Antony Johnston will be at the booth signing the special issues on Thursday 3-4 PM and Friday - Sunday 1-2 PM. Fans of Dead Space will also be able to purchase other Dead Space merchandise such an Isaac Clarke Unitology figurine, iPhone skins, and Dead Space art books. Players will also have the chance to play the game at the EA booth. The Dead Space Extraction development team is participating in the “Art of Making a Horror Video Game” panel on Friday, July 24th at 6 PM in Room 2.

Square Enix: love for sale at Comic-Con

Square Enix announced today the merchandise it will be showing off at the San Diego Comic Con 2009 this week. In addition to a display of upcoming products from the FINAL FANTASY XIII, FRONT MISSION EVOLVED, FULL METAL ALCHEMIST and KINGDOM HEARTS lines, Square Enix will be debuting brand-new prototypes of RESIDENT EVIL 5 products on the show floor. On top of an extensive display of future releases, Square Enix will have over 80 items available for purchase at this year’s Comic Con (booth #3829).

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Dark Horse, BioWare team for Mass Effect comics

BioWare and Dark Horse Comics have teamed up for a new comic book series based on Mass Effect, its popular sci-fi action RPG. In Mass Effect: Redemption, the story takes readers through the events leading up to Mass Effect 2, which opens with galactic hero Commander Shepard mysteriously missing and left to fight for survival. What unfolds next will expose readers to new locations, aliens and extended storyline in the Mass Effect universe. Mass Effect: Redemption is scheduled to launch in January 6, 2010.

The Mass Effect: Redemption story is written by Lead Writer Mac Walters at BioWare, who is also 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). This first four-part series explores the “exotic and dangerous future Milky Way of Mass Effect,” revealing new locations, aliens, and enemies.

Mac Walters and Omar Francia will be autographing a Comic-con exclusive Mass Effect signing card at the Dark Horse booth (#2615) on July 24th at 4:00pm - 5:00pm at Comic-Con International 2009 in San Diego, CA.

Mass Effect: Redemption issue 1 hits comic shop shelves on January 6, 2010. Mass Effect 2 is scheduled for release on Xbox 360 and PC in early 2010.

The Saboteur shipping Dec. 8

EA’s Pandemic Studios announced that its open-world sandbox action game, The Saboteur, will be available worldwide on December 8, 2009. Inspired by a true story (which we expect and hope has been highly embellished for the sake of action), The Saboteur stars Sean Devlin, a street-tough Irish race car driver trapped behind enemy lines in 1940s Nazi-occupied France. Motivated by personal revenge and a strong sense of survival, Sean must fight, climb, and race through Paris, sneak into the heart of the Nazi operations and sabotage their every move.

With the help of the French Resistance, the British intelligence, an arsenal of weaponry, and an uncanny knack for staying alive, players will exact revenge by committing various acts of sabotage including derailing trains and blowing up zeppelins. Sounds like much more fun than Mercenaries 2.

The Saboteur is being developed for the PS3, Xbox 360, and the PC. Those attending the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International, (July 23 – 26), will be able to check out The Saboteur for the first time at EA’s show booth, stall #5213 in the San Diego Convention Center.