Holey Moley! Microsoft is making comicbooks?!!!

Posted by Jim Stroud

May 10, 2006

Halo, Microsoft’s hit Xbox video-game franchise, is branching out into another dimension: graphic novels.

Marvel Comics and Microsoft’s Bungie Studios, which developed Halo and Halo 2, have teamed up on the Halo Graphic Novel, a 128-page full-color hardback. It’s due for release July 12 ($24.99).

Beyond the four full-length stories based on the Halo story line, the book has a 26-page gallery of iconic illustrations by artists from Bungie and other comic books. “A graphic novel was the perfect way to expand upon the game fiction with interesting stories, while further exploring the rich palette and art style of the Halo universe,” says Bungie’s Brian Jarrard, executive producer of the novel.

Microsoft has sold more than 14 million Halo games; Halo 3 is due in 2007. The game has spawned several paperback novels. And Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has signed on to executive-produce a Halo film for Fox and Universal. Halo’s “visual and visceral experiences combine to create a truly unique entertainment property,” Marvel’s Ruwan Jayatilleke says.

READ: The non-stop ‘Halo’ effect