City of Heroes comic book
Encyclopedia
City of Heroes is an American comic book
based on the characters and situations from the City of Heroes
massively multiplayer online role-playing
computer game.
North American subscribers to the game originally received the City of Heroes monthly comic book
in the mail; it is also available in some comic book stores. The comic follows the adventures of fictional Paragon City heroes and ties into the game's plot development at times, as well as featuring a section devoted to fan art, fan fiction, and other miscellany in the back. At times, this rear section has also included comic strips by Tim Buckley
of Ctrl+Alt+Del
and Aaron Williams
of PS238
and Nodwick
.
by Dark Horse Comics
to promote the game. Written by Richard Dakan and drawn by Rick Zombo
, the issue followed the story of a hero new to Paragon City named Thunder-Clap, and set some of the story behind the game, including the Fifth Column, the Freakshow, and the Statesman. This promotional issue also featured Apex and War Witch, who later became protagonists in the Blue King Studios publication of the comic book.
to May 2005
. It was written by one of the game's designer
s, Rick Dakan, art was by Brandon McKinney. Coloring was by Moose Bauman (issues 1-4) and Austin McKinley (issues 5-12). Issue 12 was written by Neil Hendrick, who lettered the entire series.
It followed the story of the heroes Apex, a martial artist with no super powers; War Witch, a magic user who had ice blasts and a mystical fiery sword; and Horus, an Egyptian-themed hero who nearly died during the Ritki War and was saved from death by becoming the host of a Kheldian.
These characters were virtually unmentioned in the game save for an Exploration Badge in Steel Canyon stating that Apex and War Witch were roommates (and possibly lovers). There is also an exploration badge in the Faultline zone which references where Apex tracked down the archvillain, Dr. Vahzilok. In Issue #5, War Witch was made the trainer (an NPC hero where players level up) in Croatoa as a ghost. When Pocket D was revamped in February 2006, War Witch was made an NPC stationary character on the Hero side of the dance club. In Issue 20, Apex was added as a new Task Force contact, with his in game description summarizing the events of the last few issues of this series, making them official in-game canon. There have been no other mentions of Horus, yet.
issue, the comic book was published by Top Cow Productions
, written by noted comic book writer Mark Waid
, and illustrated by newcomer David Nakayama
. Unlike the previous volume, this series follows the adventures of the city's most illustrious supergroup, the Freedom Phalanx led by the Statesman.
Mark Waid
wrote the first three issues of the new Top Cow comic. Starting with issue four, Troy Hickman wrote a three-issue story arc entitled Smoke and Mirrors. This was followed up by Dan Jurgens
, who wrote the next three-issue arc named Bloodlines.
As of City of Villains launch, the free comic book deal switched from being an actual comic book being mailed to you to being able to access all existing CoH comic books on the company's website. It's believed Cryptic did this not only to compensate for the lack of additional monthly fees for playing both CoH and CoV, but also to solve the problem of comic books getting lost in the mail. For a small additional fee (US$2 per issue), players could still get the actual comics sent by mail.
The comic was said to be converting from a monthly to bimonthly format after issue #15, however, due to various delays, issues 15 and 16 turned up in late November 2006, four months behind schedule. This run of the comic book ended at issue #20 so the game developers and NCSoft can work more on game content as well as interacting with the players. The comic books were discontinued after their 20th issue.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
based on the characters and situations from the City of Heroes
City of Heroes
City of Heroes is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft. The game was launched in North America on April 27, 2004 and in Europe on February 4, 2005 with English, German and French language...
massively multiplayer online role-playing
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
computer game.
North American subscribers to the game originally received the City of Heroes monthly comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
in the mail; it is also available in some comic book stores. The comic follows the adventures of fictional Paragon City heroes and ties into the game's plot development at times, as well as featuring a section devoted to fan art, fan fiction, and other miscellany in the back. At times, this rear section has also included comic strips by Tim Buckley
Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound...
of Ctrl+Alt+Del
Ctrl+Alt+Del (webcomic)
Ctrl+Alt+Del is a gaming-related webcomic and animated series written by Tim Buckley. The name of the comic refers to the Windows command Control-Alt-Delete. Premiering on October 23, 2002, the comic's focus has gradually shifted away from single strip gags towards longer story arcs and greater...
and Aaron Williams
Aaron Williams
Aaron Williams is an American former professional basketball player. He played at the power forward and center positions.-Basketball career:...
of PS238
PS238
PS238 is a comic book that follows the lives of both teachers and students at an elementary school for children with super powers, which the comic calls metaprodigies. Issue #0 was published in November 2002. PS238 is written and drawn by Aaron Williams and published by Do Gooder Press. Until...
and Nodwick
Nodwick
Nodwick is a comic strip created by Aaron Williams, based around the conventions of fantasy role-playing games, in particular Dungeons & Dragons . It debuted in Dragon magazine issue #246 , first with short strips, and later receiving a second strip in Dungeon magazine, making fun of one of the...
.
Promotional comic
A single promotional comic was released in 20022002 in comics
-March:* Adventures of Superman #600: super-sized anniversary issue by Joe Casey, Mike Wieringo, and Jose Marzan, Jr. -April:* Batman #600: "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive," part one, 64-page giant, written by Ed Brubaker.-January:...
by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
to promote the game. Written by Richard Dakan and drawn by Rick Zombo
Rick Zombo
Richard J. Zombo is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the NHL for 12 seasons between 1984 and 1996...
, the issue followed the story of a hero new to Paragon City named Thunder-Clap, and set some of the story behind the game, including the Fifth Column, the Freakshow, and the Statesman. This promotional issue also featured Apex and War Witch, who later became protagonists in the Blue King Studios publication of the comic book.
Blue King Studios run
The comic's first volume was published by Blue King Studios and ran 12 issues cover-dated from June 20042004 in comics
-February:*February 6: Marvel Enterprises and Electronic Arts announce a multi-year agreement in which EA will develop a new generation of fighting video games pitting Marvel superheroes against a new, original set of EA heroes....
to May 2005
2005 in comics
- January :* January 3: Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, dies at age 87.-April:*April 13:**DC Comics announces the discontinuation of its Humanoids and 2000 A.D. titles....
. It was written by one of the game's designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
s, Rick Dakan, art was by Brandon McKinney. Coloring was by Moose Bauman (issues 1-4) and Austin McKinley (issues 5-12). Issue 12 was written by Neil Hendrick, who lettered the entire series.
It followed the story of the heroes Apex, a martial artist with no super powers; War Witch, a magic user who had ice blasts and a mystical fiery sword; and Horus, an Egyptian-themed hero who nearly died during the Ritki War and was saved from death by becoming the host of a Kheldian.
These characters were virtually unmentioned in the game save for an Exploration Badge in Steel Canyon stating that Apex and War Witch were roommates (and possibly lovers). There is also an exploration badge in the Faultline zone which references where Apex tracked down the archvillain, Dr. Vahzilok. In Issue #5, War Witch was made the trainer (an NPC hero where players level up) in Croatoa as a ghost. When Pocket D was revamped in February 2006, War Witch was made an NPC stationary character on the Hero side of the dance club. In Issue 20, Apex was added as a new Task Force contact, with his in game description summarizing the events of the last few issues of this series, making them official in-game canon. There have been no other mentions of Horus, yet.
Image Comics' Top Cow Productions run
Beginning with the June 20052005 in comics
- January :* January 3: Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, dies at age 87.-April:*April 13:**DC Comics announces the discontinuation of its Humanoids and 2000 A.D. titles....
issue, the comic book was published by Top Cow Productions
Top Cow Productions
Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, a partner studio of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992.-History:...
, written by noted comic book writer Mark Waid
Mark Waid
Mark Waid is an American comic book writer. He is well known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America...
, and illustrated by newcomer David Nakayama
David Nakayama
David Nakayama is an American comic book artist.- Career :David Nakayama's first professional comics work was published in Star Wars Tales #17, while he was a student at The Kubert School...
. Unlike the previous volume, this series follows the adventures of the city's most illustrious supergroup, the Freedom Phalanx led by the Statesman.
Mark Waid
Mark Waid
Mark Waid is an American comic book writer. He is well known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America...
wrote the first three issues of the new Top Cow comic. Starting with issue four, Troy Hickman wrote a three-issue story arc entitled Smoke and Mirrors. This was followed up by Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is best known for creating the superhero Booster Gold, and for his lengthy runs on the Superman titles Adventures of Superman and Superman , particularly during The Death of Superman storyline...
, who wrote the next three-issue arc named Bloodlines.
As of City of Villains launch, the free comic book deal switched from being an actual comic book being mailed to you to being able to access all existing CoH comic books on the company's website. It's believed Cryptic did this not only to compensate for the lack of additional monthly fees for playing both CoH and CoV, but also to solve the problem of comic books getting lost in the mail. For a small additional fee (US$2 per issue), players could still get the actual comics sent by mail.
The comic was said to be converting from a monthly to bimonthly format after issue #15, however, due to various delays, issues 15 and 16 turned up in late November 2006, four months behind schedule. This run of the comic book ended at issue #20 so the game developers and NCSoft can work more on game content as well as interacting with the players. The comic books were discontinued after their 20th issue.