From Kotaku comes the rumor that one of the big announcements at next week’s Comicon will be the announcement of a new World of Warcraft comic book, to be published by DC’s Wildstorm line.
The rumor apparently started when the site noticed that there was going to be a panel at the event featuring Jim Lee, Chris Metzen and Mickey Nielson.
Chris “Thundergod” Metzen is the Vice President of Creative Development for Blizzard Entertainment and Nielson an artist for the game. Meanwhile Jim Lee is the artist behind the second series X-Men number 1.
I’m not sure how big a surprise this will be to most people. DC does, after all, produce the Warcraft line of action figures. Could comics be far behind?
July 20th, 2007 at 8:47 am
My store got some WoW preview comics in this week with the shipment, so I don’t think it’s a rumor anymore.
July 20th, 2007 at 10:13 am
I read the free sneak peek pictured in the post. Walter Simonson will be the writer and a French artist whose name escapes me will be the interior penciller. Jim Lee is just the covers man.
July 20th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Who are they going to realistically sell this to? I read comics AND I play World of Warcraft, and I have ZERO interest in a comic book about World of Warcraft.
July 20th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
If Dc plays their PR right, this can be as big (if not bigger) than Marvel’s Dark Tower comics.
July 20th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
This will not be as big as Dark Tower or even close. Most WOW players are interested in their groups and their characters not in reading some comic set in the same world.
This will be another muddled project from Wildstorm with limited success at best. If DC had really thought this had potential, it would not have been shuttled over to Wildstorm.
July 20th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
“If DC had really thought this had potential, it would not have been shuttled over to Wildstorm.”
I don’t think one has anything to do with the other. Wildstorm, for whatever reason, is where most of the licensed properties end up: Supernatural: Origins, Ninja Scroll, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Robotech, et al.
July 20th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
thefreakytiki, you have got to be kidding me! The Dark Tower was a huge hit because Dark Tower fans were (a) looking for new content and (b) already used to READING.
World of Warcraft players don’t want to read about new content, they want to PLAY new content. Or raid. Or PVP. But not read. Reading is a waste of a player’s time.
Bigger than Dark Tower… thanks for the laugh.
July 21st, 2007 at 2:11 am
Jim Lee plays Wow? Ha, no wonder ASBAR never comes out.
Seriously though, if they can pull even a fraction of the 8 million WoW players into buying this, they’ve got a hit on their hands. And seriously, if done correctly would translate really well into a comic book.
July 21st, 2007 at 4:45 am
I am Medievaldragon, from Blizzplanet.com
I was who found out about the Wow Comic book and submited news to Kotaku. At first, I read the San Diego Comic Con schedule when it came out. I saw Jim Lee and Chris Metzen to be together at the same day/time.
Chris Metzen doesn’t usually go to this type of event unless it is something BIG. Like when Metzen and Richard A. Knaak went to an event together to expose the Warcraft Manga by Tokyopop.
The blurb in the schedule said how wow, the comic and collectible worlds would collide, and that a comic book sample would be given away at the event.
This could be easily misinterpreted. I had to use gut and instinct knowing how Blizzard deals with things in total secrecy. Blizzplanet has been around since 2002. And I was around the Blizzard community since 2001. So I have learned a lot from Blizzard PR in interviews, and such.
Blizzplanet focus a lot on Warcraft lore and I personally interviewed Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo novel writers such as Richard A. Knaak (5 times), Keith R.A. DeCandido, Aaron Rosenberg, Christie Golden, Luke Johnson (Arthaus) to name a few.
I have been a comic books fan since 1995. The Age of Apocalypse storyline hooked me up and from there I now own over 1,500 X-Men related comic books (All X-Titles).
I have some Avengers, Fantastic Four, and other titles too. So I pretty well know who Jim Lee is. It just clicked in my mind. Metzen and Jim Lee there could only mean a World of Warcraft Comic Book.
Then I found thefreakytiki’s forum thread where he confirmed to have sighted a free sample preview. Then I started an investigation, and got official word that Jim Lee would make a public appearance at BlizzCon. Updated the newspost, and someone just posted a scan of the preview which contains an interview with Lody Lullaby and William Simonson (Thor Title) as writer. Jim Lee as Cover artist.
From a schedule I found at the San Diego Comic Con, this started as a rumor and its now more official with a November 2007 release date.
As for people’s opinion in this page, above, I have to differ on the “players only care for raid content and their characters in the MMORPG”.
There are 8.5+ million players worldwide. If only 10% of that people liked the comic book, that is still nearly a million customers.
As webmaster of a registered Blizzard Fansite with five years experience in the Blizzard Community, I am owner of:
1. all the Warcraft games and expansions.
2. All the Warcraft Novels:
http://www.blizzplanet.com/content/98/
3. All the Warcraft RPG Books:
http://www.blizzplanet.com/content/97/
It is an expensive collection — but basically Warcraft lore has caught my attention away from X-Men, Star Trek, and other franchises. Even away from TV.
Like me there are many other fans who enjoy the Warcraft universe outside the MMORPG. Most of the Warcraft Novels are going through second and third edition bscause they simply sell out. There are already a few trade paperback compiling up to three novels in one tome.
That Warcraft Manga: The Sunwell Trilogy that some fans despise … not everyone dislike it, myself included. People could speculate Tokyopop made a ridicule and would have poor sales on that Manga … and I would just smackdown that speculation.
I have talked a few times through 2007 with Richard A. Knaak. There is a Wow: Burning Crusade Manga coming in 2008 by Tokyopop featuring Tyri (Tyrygosa) and Jorad Mace. The NPCs you see in the MMORPG at the Celestial Ridge in Netherstorm.
Why would Tokyopop launch a second Manga unless it sold pretty well?
There are over 12 Warcraft novels by Pocket Star Books (Simon & Schuster division). I have word from different book writers of four new novels coming out through 2007-2008.
Look them up.
World of Warcraft: Tides of Darkness (August 28, 2007) a novelization of Warcraft II RTS game with Lothar, Turalyon, Alleria, Khadgar, Orgrim and other characters.
World of Warcraft: Beyond the Dark Portal (2008) — a novelization of the Warcraft II RTS expansion pack.
World of Warcraft: Night of the Dragon (2008) a sequel to Day of the Dragon. Knaak didn’t spoil anything, but my hunch is that Deathwing is back.
World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Manga (2008).
There are more Starcraft novels coming soon. I have no details on those. One is a sequel to Starcraft: Queen of Blades. The other one will probably be a second book based on Starcraft: Ghost. And more are coming.
Blizzard wouldn’t be pumping out this many novels and products if they were losing money due to people only caring about raiding and stuffing their characters with l33t Loot. =)
Personally, from interviews I have done to novel writers and very specially to Luke Johnson (White Wolf Publishing) I can tell you this World of Warcraft comic book will be supervised, and approved by Chris Metzen before it goes to print. And that means, the comic book will add to the canon lore of Warcraft as part of a single universe. Rather than non-canon spinoffs.
Blizzard is very strict with their universes. And they like to immerse and govern their licensed products. if it is not approved by them, it won’t go to print.
In the case of the World of Warcraft film, they don’t just give up a license to Legendary Pictures for the film director/executives to do as they please with it. You can be sure Blizzard, and by that I mean Chris Metzen, will be knee deep into the film script and development. Both companies feel comfortable about each other, and working together. You can read that in the gamasutra interview with Rob Pardo (Blizzard VP of Lead Design of all universes) and Thomas Tull (Legendary Pictures Chairman).
What I am getting at is that Wildstorm/DC Comics will have to agree to have direct participation of Chris Metzen in the decisions concerning storyline and design of the comic book, and its artwork.
It needs to meet the Blizzard quality standard. Or it gets unplugged.
July 22nd, 2007 at 3:45 am
I suspect this will do about as well as the Everquest comic did…