This October Electronic Arts will release Dead Space, a third-person, science fiction action video game set on a stricken mining ship that has been infested with a deadly alien species known as “Necromorphs.”  Earlier this year Image Comics began publishing a six-issue Dead Space comic book miniseries written by Antony Johnson and illustrated by Ben Templesmith that provides the backstory leading up to the action in the videogame.  But the Image comic book series is not the game’s only connection to the comic book industry.  Top comic book scribe Warren Ellis noted in his “Bad Signal” email newsletter that: “I got released from an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) the other day, so I can finally say that I wrote a bunch of the groundwork, backstory and structure on the forthcoming EA videogame Dead Space…I believe there was at least one other writer on the project, but I'm sure there's some of me in there somewhere.”

 

In addition to the comic book and the game itself, Starz/Anchor Bay will release an animated film Dead Space: Downfall in October.  The film, which is being produced by Film Roman, also serves as a prequel to the videogame and “takes adult animated horror to whole new level.”  The severed arm on the DVD cover provides a strong link to the videogame.  The Necromorphs can sprout new limbs and players must find and exploit specific weak points.  As EA’s Executive Producer Glen Schofield, who shepherded Dead Space through its development, noted: “The primary theme of Dead Space is dismemberment.”  Needless to say the Dead Space videogame is rated “M,” but it is more than just a typical shoot-em-up—it also involves a mysterious artifact that may or may not hold the secret of our creators and has the power to drive men mad.  This artifact holds immense interest for a fanatical religious cult known as the Unitologists and plays a major role in videogame.

 

Obviously it’s not just Hollywood that is interested in exploiting the wealth of talent available in the comic book industry and in using comics in savvy marketing campaign—and though many people don’t realize it, popular videogames are just as potent moneymakers as the biggest Tinseltown blockbuster (see “Biggest Launch in Entertainment History”).