In September Marvel Comics is launching a new 4-issue series, Halo: Fall of Reach—Boot Camp, a comic book adaptation of the bestselling novel, Halo: Fall of Reach, which reveals the origins of that key Halo character, the Master Chief.  The release of the first issue of Halo: Fall of Reach—Boot Camp, should coincide with the release of the highly anticipated new Halo: Reach video game for the X-box 360.

In a saga that has parallels to contemporary tales of child soldiers, it turns out that before he became the Master Chief, he was just a lonely little boy named John, who was stolen from his parents and conscripted into the Spartan II program on the fortress world of Reach. 

Since Halo is the world’s most popular first person shooter video game with over 34 million units sold, this comic book series, which is being written by Brian Reed and illustrated by Felix Ruiz, already has a large built-in audience.  Over $1.7 billion worth of Halo games and related merchandise have been sold worldwide so far.  The Halo: Fall of Reach—Boot Camp comics will be rated “17+” and will have a cover price of $3.99.