Dark Horse has announced that it will release a 25-cent 24-page preview comic promoting its first Penny Arcade trade paperback collection. The trade paperback, Penny Arcade Volume 1: Attack of the Bacon Robots, will be released in January; the preview comic is planned for December 7th.
Penny Arcade is a Webcomic with videogame roots that has grown to be one of the most popular Webcomics in existence since its launch in 1998. In addition to comics, the property has also recently been licensed to Sabertooth for a CCG (see 'Sabertooth Does Penny Arcade').
The trade paperback collection contains not only the first episodes of the comic, it also includes strips, sketches, and creator commentary not available anywhere else. Dark Horse obviously believes that sampling readers that aren't familiar with the strip using the preview comic will enhance sales not only fo the first volume but of the others to come.