Dante’s Infernal Comic: EA Teams up with DC/Wildstorm Comics for Miniseries Tie-In

Visceral Games (one of EA”s many development studios) announced a team up this afternoon with DC Comics/WildStorm to create a comic book mini-series based on Dante’s Inferno™, EA’s video game adaptation of part one of “The Divine Comedy.” Readers will have their chance to pick up the comic during its world debut at Comic-Con in scenic San Diego. Also at the show, Visceral and Starz Media will screen the world premiere trailer of the “Dante’s Inferno” animated feature, which is looking to be released on home entertainment platforms on the same day as the game sometime in 2010. Both of these newly announced projects are based on the EA game, and will more than likely tie into the game’s epic story, highlighting the “action-packed moments in the game, and will also deliver more perspective on Beatrice’s experience, adding more depth to the game’s story and exploring more of the poem’s dramatic depiction of the underworld.”

On that note, here’s a brief recap on the game for those of you who may have missed it in the wash of sequels such as Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, and Modern Warfare 2: Created by Visceral Games, Dante’s Inferno is set in the poem’s vividly imagined nine circles of hell – limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, violence, heresy, fraud and treachery. Players take Dante on an epic descent through hell, battling their way through a terrifying gauntlet of demons to reclaim the soul of his beloved Beatrice.

For those of you lucky few (who I now officially hate, but in a friendly non-creepy sort of way), a special “Issue 0” preview edition of the Dante’s Inferno comic will be given away during Comic-Con next week at the EA (Booth #5213) and DC Comics (Booth # 1915) booths. I also hear demos of the game will be available for play at the event, so make sure you give those a try as well. Comic lovers may recognize artist Diego Latorre (The Incredible Hulk) and writer Christos Gage (X-Men/Spider-Man, Wildcats), who are both attached to the project which is slated for release in December of this year.

“Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy” is an incredibly rich piece of source material. It is a literary classic teeming with demons, monsters, danger and doom. It is the perfect backdrop to our action-adventure story,” says Jonathan Knight, executive producer of Dante’s Inferno. “We are extremely excited to be working with great partners like WildStorm and Starz Media to expand the story and deliver our adaptation to other powerful media.”

“When Christos and I saw the early gameplay demo of the game, our jaws just hit the floor,” said Hank Kanalz, Vice President and General Manager, WildStorm. “The nature of this game, as well as the original work, inspired WildStorm to take a unique approach in the creative. Diego Latorre’s art is outstanding and atypical for a game-based comic. EA has really set the bar high, and we strive to achieve or surpass the mark with this book.”

For more info on the game, feel free to visit www.dantesinferno.com and follow the Dante’s Inferno team at Visceral Games on Twitter at www.twitter.com/danteteam, or you can always check back here at 360Sync, because getting you the latest news is just how we roll through the Nine Circles of Hell.