Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
EA Partners With IDW For Army Of Two And Dragon Age Comics
It’s official. Any EA property worth its salt is a prime target for undergoing the comic-book treatment. Joining the ranks of Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge, Mass Effect and Dante’s Inferno, EA announced today that it has partnered with IDW to roll out Army of Two and Dragon Age comics.
The partnership extends further than developing the two particular properties, as it appears a new intellectual imprint, EA Comics, has been birthed as a result. EA has courted several comic book publishers in the past – WildStorm for Mirror’s Edge and Dante’s Inferno, Image for Dead Space and Dark Horse for Mass Effect. While these prior relationships will hold true, we spoke to a representative at IDW and confirmed that the EA Comics label will in fact be an exclusive agreement. In the future, anything not developed by IDW will fall outside the EA Comics umbrella, so we expect the duo will be working together extensively in the future. No reason to create such a comprehensive brand and not take advantage of it. As far as responsibilities, EA will be liable for funding and maintaining creative integrity, with IDW taking the reigns on printing and distribution. 
“We’ve seen an increasing number of video game tie-ins with comics over the last few years,” began Mike Quigley, Group Vice President of Global Marketing, EA Games Label. “This marks another step in our strategy for extending EA’s wholly-owned game properties to new media. It is exhilarating to be working with the comic book creators directly.”
Both Army of Two and Dragon Age will run monthly, printed and distributed at comic book retailers across the nation. Digital versions are also promised for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
If you’re looking for more specifics on the two books, Peter Milligan (X-Men, Batman, Hellblazer) will be penning the Army of Two comic, with Chester Ocampo’s covers front-and-center. Interior art will be the task of Dexter Soy, a relative newcomer to the comic scene.
As far as continuity, The Army of Two comic will follow Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem as they form their private military Corporation, TWO: Trans World Operations. The comic will touch on the events of the upcoming sequel, Army of Two: The 40th Day, but won’t go as far as to spoil the invasion of Shanghai. Army of Two #1 will hit stands this January.
Less is known about the Dragon Age: Origins comic, other than that Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game, Ultimate Iron Man) will be at the helm, with Humberto Ramos on the covers.
With an equal number of original properties being optioned out for movies, including Spore and The Sims, we can all agree that EA’s marketing strategy is…comprehensive. If you are interested in the most up-to-date information on future EA comics, you can join the mailing list here.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
