A collection of Brotherhood secrets awaits in The Art of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, coming soon from Dark Horse Books and Ubisoft! The latest entry into Ubisoft’s hit Assassin’s Creed saga, Assassin’s Creed Mirage takes players on an exciting new journey through the Middle East as it explores the origins of The Brotherhood. Filled with gorgeous art and insightful commentary, this hardcover artbook dives deep into the development of the ever-expanding world of Assassin’s Creed. The Art of Assassin’s Creed Miragewill be released in a standard edition tome, as well as a Deluxe Edition that contains exclusive features including a beautifully designed slipcase and a gallery-quality lithograph.
This masterfully designed oversized hardcover art book invites the reader on a visual journey through the world of Assassin’s Creed Mirage—a world defined by the dense and vibrant city of ninth century Baghdad, rich with fascinating characters and unique places.
Featuring iconic artwork ranging from stunning settings to dazzling weapons, this volume offers an insider’s look at the “back to the roots” focus of this very unique game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise.
The Art of Assassin’s Creed Miragestandard hardcover and Deluxe Edition will arrive in bookstores April 9, 2024 and comic book stores April 10, 2024. The oversized art book, measuring at 9 x 12”, is available for pre-order now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and at your local comic book shop and bookstore and will retail for $49.99 for the Standard and $99.99 for the Deluxe.
Tokyopop has announced the launch on December 14th of Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix,an original new boys’ love manga inspired by the Netflix anime series featuring alter egos of characters from the hit Ubisoft video games.
The Netflix animated series follows Dolph Laserhawk, a rebel super-soldier who escaped the army and planning a final big heist with Alex Taylor before they sail into the sunset. The show was created by Adi Shankar (producer of Netflix’s Castlevania series) and is currently streaming.
Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix is written by Ben Kahn with art by Bayou Kun. The 176 page manga will retail for $14.99.
Dolph Laserhawk, the once powerful and illustrious super-soldier stationed under the oppressive Eden mega-corporation, stands at a crossroads between staying a mindless killing machine under Eden’s control and joining a band of rebel outcasts on a risky undercover mission. Before he can finally be free of the manipulative forces surrounding him, he must relive the best and worst moments of his life. Using Holloway’s VR technology, he walks through his memories of living as a penniless deserter, meeting and abandoning the love of his life, and coming to terms with the truth behind his passionate and tumultuous love affair with Alex Taylor – the ruggedly handsome criminal mastermind who once saved his life.
Immerse yourself in the first-hand accounts of Captain Laserhawk’s tragic past through this introspective manga adaptation featuring all-new scenes that explore Dolph’s conflicting thoughts and motivations leading up to the most memorable moments in his life.
Dark Horse Books and Ubisoft join forces to create: Captain Laserhawk: Blood Dragon Remix—The Art of The Animated Series. This oversized, hardcover art book features an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the Netflix animated series inspired by Ubisoft’s vast roster of original video game characters, and pays tribute to the early 90s. Readers can discover the development of the hyper-meta series through a collection of exuberant concept art, intimate creator commentary and a look inside the studio.
The animated series, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix is set in an alternate reality in the dark future of 1992, where the country formerly known as the USA is now called Eden—a technocracy ruled by propaganda and corruption. Super-soldier Dolph Laserhawk has just been betrayed by the love of his life and locked up in Eden’s top-security prison, Supermaxx. He must now lead a team of rebel outcasts on risky undercover missions in order to survive.
Fans and newcomers alike will journey across Eden and the New Wasteland alongside Dolph Laserhawk with Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix — The Art of the Animated Series.
Captain Laserhawk: Blood Dragon Remix—The Art of The Animated Series HC will be available in bookstores October 24, 2023. It is available for pre-order now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and at your local comic book shop and bookstore and will retail for $49.99.
Ubisoft has announced Invincible: Guarding the Globe, a new video game based on Skybound‘s Invincible comic book and animated series. The free-to-play idle RPG is coming to iOS and Android devices.
In Invincible: Guarding the Globe you collected character, manage your squad, and engage in superpowered multi-battle action, all in an original story.
The Global Defense Agency needs your help in its fight against the attacking villainous clone army. You’ll need to recruit familiar characters like Invincible, Atom Eve, and Omni-Man, as well as villains like the Flaxans, Titan, or the Mauler Twins. You can level up your fighters by gaining experience, and you’ll need every bit of strength you can muster as you unravel the mystery behind the army’s unexpected allies: clones of the Heroes from Invincible.
Each chafacter has a different skill set and are geared to being an Attacker, Defender, or Support during battles. You’ll choose the combination for battle picking five heroes and boost their powers and stats with up to four items.
You can play solo or take part in social battles battling against waves of enemies helping other players. There’ll be new daily and weekly objectives to earn new rewards and experience along with new seasons that’ll introduce a new hero from the Invincible universe.
Dark Horse Books and Ubisoft present a Deluxe Edition of The World of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North—Logs and Files of a Hidden One.The 208-page hardcover art book provides a detailed overview of the lore and history that inspired Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, while this deluxe edition features exclusive extras including a leather-like protective slipcase, a matching folio containing two gallery-quality prints, and an exclusive cover appointed with realistic Viking decoration.
Discover the history and culture of the Raven Clan Vikings as they struggle against the Order of the Ancients. Get an in-depth view at the setting of the game with descriptions and depictions of in-game characters and locals as the Vikings move from Norway to England, Ireland, and Francia. What best-kept secrets will you uncover at Hytham’s side?
The World of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North—Logs and Files of a Hidden One Deluxe Edition hardcover will be available in bookstores March 14, 2023 and comic shops March 15, 2023. It is available for pre-order now at your local comic book shop and bookstore for $99.99.
Dark Horse Comics is teaming up with Ubisoft for an all new adventure! Skull and Bones: Savage Storm #1 brings you into the gritty and immersive world of Ubisoft’s upcoming pirate game. The series features a daring tale of shipwrecks, survival and a battle for supremacy! Skull and Bones: Savage Storm is co-written by John Jackson Miller and James Mishler with art by Christian Rosada and color by Roshan Kurichiyanil. Cover art for issue one is done by Pius Bak.
A merchant vessel on the high seas is besieged by a vicious crew of pirates, but the fighting is interrupted by a devastating typhoon. When the storm crashes in, it leaves predator and prey stranded on an island somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Discover the mysteries and danger that will betide them all. A gritty story set in the merciless world of Ubisoft’s upcoming pirate game.
Skull and Bones: Savage Storm #1 drops anchor November 21, 2022 and is available for pre-order at your local comic shop.
Capitalizing on their expertise in Naval Combat, Ubisoft Singapore brings you a new journey on the high seas in Skull and Bones. The Art of Skull and Bones hardcover, published by Dark Horse in partnership with Ubisoft, contains beautifully designed concept art, detailed character breakdowns and various ship and weapon designs.
Experience the journey from outcast to infamous pirate in The Art of Skull and Bones!Explore life on the Indian Ocean with this high-end coffee table book featuring never-before-seen art and discover a world filled with beauty and danger.
Dark Horse and Ubisoft invite readers to enter a perilous paradise with The Art of Skull and Bones, collecting a bounty of concept art and creator commentary detailing the treacherous adventures that await on the high seas!
The Art of Skull and Boneshardcover will be in bookstores December 20th, 2022 and comic stores December 21st, 2022. It is available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and at your local comic shop and bookstore for $49.99.
Dark Horse Comics and Ubisoft team up again to journey into the world of Assassin’s Creed in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Forgotten Myths. Penned by Alex Freed, illustrated by Martin Tunica, colored by Michael Atiyeh, and lettered by Jimmy Betancourt with covers by Rafael Sarmento, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Forgotten Myths is a prequel story to the upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök!
Thor, Baldr, and Heimdall have discovered trouble lurking at Asgard’s borders once again. A mighty fire giant from Muspelheim is threatening the land of the Æsir. In the aftermath of the raging battle, Baldr discovers that the Muspels are now massing at the gates of Svartalfheim and begins a journey to bring peace to the realms.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Forgotten Myths #1 will be in comic shops March 16, 2022.
Aconyte, the fiction imprint of global games group Asmodee, has announced it has licensed its range of all-action novels set in the worlds of Ubisoft’s video games for French translation by noted pop culture publishing house 404 Editions, an imprint of Editis.
Beginning in early Summer of 2022, 404 Editions will kick off an ongoing range of novels from across some of Ubisoft’s most popular game worlds, including Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, Tom Clancy’s The Division and Splinter Cell, and more. These series will explore never-before-seen parts of these deeply imaginative settings to create a variety of original stories, some revealing the hidden histories of fan-favorite characters, and opening up whole new possibilities for action and adventure.
The originals are being published in English by Asmodee Entertainment’s Aconyte Books imprint, with whom 404 Editions already has a multi-year partnership for several ranges of novels based on both Asmodee board games, and characters from across the Marvel universe.
Imagine a werewolf story where the coming of the full moon is the least of the main character’s worries given he’s surrounded by a group of people more invested in the construction of a pipeline than the prospect of being torn to shreds by a lycanthrope. That, in a nutshell, is Werewolves Within, directed by Josh Ruben and written by Mishna Wolff.
Based on the VR game of the same name, Werewolves Within centers on a group of people forced to stay together under a single roof, during a snowstorm, just as a series of grizzly happenings have scared everyone into thinking a werewolf is loose on the small town of Beavertown.
The story unravels like a game of Clue, where every character is a suspect, only in this case the suspicion revolves around the identity of the werewolf. And yet, the movie takes a sharp turn into oddball political paranoia, in which each suspect is a unique caricature of American politics that makes them as predictable as they are dangerous. It’s as if everything is split between party lines, right down to the way the group should go about solving the mystery.
The main divide that pits each character against each other is the potential construction of a pipeline through the natural beauty that surrounds Beavertown. A bullyish, macho oil man is all for the pipeline and is trying to get as many residents to his side as possible while an environmentalist, a forest ranger, a mailperson, the owner of the local inn, and a rich gay couple stand it total opposition to it.
Werewolves Within
A woman with small business aspirations (and a cute small dog called Chachi), her creepy grabby husband, and a money-hungry couple are all for the pipeline. Alliances are drawn from each side’s prejudices against the other and that’s where the movie finds its groove.
Werewolves Within’s two main leads, Finn and Cecily (played by Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub respectively), are the glue that keeps everything together. Finn is Beavertown’s new forest ranger and Cecily is the town’s mailperson. Their chemistry carries an undeniable pull that immediately places them as people worthy of trust in case of a werewolf crisis. They’re easy to root for, which makes all the violence around them bite that much harder.
What’s smart about the two leads is that they function as balancing agents, towing the line between the left-leaning suspects and the pro-pipeline right-wingers. To be clear, I don’t believe the movie is a right-wing bashing free-for-all where the more liberal camp comes out as the clear winner. Each side is a caricature of itself and the movie invites making fun of everyone.
You might’ve already noticed I haven’t mentioned the werewolf that much. There’s a reason for that, but I’ll let the movie do the talking on that front. I’ll say this, the direction they take it in is whip-smart and well worth the many twists and turns the movie throws at its audience at nearly every turn.
Werewolves Within is a remarkable satire of our current political climate and it uses horror conventions just as well as it subverts them to make it stand out. It serves a higher purpose and it’s all the better for it. It has quite a few tricks up its sleeves, and you’ll laugh hard through each one as you try to figure who is and who isn’t an asshole. I mean, who is or who isn’t a werewolf.
