Top Cow Productions is expanding its custom comics division by publishing two new books this Fall. By working with Eidos Entertainment, Dark Lantern Pictures, and Pop Art Film Factory, Top Cow is creating special comic book stories that will reach both gaming fans and movie enthusiasts based on familiar properties.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance will be written by Top Cow Associate Editor Scott Tucker and drawn by Top Cow artist Tyler Kirkham. Knights of the Jaguar will be adapted from the screenplay and drawn by Top Cow artist Mike Choi.

Legacy of Kain will be used as a special retail promotion in the Babbages and Electronic Boutique chain stores, and will also be available in specialty comic shops in January through Diamond Comics Distributors.

Writer Scott Tucker relates, "Staying faithful to the world, and the characters that the video game fans know and love is important. The real challenge falls in writing a story that not only fans of the game will like, but that also makes sense to someone completely unfamiliar with the history." The new Legacy of Kain game is the fifth in the series, creating a lot of source material to be adapted into one comic. "Overall it was a lot of fun to work on, and I am looking forward to playing the new game myself."

Knights of the Jaguar is a "mini-comic" that will be inserted into the direct-to-DVD release of the film, and will also be available in specialty comic shops in January through Diamond Comics Distributors.

Adapted from Robert Napton’s screenplay, this comic will focus on the struggle between an ancient demon, Azar, and the Knights of the Jaguar, shape-shifting Werecats, and how this struggle has entered the modern day through an FBI agent and terrible visions.

"Top Cow enjoys producing custom comics because they help expand the audience of comic book readers by tapping into other mediums such as video games. We can capture the excitement and adventure of a video game in a comic book format, and appeal to non-comic book readers," says Joel Elad, director of marketing for Top Cow.

Some of Top Cow’s previous custom comics included such video games as Crimson Skies, Fear Effect, Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter, and Soul Reaver: Legacy of Kain. These comics include references to the Comic Shop Locator Service and the 1-888-COMIC-BOOK phone number.

Derek McCaw