The first issue of Eve: True Stories, the graphic novel adapted from stories sent in by Eve Online players about their in-game experience, is now available free from publisher Dark Horse Comics.
Eve Online developer CCP Games originally announced its partnership with Dark Horse during Eve Fanfest 2013 last May. After going through more than 700 submissions from players, the companies decided to novelize one massive event from Eve history that took place in February 2009: The Mittani's version of the downfall of the alliance known as the Band of Brothers. It was chosen because it is "a classic story of betrayal and corporate espionage that Eve has become (in)famous for," said Torfi Frans Olafsson, creative director of the Eve Universe, on the game's website today.
Eve: True Stories is split into four issues, all of which were penned by comic book writer Daniel Way. He adapted the story for the graphic novel format, and according to CCP, the studio gave him full artistic license to craft an exciting tale based on the chosen bit of Eve history. Way's work in comics includes a lengthy run on Deadpool; he also wrote last year's Deadpool game.
Issue #1, "Thieves Among Us," can be read for free on Dark Horse's website or in the publisher's mobile apps. The second, third and fourth chapters will be released March 5, March 19 and April 2, respectively. All four issues will be available for free until June, when Dark Horse will begin selling all of them bound together in a hardcover collector's edition. Once that package is available in stores, the digital version of Eve: True Stories will go on sale in Dark Horse's apps and on other online storefronts.
For more on the genesis of Eve: True Stories, check out our interview with Olafsson from New York Comic Con 2013.