Mass Effect and Singularity next to become comic books

As a less foul mouthed Gwen Stefani might say, this stuff is bananas. We all know that Comic-Con is almost upon us and that there will be thousands of fans, hundreds of cosplayers, a couple of guys who are not virgins, and our own Nick Coffman dressed as a furry. None of that surprises us as much as the fact that no fewer than four comic books based on recent videogames will be shown at the annual convention.

Just announced today, BioWare has teamed with Dark Horse Comics to bring the Mass Effect universe to another medium, thankfully not the iPhone again. The series, due to hit shelves January 6, 2010, picks up with Commander Sheppard disappearing and, without the support of the Normandy crew, is stranded in the lawless Terminus Systems. Left to fight for survival, and only aided by Dr. Liara T’Soni, Sheppard’s story will take us through events leading up to Mass Effect 2, allowing us to discover new locations, aliens, and an extended storyline.

Lead writer Mac Walters said, “Fans of Mass Effect are going to be pleasantly shocked by the events in these comics.” He continues, “We worked very closely with Dark Horse to make sure this story was built in to the Mass Effect 2 arc, right from the ground up. Reading the series won’t just add to your experience of the universe, it will change the way you look at Mass Effect 2 … and beyond.”

Also released today were details of a graphic novel based on Activision’s upcoming first-person shooter Singularity. Detailing the unclear events which took place off the Russian Peninsula that caused time to unravel and began mankind’s path to the Singularity, the single issue graphic novel will be available shortly after the videogame’s release in early 2010.

Add those above to the news of a Dante’s Inferno series of comics and animated feature plus rumblings of a Prince of Persia graphic novel based on the upcoming movie and we’ve got a bunch of reading to do these next few months.