Praise the sun, Dark Souls fans! The wildly popular dark fantasy video game series about dying again and again (and again) is heading to the world of comics, where it’s likely also to tell tales of poor adventurers being killed by horrible monsters. At least reading a comic will be less punishing than playing the notoriously challenging games.


UK-based publisher Titan Comics announced the comic this morning, an ongoing series from the writer of their Doctor Who Eighth Doctor series, George Mann, and Orphan Black comic artist Alan Quah. In true Dark Souls style—for those unfamiliar, the series is beloved for its obtuse storytelling and world-building mechanics, relying on the player to divine information about the world around them through the people and creatures they encounter, rather than a linear story—we don’t know much about the plot of the series, but Mann promises a deep dive into the mythology the games are known for:

I’m ‘dead’ excited to be working on this new series (see what I did, there). Dark Souls has a rich, original universe that’s just begging to be explored in comics, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to delve in and tell some new stories within it. I’ve been a fan of the games for some time, so it’s a real thrill to be able to contribute to the mythology of the Hollows and their world.


It’s kind of surprising that we’re seeing an official Dark Souls comic before some sort of manga, given its Japanese roots, but a welcome one. As I said, Dark Souls isn’t really a straightforward story—although fans have leaped on the lore of the franchise fervently, it’s a saga of trial and error and the stories players create through their struggles to defeat the punishing challenges the games throw at them, rather than a straight story. It’ll be interesting to see how that translates into the comics.

By which I mean to say there better be at least one issue that’s entirely about the main character trying to fight a giant monster, dying over and over again, before deciding to trap it in a corner and fill it with arrows till it dies.

Come on, I’m not the only Dark Souls player to do that sometimes. Dark Souls #1 will hit shelves on April 6th.


Image Credit: Dark Souls #1 Art variant A by Joshua Cassara, Dark Souls #1 Art variant B by Marco Turini.