We’re proud to share the news that the first issue of The Last of Us: American Dreams – a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics and jointly written by Naughty Dog Creative Director Neil Druckmann and the talented Faith Erin Hicks – is in stores now. The series art is also by Faith, with colors by Rachelle Rosenberg, lettering by Clem Robins, and the stunning covers by Julián Totino Tedesco.

Trust us when we say that American Dreams doesn’t spoil any of the story found in The Last of Us game, and instead gives you a great introduction to Ellie and her life as told through events inside the quarantine zone taking place prior to the game. I have to say, even though I’ve been able to watch the American Dreams series take shape over the past several months as we worked on it with Dark Horse Comics, it was still no less awesome to finally see it in front of me and read Issue #1 as an actual, real comic book.

Brendan Wright, Editor of The Last of Us: American Dreams, has a great blog post over on the Dark Horse website that introduces the series far better and with more eloquence than I ever can.

The digital version of The Last of Us: American Dreams Issue #1 will launch next Wednesday, April 10, on Dark Horse Digital – which is available on your iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, or on the web. You can get links to the apps or access Dark Horse Digital here.

While the physical comic book is only available in North America for the time being, the good news is that the English-only digital version will be available worldwide. Keep an eye on @PlayStation on Twitter as we will be giving away 50 codes for the digital edition.

Also on Twitter, be sure to join Neil and Faith for a Dark Horse Twitter chat on @DarkHorsecomics on the same day the digital version of American Dreams Issue #1 drops – Wednesday, April 10 at 11:30 AM PDT. [What time is this in my city?]

We’re planning a one-hour Twitter chat, so keep an eye on @DarkHorsecomics on Twitter and the #TheLastofUsAD hashtag. Dark Horse has let us know they’re looking to do some giveaways during the Twitter chat, so this is one you won’t want to miss.

We’re thrilled to see that the comic series has started already – hopefully making the wait until The Last of Us releases worldwide on June 14, 2013, just a little bit easier.

If you’ve already picked up the comic – tell us what you think in the comments!

See the first six pages of American Dreams Issue #1 at Dark Horse’s website. If you decide to pick it up – and I suggest you do! – you can find your local comic book store here.