Mass Effect comic arrives Jan. 6

BioWare's Mass Effect has been widely praised for its reaching story, garnering praise enough for ex-Marvel Comics CEO Avi Arad to option the rights to adapt the game into a film last year. As it would turn out, Mass Effect will also be receiving the comics treatment proper. BioWare parent, Electronic Arts, today announced today the game will be elaborated with a new comic series, with the first issue hitting newsstands on January 6.

In collaboration with Dark Horse Comics, BioWare will create the comic Mass Effect: Redemption, which will bridge the storyline from the end of Mass Effect to the beginning of the upcoming sequel, Mass Effect 2. The first installment of the four-part comic series promises to introduce unseen locations, enemies, and aliens.

The story will be written by BioWare's lead writer Mac Walters, the scriptwriter behind the second game. Mass Effect: Redemption will be scripted by John Jackson Miller, the writer behind the Knights of the Old Republic comic series, and will be drawn by Omar Francia, who has worked on several issues of Star Wars: Legacy. Dark Horse Comics is the publisher for Star Wars both series. Walters and Francia will be at Comic-Con International 2009 in San Diego on July 24 to sign Mass Effect cards.

Dark Horse Comics has adapted previous series into comics, such as Aliens, Star Wars, and Serenity. Mass Effect 2 is expected to arrive during EA's current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2010. For more information on the upcoming game, refer to GameSpot's past coverage and the E3 stage demo video below.