Dark Horse Announces Halo Ongoing Series

If you thought that Halo 4 was the end of the Halo saga, you're pretty wrong. Sure, the ending definitely left open the possibility for the universe to continue to be explored, but there have been quite a few novels to mine the richness that is the property. Novels and video games aren't enough apparently, as Dark Horse is teaming up with 343 Studios on a brand new ongoing series called Halo: Escalation, written by Chris Schlerf and illustrated by Omar Francia.

“There are many, many more stories we want to tell in the Halo universe than we’d ever be able to explore solely through the games,” said writer Chris Schlerf. “Having the chance to see those adventures come to life on a monthly basis feels like the ultimate realization of an awful lot of dreaming on our part.”

While the first miniseries Halo: Initiation ties directly into Microsoft’s Halo: Spartan Assault video game, Halo: Escalation will spin directly out of the events of Halo 4. The series begins when the UNSC Infinity is assigned escort duty for a diplomatic mission between the Arbiter and the Brutes, but has to fend off an attack meant to thwart the negotiations. Featuring Captain Lasky, Spartan Palmer and a cast of recognizable characters, this ongoing series is poised to be essential reading for fans in search of new story lines set within the canon of the Halo universe.

The first issue of Halo: Escalation arrives in stores on December 11, 2013. Full press release below.

DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES ALL-NEW

HALO® ONGOING SERIES: ESCALATION!

SAN DIEGO, CA, JULY 22—Announced at Comic-Con International, 343 Studios’ Frank O’Connor announced that Dark Horse Comics would publish an all-new ongoing series later this year based on the massive video game franchise Halo.

This news comes prior to next month’s release of the first issue of the highly anticipated miniseries Halo: Initiation.

While the first miniseries ties directly into Microsoft’s Halo: Spartan Assault video game, Halo: Escalation will spin directly out of the events of Halo 4. The series begins when the UNSC Infinity is assigned escort duty for a diplomatic mission between the Arbiter and the Brutes, but has to fend off an attack meant to thwart the negotiations. Featuring Captain Lasky, Spartan Palmer, and a cast of recognizable characters, this ongoing series is poised to be essential reading for fans in search of new story lines set within the canon of the Halo universe!

Much like other Dark Horse video game tie-in titles that are written by the games’ writers, Halo will be written by Halo 4 lead writer Chris Schlerf, with Omar Francia (Mass Effect, Star Wars: Legacy) handling art for the first three issues, and with covers by Anthony Palumbo (Dragon Age).

“There are many, many more stories we want to tell in the Halo universe than we’d ever be able to explore solely through the games,” said writer Chris Schlerf. “Having the chance to see those adventures come to life on a monthly basis feels like the ultimate realization of an awful lot of dreaming on our part.”

The first issue of Halo: Escalation arrives in stores on December 11, 2013!

Catch the exclusive interview and first look at Halo: Escalation on Wired.com 

About the “Halo” Franchise

The “Halo” franchise is an award-winning collection of properties that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon. Beginning with the original “Halo: Combat Evolved” (2001), the critically acclaimed and record-shattering series of games has since inspired multiple New York Times bestselling novels, comic books, action figures, apparel and more.

Published by Microsoft Studios, the “Halo” franchise of games is exclusive to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and the Xbox Live online entertainment network. To date, more than 50 million copies of “Halo” games have been sold worldwide, driving more than 5 billion hours of gameplay by people connected to Xbox Live.

About Dark Horse 

Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Brian Wood, Gerard Way, Felicia Day, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Neal Adams, and Jim Steranko, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, Timecop, and SpyBoy. Its successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Mass Effect, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Halo, Serenity, Game of Thrones, and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of both creator-owned content and licensed comics material.