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Comic-Con 2010: Creative director Frank O'Connor talks with Greg Bear, Karen Traviss, Peter David, and more to discuss upcoming novels, comics, and animated films set in Microsoft's acclaimed franchise.

Who was there: 343 Industries' creative director Frank O'Connor was joined onstage by a host of contributors to the Halo-dedicated establishment. Among them were novelists Greg Bear and Karen Traviss, Tor Books editor Eric Raab, and famed comics writer Peter David. 343 Industries producer Alison Stroll and managing editor Kevin Grace rounded out the panel.

Halo won't end after the fall of Reach.

What they talked about: Bungie's Halo: Reach panel, which delved into user-generated content and new modes for the September 14 release, wasn't the franchise's only presence at Comic-Con 2010. Microsoft's 343 Industries was also on hand to provide a deeper look into the developments and people behind the Halo universe, in a panel titled, aptly enough, "Halo Universe Panel."

The session opened with a brief trailer recounting some of Halo's non-gaming exploits, ranging from the Halo novel The Fall of Reach to the Halo Legends anime. Of course, it also showed previously released footage from Halo: Reach, the final Bungie-developed installment in the franchise.

Stroll, who moderated the session, asked panelists what it was that kept them wanting to contribute to the Halo universe. Raab led off, saying that world building offers the ultimate sandbox, because it lets a writer take a universe that is self-contained and flesh out the limitless stories within it. David concurred, saying that the nice thing about Halo in particular is that all of his contributions are canonical, and its satisfying to be part of something that's bigger than himself.

Nebula and Hugo award-winning author Bear then discussed what brought him into the fold. He said that the Halo universe offers the classic hard-boiled military sci-fi that he grew up on and that it is entertaining for him to carry on the tradition of writing about extraordinary characters accomplishing extraordinary feats.

Traviss, who is also a primary contributor to Microsoft and Epic Games' Gears of War story, noted that her draw to the universe is that there are very dark, disturbed characters in the Halo universe, and those are exactly the types of stories that she likes to tell. She said that she feels like a tribal storyteller and feeds off the way people react to her stories.

David was then asked about the process of taking the Halo universe from the realm of games and bringing it to another medium--in his case, comic books. He said that it was actually quite easy, because Halo was born as a visual experience and was geared for being conveyed in such a manner. The Halo universe is especially nice, he continued, because of the massive amount of feedback he receives from the people who created the lore.

The conversation then turned to some of the upcoming releases in the Halo universe, with Raab noting that Tor will be reissuing all of the Halo novels with bonus content, the first of which will arrive by the end of August. He also said that a new collection of short stories will arrive in November and December.

The next new novel, which is being penned by Bear and focuses on the Forerunners, is expected to arrive this holiday. Delving into what fans of the novels can expect, Bear said the story focuses on humanity's origins in the Halo universe, as well as the construction of the massive space rings themselves. The story will be told over the course of three novels.

With Reach due on September 14, Grace said that gamers can also expect to get more information on Dr. Halsey (who created the Spartan program) with the game's limited-edition package. Included in the release will be Dr. Halsey's journal, which will recount her experiences with creating the supersoldier program, of which the iconic Master Chief was a member.

Stroll then queued up the next animated film in the Halo franchise, which will be titled The Mona Lisa. The brief trailer showed a group of humans happening upon a pod structure near the remnants of a destroyed Halo space station. On full alert and guns raised, the soldiers pop the seal, and out bursts a humanoid figure, blood-soaked and screaming. Stroll indicated that the flood will be central to the film.

Quote: "We would have to be the world's biggest a******* to not follow through. You're all applauding, but I didn't say we weren't the world's biggest a*******."--Frank O'Connor, responding to whether Master Chief's story will continue after the cliff-hanger ending of Halo 3.

Takeaway: The Halo universe is one that offers near-limitless possibilities for those who want to play in the Bungie-created sandbox. And Microsoft has certainly tapped some of the top sci-fi writing talent around to ensure that those stories come to life. Those who want more Halo beyond just the games should have a lot to busy themselves with for some time to come.

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Comic-Con 2010: Design director Cliff Bleszinski and executive producer Ron Fergusson debate whether Carmine should live or die and say the latest plans for a Gears movie might worry some studios.

Who Was There:The panel initially consisted of Gears of War 3 design director Cliff Bleszinski and executive producer Ron Fergusson, but they were later joined by Gears universe author Karen Traviss and voice actors Carlos Ferro (Dominic), Lester Speight (The Cole train), and Michael Gough (Carmine).

What They Talked About: Bleszinski and Fergusson kicked off the panel by discussing where they were at in terms of development for the game. With the release date set for April 2011, Fergusson said that everything was coming together nicely and that the team was focused on four pillars: campaign, horde mode, beast mode, and competitive multiplayer.

Bleszinski said the team added female soldiers to the third game because he wanted girl gamers to be taken seriously.

Each mode has been designed carefully and the two men explained that beast mode is not meant to be a "reverse horde mode" but a mode that is class-based. Playing a Ticker is entirely different from playing a Berserker, so depending on individual play styles, gamers can pick which enemy type represents them best.

The Gears of War series was always meant to be a cooperative experience and it was never meant to feel tacked on, they said. Having four player co-op has its own challenges in terms of storytelling, as the story is now witnessed by three other people. As a result, the only way to see a character's specific story is to play as them.

On the subject of co-op, split-screen co-op for the campaign as well as horde mode and beast mode will be available, but four-player split screen would be too technically challenging and will likely not happen.

When asked why female squad members were included, Fergusson said that he was surprised at how many women were fans of the series and that he wanted to represent them as well. Bleszinski said he knew there were a lot of girl gamers out there and wanted them to taken seriously.

The demo during the panel was the video that was shown at E3 which can be viewed here. More details of what went on in that demo can be found in GameSpot's E3 preview.

At E3, the voice actor for Jace Stratton was announced to be Drake, a Canadian artist and actor who has worked with performers such as Kanye West and Eminem. Claudia Black has also joined the cast, and will be the voice of Samantha Byrne.

For more Gears lore, Traviss' Anvil Gate will be released in August and her next novel, Coalition's End, is scheduled for next March, a month before the game's release. The three books, Jacinto's Remnant, Anvil Gate, and Coalition's End, will recount what happened during the 18-month gap between Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3.

Part of the panel was dedicated to showcasing upcoming collectable action figures, detailed busts and weapon replicas. However, the biggest news for the franchise was Microsoft and Epic Games' recent announcement that would allow fans to influence the fate of the next Carmine recruit.

While Bleszinki and Fergusson were keen on seeing Clayton Carmine die in the most sadistic and creative way possible, Traviss and the voice actors for Cole and Dominic were interested in seeing Carmine survive this time around. Gough was torn because on one hand, he is the voice of the character and this is directly related to potential work. But on the other hand, he said he felt that there was a Gears tradition that needs to be followed. Fergusson joked that if the results were 50-50, Baird is going to have to go.

Fans can vote online or purchase Xbox 360 avatar t-shirts to show their support for Carmine's survival or his eventual demise. T-shirts are also available at Comic-Con and all proceeds from this campaign will go to the video game-themed charity Child's Play.

Carmine's fate remains TBD.

Before starting the Q&A session, Bleszinski decided to talk about the state of the Gears of War Hollywood film so that fans wouldn't have to ask. He said that the script was completed last year and what they had wouldn't be able to happen until 2012, that it would cost $120 million, and the studio would be worried.

"It doesn't have a love story of Will Smith's son in it," Bleszinski joked and said that they are going with Legendary Pictures and want to have something along the lines of District 9.

Quote: "Mama Carmine is like a clown car."--Bleszinksi, in reference to the fact that the voice actor for Carmine shouldn't have much to worry about in the event that the next of kin does eat it.

The Takeaway: It sounds like there are a lot of Carmine supporters, judging from the audience reaction as well as the fans online.

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Comic-Con 2010: Cliff Bleszinski and Ron Fergusson debate whether the COG squad member should live or die and offer the latest on the Gears movie.

Who Was There:The panel initially consisted of Gears of War 3 design director Cliff Bleszinski and executive producer Ron Fergusson, but they were later joined by Gears universe author Karen Traviss and voice actors Carlos Ferro (Dominic), Lester Speight (The Cole train), and Michael Gough (Carmine).

What They Talked About: Bleszinski and Fergusson kicked off the panel by discussing where they were at in terms of development for the game. With the release date set for April 2011, Fergusson said that everything was coming together nicely and that the team was focused on four pillars: campaign, Horde mode, Beast mode, and competitive multiplayer.

Bleszinski said the team added female soldiers to the third game because he wanted girl gamers to be taken seriously.

Each mode has been designed carefully, and the two men explained that Beast mode is not meant to be a "reverse Horde mode" but a mode that is class based. Playing a Ticker is entirely different from playing a Berserker, so depending on individual play styles, gamers can pick which enemy type represents them best.

The Gears of War series was always meant to be a cooperative experience and never meant to feel tacked on, they said. Having four player co-op has its own challenges in terms of storytelling, as the story is now witnessed by three other people. As a result, the only way to see a character's specific story is to play as him or her.

On the subject of co-op, split-screen co-op for the campaign, as well as Horde mode and Beast mode, will be available. But four-player split-screen would be too technically challenging and will likely not happen.

When asked why female squad members were included, Fergusson said that he was surprised at how many women were fans of the series and that he wanted to represent them as well. Bleszinski said he knew there were a lot of girl gamers out there and wanted them to taken seriously.

The demo during the panel featured the video that was shown at E3, which can be viewed here. More details of what went on in that demo can be found in GameSpot's E3 preview.

At E3, the voice actor for Jace Stratton was announced to be Drake, a Canadian artist and actor who has worked with such performers as Kanye West and Eminem. Claudia Black has also joined the cast and will be the voice of Samantha Byrne.

For more Gears lore, Traviss' Anvil Gate will be released in August and her next novel, Coalition's End, is scheduled for next March, a month before the game's release. The three books, Jacinto's Remnant, Anvil Gate, and Coalition's End, will recount what happened during the 18-month gap between Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3.

Part of the panel was dedicated to showcasing upcoming collectable action figures, detailed busts, and weapon replicas. However, the biggest news for the franchise was Microsoft and Epic Games' recent announcement that would allow fans to influence the fate of the next Carmine recruit.

While Bleszinski and Fergusson were keen on seeing Clayton Carmine die in the most sadistic and creative way possible, Traviss and the voice actors for Cole and Dominic were interested in seeing Carmine survive this time around. Gough was torn because on the one hand, he is the voice of the character and this is directly related to potential work. But on the other hand, he said he felt that there was a Gears tradition that needs to be followed. Fergusson joked that if the results were 50-50, Baird is going to have to go.

Fans can vote online or purchase Xbox 360 avatar T-shirts to show their support for Carmine's survival or his eventual demise. T-shirts are also available at Comic-Con, and all proceeds from this campaign will go to the video game-themed charity Child's Play.

Carmine's fate remains TBD.

Before starting the Q&A session, Bleszinski decided to talk about the state of the Gears of War Hollywood film so that fans wouldn't have to ask. He said that the script was completed last year and what they had wouldn't be able to happen until 2012. He also said that it would cost $120 million, and the studio would be worried.

"It doesn't have a love story of Will Smith's son in it," Bleszinski joked and said that they are going with Legendary Pictures and want to have something along the lines of District 9.

Quote: "Mama Carmine is like a clown car."--Bleszinski, in reference to the fact that the voice actor for Carmine shouldn't have much to worry about in the event that the next of kin does eat it.

The Takeaway: It sounds like there are a lot of Carmine supporters, judging from the audience reaction, as well as the fans online.

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Comic-Con 2010: Halo developers unveil new Firefight, Forge additions; unbox previously rumored Xbox 360 bundle onstage.

Who was there: A quartet of Bungie staffers took to the stage for a demonstration of some new multiplayer features in Halo: Reach. The panel was led by community director Brian Jarrard and also featured multiplayer designer Chad Armstrong, multiplayer producer Dave Allen, and Firefight designer Lars Bakken.

What they talked about: Skipping forward to the panel's climactic finish, Bungie officially confirmed the special-edition Halo: Reach Xbox 360 bundle that made the rounds earlier today after a report from numerous sources. Confirming prior details, the system is one of the new slimline Xbox 360 units originally unveiled at E3. It will feature a matte silver finish with artwork inspired by the ONI organization from the series' fiction. Bundled with a pair of matching controllers and a headset, the package will also come with a copy of Halo: Reach.

From left to right: Jarrard, Bakken, Armstrong, Allen.

After teasing the audience with the mention of a possible "Oprah moment" for everyone who came to the panel, Jarrard called up a member of the crowd who had earlier been deemed the "ultimate Halo fan" by Microsoft's Halo Waypoint community team. The fan introduced himself as Vince and was subsequently greeted with the news that the hardware bundle that was just shown to the crowd was now his to keep. Vince was nothing short of ecstatic.

Before all that happened, the Bungie staffers took the audience through a crowd-pleasing demonstration of a few new features focused on Reach's online elements. You can read GameSpot's recent preview of these features right here, but the basic idea is that Bungie wants to extend the life span of Reach far into the future by giving fans expanded customization options and creative tools. Firefight now supports a customization system akin to the user-created multiplayer variants found in Halo 3, while Forge has been overhauled to more easily create custom maps.

Armstrong wowed the audience with a helicopter tour through a map called Forge World, which is designed to serve as a blank slate for creating new maps of highly varying geography. Bungie has called Forge World its biggest map by far, and the crowd's reaction showed that fans likely weren't expecting to see something on this scale. They also mentioned that a number of Bungie-created maps will be included in Reach that began as pet projects of staffers tinkering with Forge World but that impressed the team enough to be added to the other original maps.

The new Reach bundle.

Quote: "Twenty-four people in this room just wet themselves," joked Armstrong about a minor interface improvement to Forge that he expects a small but rabid number of fans to appreciate.

The takeaway: Jarrard reiterated that this is going to be Bungie's last game in the Halo franchise. With the studio moving on to a new project in an exclusive publishing deal with Activision, it seems Bungie wants fans to be able to continue creating new content for Halo well after the studio has wrapped up work on the series it originally created.

Who knew?: An audience member asked Bungie about any interesting glitches in Reach that the team encountered during development. Armstrong replied with an anecdote about the new female Spartans. There was a point when anyone who lost their armor shield while playing as a female character would see their character model transform "into a dude" suddenly and without warning.

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$5 segue sequel between original Dead Rising and its upcoming follow-up due out exclusively on Microsoft's network next month.

Zombies eat the brains of humans, but Capcom will bring the foaming-at-the-mouth undead to gamers' living rooms this August with Dead Rising 2: Case Zero. The publisher today announced that the game will hit the Xbox 360 exclusively on August 31 bearing a $5 (400 MS points) price tag.

Chuck Greene will kill you, if you're a zombie.

Case Zero is a prequel to Dead Rising 2 and is set two years after the original game and three years before the events in the sequel. The title will give players a first feel for the game's new yellow-jacketed protagonist, Chuck Greene, as well as a taste of what's to come in the game's deep gore department. Specifically, the title takes place in a desert city infested with zombies that Chuck arrives at prior to reaching the full game's metropolis, Fortune City.

Additionally, players who buy Case Zero can transfer various character attributes attained in the prologue like their level (up to 5), prestige points (earned by killing enemies in unique ways), and other earned downloadable content.

Dead Rising 2 was recently delayed from August 31 to September 28 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

For more on the downloadable game, check out GameSpot's hands-on preview with Dead Rising 2: Case Zero. And for the latest on the full sequel, check out GameSpot's most recent preview.

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PC and Xbox 360 gaming rises $228 million, but increased loss per console and Kin cancellation puts Entertainment and Devices division $172 million in the red during April-June quarter.

First, the good news: Microsoft's gaming business is booming. For the three months ending June 30, the software giant reported that its PC and Xbox 360 gaming business saw a 30 percent increase in sales, with game-based revenue reaching $228 million. The tally was dragged down somewhat by the production cost of the new 250GB and 4GB slimline Xbox 360s, which includes built-in N-wireless connectivity. Notable first-party releases during the quarter include the long-awaited Alan Wake, an Xbox 360 exclusive from Max Payne creator Remedy Entertainment.

Microsoft remains cash-flush, thanks in part to PC and Xbox 360 gaming.

Now, the not-so-good news: The Entertainment and Devices division of Microsoft's business saw revenues slip 22 percent and take a $172 million loss. That wasn't the fault of game sales, though. The division also includes the unit behind Microsoft's stillborn Kin mobile phone. After just six weeks--and reportedly dismal sales--the company yanked the cord on the social-network-optimized device, which had been targeted at the youthful demographic known as "'tweens." It is now focusing its mobile efforts on Windows 7-based phones and has transferred the staffers behind the doomed project to its core business.

Overall, Microsoft profits were up--way up, in fact. The company reported a record $16.04 billion in revenue for the April-June quarter--an increase of 22 percent over the year prior--with profits of $4.52 billion, a 48 percent jump. Diluted earnings were per share at $0.51, a 50 percent increase over the same period in 2009.

Microsoft also has ambitious plans for its gaming business for the year ahead. As it announced during its Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference, the company will launch its Kinect motion-sensing system on November 4. It will be offering the controller-free, camera-based system solo for $150, or bundled with the (normally $200) 4GB Xbox 360 console and the minigame compilation Kinect Adventures for $300. In September, it also will be reportedly offering a limited edition, silver-finish $400 250GB Xbox 360 bundle packed in with Halo: Reach and two controllers.

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Latest downloadable content teams Commander Shepard with Liara in a fight against elusive foe; pricing, release date not announced.

Fans clamoring for the latest adventure in the galaxy-trotting Mass Effect saga are going to get it via Mass Effect 2's latest content update, Lair of the Shadow Broker. The critically adored role-playing game is set to expand sometime in the future with a new mission pack that brings an old friend back into the mix.

Why so blue? There's work to do.

Following Commander Shepard's apparent death at the beginning of the sequel, his blue-skinned comrade Liara T'Soni clashed with the mysterious shadow broker over the remains of the commander's body. Mass Effect 2's latest expansion catapults Liara back to Shepard's crew and brings the fight to the lair of the mysterious broker of shadows.

BioWare today announced the new content via a brief update on Mass Effect 2's official Web site. The statement was light on details and confirmed only that the content will become available "soon." A price point for the pack was not provided.

Additionally, fans looking to get a glimpse at the content are in luck, as BioWare has uploaded three screenshots of the content to its site.

Lair of the Shadow Broker will follow June's Overlord downloadable content, which added five planets to the galaxy, each of which is explorable using the Hammerhead tank, a vehicle first introduced in the game's Firewalker pack.

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Comic-Con 2010: Film composer Danny Elfman talks about his long career with director Tim Burton in his first-ever appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Who Was There: Danny Elfman, former member of the classic '80s new wave band Oingo Boingo and film composer for movies such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The Elfman Cometh.

What They Talked About: The panel began with a short trailer that had images of Burton…s various works. This was to introduce a collectible box set that would include 14 CDs, a DVD, a book with interviews of both Elfman and Burton, and artwork from the director. In the course of 25 years, they…ve completed 13 films together.

One of the first questions posed by the moderator was how this partnership began. Elfman joked that he was likely the only composer that Burton had a cell phone number for, and that he kept losing the numbers to other potential candidates.

…I…m not sure why he kept calling back,… said Elfman, who mentioned earlier that he was embarrassed and had a fear of public speaking.

The composer went on to discuss his early years when he first met the director. At the time, he was part of the band Oingo Boingo and hadn…t considered scoring films at all. The two hit it off right away, as they both had a similar upbringing in Los Angeles and were partial to horror films. Elfman…s admiration for composer and famed Alfred Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann played a large role in helping shape his career.

One of the hardest projects he had to tackle was scoring the original Batman. The studio, producer, and essentially anyone but the director didn…t want Elfman working on the project. In contrast, the most rewarding films he ever worked on was Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas because there was no one looking over his shoulder.

He said he had the most fun with The Nightmare Before Christmas because there was no script, so Burton would come by every three days and tell him a little bit of the story. When he was done, Elfman would compose a piece for that scene, and Burton would return in three days time and they would repeat the process for a month. Elfman said that since then, nothing was ever that easy and organic, especially not Alice.

For their most recent project, Alice in Wonderland, Elfman said that Burton was incredibly stressed out because it was the first time he had to work with a greenscreen and would be at a loss to what the final product would look like. Elfman…s music had to keep the film grounded because the crazier the movie got, the more Burton wanted the score to keep everything anchored.

At the end of the day, Elfman aspires to do a bit of everything.

"I had many opportunities to express myself with Tim," he said. "Everything in my career was defined by him. Every one of his films allowed me access to everything…do what I needed to do, which is hopefully get to the point to where I can write any kind of score."

Most of the hour was dedicated to fan questions, and he generally had amusing answers for them. He talked about how he was relieved he has never won an Oscar and that the thought of winning would make him sweat. He wasn…t interested in doing the Simpsons movie because as much fun as it is to listen to that type of music, he said the process of composing it wasn…t as fun.

When asked what his favorite song that he had composed was he replied with, "I hate every song I've written and I never want to hear them again.… But if he did have to pick one, it would be "Jack…s Lament."

One of the questions was about whether or not there would ever be a reunion for Oingo Boingo to which Elfman replied, "I hate rock-and-roll band reunions. To me, unlike the role of zombies...when you're dead, you should stay dead." His other reason was that he had sustained hearing damage and would never want to sacrifice his hearing for anything.

Quote: "If there was a taste with notes, they'd all be bitter." …Elfman, when asked if he associated any taste or colors with music.

The Takeaway: Elfman is a humble and incredibly funny individual who originally wanted to be a radiation biologist. He spent his early teens injecting flies with radioactive isotopes and irradiating plants.

Another question was about whether he would compose for computer games. After pausing for a moment to try to remember the name of the game, he did say that he worked on Fable and that even though he isn…t asked too often, he wouldn…t be opposed to doing something different and unique.

Random Fact/Who Knew?: Along with his fear of public speaking, tidal waves is one of Elfman's greatest fears.

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[UPDATE] Bungie confirms Microsoft will release package including 250GB silver-finish slimline version of console, two controllers, and next installment in the sci-fi series on September 14.

Halo fans who haven't switched over to the new slimline Xbox 360 will get an extra incentive to do so in September. Leaked screenshots (pictured) from retailers picked up by Haloreachtips.net and sources speaking to Arstechnica point to a new bundle in the works from Microsoft, maker of the 360 platform.

Halo: Reach fans will get an incentive to upgrade this September.

According to Ars' sources and the screens, the new console will have a silver polish and will come with two matching controllers, as well as a copy of Halo: Reach. The console will apparently have a special Halo-themed finish and will retail for $400--$100 more than the now-standard version of the Xbox 360. The limited-edition 360 will have the same 250GB hard drive as the current edition of the console, which is a step above the just-announced 4GB hard-drive-less console that will be bundled with the Kinect motion-sensing system.

Launching on September 14 in North America, Halo: Reach is "probably" going to be Bungie's last entry in the storied franchise. It is set before the 2001 Xbox classic Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series, and tells the story of the defense of Reach by a Spartan squad. The Halo franchise has so far sold in excess of 34 million games, according to Microsoft. The game will ship in three variant editions--normal, limited, and legendary--as confirmed in April.

Bungie recently tied up a 10-year exclusivity deal with publishing behemoth Activision "to bring Bungie's next big action game universe to market," with future games based on a new property coming to multiple platforms.

[UPDATE] At a panel this evening at Comic-Con 2010, Bungie confirmed the bundle was indeed incoming from Microsoft on September 14. The studio even gave away one of the consoles to one lucky audience member, who may cull a fortune by selling the still-officially unreleased device on eBay.

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Narrative set after events of Driver 3 and before upcoming Driver: San Francisco; DC Comics' Wildstorm Productions pegged to produce; release date uncertain.

Comic-Con 2010 invades the San Diego Convention Center this Thursday through Sunday, and Ubisoft is welcoming the event with a comic book announcement of its own. Today, the publisher said it has partnered with legendary comic house DC Comics to put out a comic book set in the Driver universe.

Driver speeding to comic book shelves.

DC Comics' Wildstorm Productions (Modern Warfare 2: Ghost, World of Warcraft, God of War, Gears of War) has been tapped to bring the comic to fans. As followers of the original video game know, Driver 3's narrative ended in a dramatic hospital scene, where the fate of two characters was left uncertain.

Illustrated by Greg Scott (Gotham Central, Case Files: Sam and Twitch) and written by David Lapham (Stray Bullets, Sparta USA, Young Liars), the comic book's narrative will tell the tale of what happened after the climatic ending to 2004's Driver 3 and the events immediately preceding the upcoming Driver: San Francisco. Additionally, the comic will probe deeper into protagonist Tanner's backstory, setting the stage for his vengeance-riddled return in the upcoming video game.

The Driver comic book doesn't have a more descript title than "Driver" and has no announced release date. However, those attending Comic-Con this week can pick up a special "Issue 0" preview edition of the comic at both Ubisoft's and DC Comics' booths. Additionally, the comic's cover was designed by Jock (The Losers, Judge Dredd, Batman), who will be on hand at Comic-Con signing free copies of the preview issue.

Driver: San Francisco will also be a throwback to previous installments in the franchise, featuring a matchup between original protagonist John Tanner and Driver 2 antagonist Charles Jericho. As the story goes, Tanner, a hard-boiled detective behind the wheel of a 1970s-era Shelby GT500, is on the hunt for Jericho, and the two will engage in vehicular duels on the streets of San Francisco.

As detailed in Ubisoft's E3 2010 press conference, the game will include more than 100 licensed vehicles, all of which are subject to damage. The game will also feature a supernatural element, as Tanner is apparently pursuing his mark from the confines of a coma. Tanner's situation impacts gameplay, as players will be able to pause time to hop to a new vehicle on the fly, as well as take a bird's-eye view of the city to jump to various locations.

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