Mortal Kombat is coming back to comic books! DC Entertainment announced the video game tie-in at New York Comic Con - introducing comics newcomer Shawn Kittelsen as writer of the digital-first series.

Kittelsen transitions from his video game role as DC Entertainment Creative Executive -- which included liaison work on Injustice: Gods Among Us -- to assume the writer's chair in his first major work. DC All Access talked to Kittelsen on the floor, revealing unseen artwork from the 2015 series.

Franchise icon Scorpion will take a feature role as the series explores his journey from Mortal Kombat (2011) to the new game: Mortal Kombat X.

Series artist Dexter Soy will be studying his internal anatomy books closely -- Kittelsen promising "hardcore" violence from the notoriously brutal fighting franchise. "There's a fatality in almost every issue." he told DC All Access. "We don't go too many pages without some blood, some fighting. We want to give the fans what they want."

Fortunately, violence isn't the only focus of the year-long story. Speaking with IGN, Kittelsen acknowledged the dedication to plot he experienced when working with NetherRealm Studios: "I love the first movie a ton, but I think what the team at NetherRealm did in the 2011 game was absolutely awesome. I ended up working with them on Injustice when I was at DC, and they take their story so seriously that they brought so much more to the characters."

Scorpion Character Vignette From Mortal Kombat (2011).

The focus on Scorpion suits the writer, who cites the ninja spectre as a favourite character, and the 1995 feature film as a cultural touchstone. Unlike the movie, he expects a big payoff from the exploration of Scorpion as a character.

Scorpion is kind of the measure of all things in Mortal Kombat and in a lot of ways, this book pays that off because he is this really huge character. He takes a turn that we haven't seen before and we get to spend a little bit more time with him. I can't say too much, but ...

It's an opportunity to flesh his character out in new ways but keep him really true to himself. And then from there, there are so many classic characters, but I'm really excited to introduce a lot of new characters to readers, too.

Scorpion won't be the only character featured. Kittelsen praised NetherRealm for giving freedom to the writer to tell the best story possible, but they did have one mandate according to his interview with IGN: "Are you going to make room for the new characters?"

Second generation debutante Cassie Cage will be one of the new characters explored in the comic series, along with Kotal Kahn. Kittelsen promises an estimated 40 characters appearing throughout the comic -- including Liu Kang -- with guarantees klassic fighters who won't make it into MKX may have a moment. This taps into the release of Red Dragon minion artwork, and may be good news for those wondering how Moloch lost his head. Even Mokap and Meat got a reference in the interview, so watch out for that.

I would say I fell in love with Kotal Khan pretty early. I loved his design, I loved his presence in the game story, and I really wanted to use him big time, so you're going to get to meet Kotal Khan early in the book and get to know him really, really well. He has a history that's hinted at in the game that I'm now able to flesh out so you get to know him. If you haven't played the games, you can still approach it anew. Again, new characters, new takes on the old characters. And with guys like Kotal Khan, he's so cool. He's like Khal Drogo but with, like, sun god powers. Can you imagine if Jason Momoa throwing sunbeams around and incinerating people?

As updated in our original story - Mortal Kombat X arrives January, 2015 with a yet to be revealed feature sub-title.

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