I don't understand why DC isn't putting out a MK series yet. The limited run MK got back in the day was very popular and still resonates with people. Seems like a no brainer to me.

I think DC should put out an MK comic under the Vertigo label, so it can be as gruesome. I'd love to see it have it's own comic series especially with some of the artist at DC.

I've always wanted to start reading comics, MK would be a great starting point!

I have the money in my hand, ready to throw it to WB at any given moment. Please make this happen, it could definitely be a very successful comic book series.

Start with the watchmen
I would love MK to have its own comic series, especially by DC comics! I've read Goro prince of pain and didn't think it was that well written, but anything MK is good in my book

MK's kind of a dicey proposition so far as comics go. The only way WB would ever see decent sales would be going the digital route. Which would be fine, except that DC/WB is historically crap at actually promoting digital content.

Why is that? There is plenty of cross over between comic fans and MK fans.

Would buy 2 copies of every issue. One to read, one to keep sealed.

So you basically stopped reading my post after the first sentence. I'm a nice guy, so I'll try again.

MK comics are a dicey proposition because there's not a lot of money to be made in them. You have two ways to go about it. On one hand you risk the comic book direct market. That's the path to grim death. The DM is too insular for its regulars to take to MK in large numbers, meanwhile MK fans won't flock to DM shops in sufficient quantity to make up for the Wednesday crowd's disinterest.

On the other, you have the digital comics route. Here's where the potential really is. Skirt the old-timey fanboys and market to your actual audience all the while not having to move physical product. All well and good, except that, as I said, WB is terrible at promoting digital content. Without promotion, the product may reach hardcores like us, but not the casuals. And so far as what happens when you can only reach a hardcore audience? Well, you end up with Firefly.

Injustice is a digital comic and seems to be selling well enough to justify its continued publication long after the game itself has stopped being relevant.
That said, comics that tie into a video game are dumb when they're made by Marvel and DC.
They never get released until AFTER the game is out, so that they don't spoil anything, and they're not allowed to tell us anything we don't already know because they're not REALLY canon, they're just a promotional tool.
It's never again gonna be like it was when Tobias drew his own because he didn't have enough room in the game to tell his story.

Does anyone else feel like this forum is just a place where ideas get shit on?

Depends on the idea, man.

You know what doesn't resolve that? Doing nothing.

This is where you offer the opposite input, if that's where your cookie crumbles. And it should. Especially in this topic! MK comics are a no brainer.

I am ok about there being a Mortal Kombat comic book someday.

Best way for them to go about it might be what Udon's doing with Street Fighter now; periodic graphic novel releases.

Lemme try this again since apparently I came off too negatively in my original post:

I would love to see an MK comic. I thought for sure DC would have done one by now.

I have reservations though. Because I read comics. I've read a lot of adaptation comics, the Injustice series, some Halo and Mass Effect books, Batman Arkham City tie-ins...

It's just, a lot of them feel like they're not telling me anything that didn't already happen in the game's own cutscenes, or like their plots actually matter to the source material, and some of them feel like a dude just collecting a paycheck and the story is just plain boring because they have no passion for the material.

If any of you can, I'd love to get some recommendations on game comics that're really good like Nintendo Power Super Mario Adventures, the Left4Dead one-shot about The Sacrifice DLC, UDON Street Fighter, the Mega Man ongoing, that sort of thing.

Oh, but no fucking Sonic.

Good point, but it's worth considering that Injustice's sales are bolstered by the direct market selling the print version to an audience that can't get enough of that genre.




Don't get the wrong impression, I'd love to see new MK comics as much as anyone. I'm on record as being a fan of MK spin-off media more so than the games. I'm not shitting on the idea, just pointing out why it hasn't happened yet and may not for quite some time. That said, I'd love to be proven wrong and see Mortal Kombat #1 in next month's Previews catalog.

If you're into Gears of War, their comics are pretty damn good. They're written by the guy that wrote the story to Gears of War 2. Some good stuff imo.

If you're talking about the Malibu run, you're sorely mistaken. It's not remembered very fondly by fans.

FYI - The direct market may as well be a non-issue. Injustice was one of the highest selling digital comics of all time. They're still building that area. The pitch for a Mortal Kombat comic begins and ends with fuelling digital sales and growing the market share through impulse purchase, electronic savvy demographics (eg; teen gamers). New comics are a no brainer.

This pitch logic shouldn't really have any baring on the garden variety fans who should hope only for - the opportunity and the best possible outcome. (Not taking anything away from legitimate criticisms of prior works and/or trends in similar product lines.)


Injustice is the model. It was coming out months in advance of the game. It continues months after the game. Granted - Mortal Kombat won't likely have the same built-in interest/spill over interest Injustice had, but again, the pitch isn't really about those readers. It's a platform growth strategy. (Full acknowledgment: That's not great news for die hard fans of the game canon. Contemporary DC strategies lean more toward cross medium collaboration than ever before, though. Boon has already overlapped with the DC fraternity.)


They had a big impact on the culture - and yes: there is a fanbase that does remember them very fondly. Even fans who didn't read them the first time. If you're familiar with the character Hydro, for instance -- who continues to be an enduring (misguided) fan request and MUGEN character -- you know how the Malibu comics continue to resonate.

"Injustice was one of the highest selling digital comics of all time" , while certainly being praise-worthy, is hardly an argument for MK. Injustice is a facet of a genre that's trained its customers to come back every week in perpetuity. MK hasn't had that in nearly 20 years, barring free content like Legacy. It's also worth mentioning that digital comic sales, though nothing to scoff at, are not even close to the point of eclipsing the DM.

Again - the direct market is a non-issue. I've answered this in my post already. Traditional comics readers weren't who was buying Injustice digitally. There was spill over, but it's about digital market growth. Gamers.

Legacy was a webseries with the first series released only on Blu-Ray. It too was a growth project. A niche fuelled, brand building growth in the new media market. It doesn't matter how many people are buying paper, or cinema tickets. It is very much beside the point.

Unless you're trying to sell comics.



This is based on what? Were gamers buying Injustice? Sure. But more so than the dyed in the wool DC readers? I must admit I'm skeptical.



You overlooked my point about Legacy. I'm saying that Legacy was, when the individual episodes were being released online, the first serialized MK product in several years. MK fans aren't trained, as comic readers have been, to come back every week. Which could well impact an ongoing digital MK comic.

I like the idea of a MKX digital comic honestly especially if it'd be considered canon and was done well. I get that the Injustice comic couldn't do that with the established DCU but there's ripe leeway with the MKverse. Again, as long as it doesn't get all fucked up.