Explore the world of Overwatch with the upcoming Dark Horse Overwatch Anthology

Since Overwatch’s release, one of the most reliable ways to find out more about the world we play in has been through the comics released by Blizzard on the official website. These comics are surprisingly packed with exclusive, in depth lore (and some legitimately great art and action). Blizzard has teamed up with Dark Horse comics to bring the first twelve comics to your shelf, including:

McCree: Train Hopper
Reinhardt: Dragon Slayer
Junkrat and Roadhog: Going Legit
Symmetra: A Better World
Pharah: Mission Statement
Torbjorn: Destroyer
Ana: Legacy
Ana: Old Soldiers
Junkrat: Junkenstein
Tracer: Reflections
Bastion: Binary
Tracer: Uprising

Blizzard Entertainment via Dark Horse Comics

While Blizzard’s cinematics get most of the attention, the comics are one of the most densely packed forms of storytelling we get from Blizzard about Overwatch. The stories, written and illustrated by a creative team including (but not limited to) Matt Burns, Robert Brooks, Micky Neilson, Nesskain and Bengal, give us some of the deepest insights into Overwatch lore. In the course of the first twelve comics, there are tons of lore hints and exclusive characters.

Blizzard Entertainment via Dark Horse Comics

Overwatch aims to be an organic, multifaceted world. Sometimes, lore is distributed through ARG style, in-universe news stories and games. The cinematics tend to be centered around action heavy moments, and the origin stories (like Sombra’s, for instance), tend to be from that character’s point of view.

The comics are often one of the most “objective” views we get of the world of Overwatch.

Blizzard Entertainment via Dark Horse Comics

Sometimes, the information we get is personal and character based. The comics clued us into the fact that Torbjorn is married and has a veritable army of children, for instance. We met Reinhardt’s “squire”, Brigitte, in Dragon Slayer. The comics remain the best source to get an inside look at the Overwatch team before the Petras Act brought the entire organization down. Train Hopper to Uprising takes us all around the world, setting up alliances, enemies, and storylines. Having all of these comics in one place to easily reference is a lore fan’s dream.

Blizzard Entertainment via Dark Horse Comics

The Overwatch Anthology Volume 1 hardcover collection is currently available for pre-order and is set to be released on October 10th, 2017. Even if you read all of the comics as they were released, any Overwatch fan with a keen interest in lore owes it to themselves to revisit the first twelve stories.