Yars Rising: Atari and IDW Publishing Unite for Prequel Comic

Atari and WayForward recently reinvented a classic arcade title with the release of Yars Rising, a complete reimagining of the 1982 shooter Yars’ Revenge. Now Atari and IDW Publishing have joined forces to release a Yars Rising prequel comic.

With the preorder deadline for Yars Rising #1 happening on Monday, October 7, IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of the first issue. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:

Yars Rising #1 is a one-shot special written by WayForward’s Adam Tierney and drawn by Ele Bruni, with cover art by Ashleigh Hetrick. As the preview shows, the comic retains the unusual anime-inspired aesthetic of the game. The comic is set before the events of the game, as hacker extraordinaire Emi Kimura and her friends deal with the consequences of a job gone bad.

“I’m thrilled to be working with Atari and IDW on the official Yars Rising one-shot comic book prequel,” Tierney tells IGN. “While developing the Yars Rising video game, I loved writing dialog for our crazy hacker crew of Emi, Mal, Anthony, and Kyan. So it was a blast to revisit these characters in comic book format, and see how they work together in an earlier (but just as dangerous) adventure that takes place right at Emi’s home. I couldn’t think of a better publisher for this book than IDW or a more perfect artist than the amazing Ele Bruni. I hope everyone enjoys the Yars Rising video game, out now on PC and consoles, and very soon, the official comic book prequel, too!”

Yars Rising #1 is priced at $4.99 will be released on November 13, 2024.

For more upcoming comics, check out IGN’s picks for the biggest new comic book releases of October 2024 and see an exclusive preview of MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark & Mysterious.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.