Originally Published: July 19, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

THE BUZZ: Dark Horse Comics, the publisher of comics like Hellboy and several titles that follow the Star Wars universe, will be teaming up with Valve to provide a hardcover volume of the comic book tie-ins that Valve has produced over the years for some of their most popular games.

WHAT WE KNOW: Titled Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories, the volume will be priced at $29.99 and be 304 pages in length. Due to be released on November 16th, 2011, the three games featured in the volume will be Portal, Team Fortress, and Left 4 Dead. When released, it will mark the second video game related property that Dark Horse will publish in as many months as October 19th will also see the comics publisher launch a 4-issue mini-series dealing with the Mass Effect universe.

WHAT IT MEANS: This is nothing new to see video game developers teaming up with comic book publishers to promote games old and new. Prototype, inFamous, Halo, and Gears of War are just some of the first and third party developed games that have had printed comic book tie-ins before. Even iconic figures like Sonic and Mega Man have their own monthly comics, so it is no surprise that Valve would want to showcase Chell from Portal, the Survivors from Left 4 Dead, and the various crazy character classes from Team Fortress. An extra plus for this hardcover is that most comics cost $2.99 for 24 pages, so 304 for $29.99 is like 25% off the cover price if these issues were all sold separately.