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The only thing better than a good comic book is a good comic book dedicated to your favorite video game series. Anyone remember when the Nintendo comics were the hottest thing since Archie and Jughead? How about kicking back in the book shop with your favorite issue of Sonic the Hedgehog? From old gems to new upstarts, the Slobs are thumbing through the pages of the best video game-based comics.

Read on and check out the awesome art!

#13: The Street Fighter Series

Capcom & Udon's comic series spans a large cast of characters, and the complete collection would fill an entire bookshelf. Where the games give little in the way of character development, the Street Fighter comics illustrate a detailed back story for everyone: Ryu's rivalry with Sagat, Cammy's days as a Shadowloo servant, and Guile's quest for revenge against Bison/Vega. Also, the artwork is nothing short of stunning, which helps everyone forget other canon SF media, like the horrid-as-shit American cartoon series. I wonder when SFIV storylines are gonna show up...

#12: Halo: Uprising

Teaming up with Marvel once again, the Bungie crew launched this comic mini-series with a collection of stories featuring arcs in Halo fiction. It helped tie together Halo 2 and Halo 3, and gave Halo fans a reason to put down the controller while waiting in the pre-game lobby.

#11: DOOM

Back in the day, easily-frightened parents thought that DOOM would destroy their children. This insane comic had laughably bad dialogue, but more blood and guts than most rated-R horror movies. The main character is a complete nutcase, by the way: "Now I'm radioactive! That can't be good!"

#10: Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat's completely incomprehensible storyline made for great comic material, especially during the heyday of MK II. The Mortal Kombat series has spanned multiple comics, with many stories branching off into stuff that never happened in the games, much like Marvel's "What If" comics. In the future, don't be too surprised to see a comic book tie-in with MK vs. DC at your local bookstores.

#9: Silent Hill

Admittedly, the Silent Hill series is full of mindf--ked imagery that was ripe for comic books. Just looking at the cover art is freakin' disturbing. If you're not ready for zombified, meaty erotica, just put this comic down and slowly back away. Issue by issue, a random character with a broken past is flung in the world of Silent Hill, and tortured by their own mental demons. Great writing -- we'll be sleeping with lights on tonight.

#8: Darkstalkers

With vampires, demon hunters, and chinese ghost stories, the groundwork was quickly laid out for a graphic adaptation of Capcom & Udon's other baby, the Darkstalkers series. It had artwork easily on par with Street Fighter (and equally interesting character design), and a lot of pages were devoted to series favorite cat-girl Felicia. Let's pray that when Capcom finished SFIV, they get to work on some star treatment for this neglected series.

#7: Tomb Raider

Quite possibly the only place where Lara is more undressed than in her video games and movies, the Tomb Raider comics gave Ms. Croft a new path into the hearts of teenage boys everywhere. Top Cow comics didn't stop with that either -- Lara Croft also shared plenty of comic space with the Witchblade characters. Here's hoping we see detailed stories like such in a future TR game.

#6: HALO Graphic Novel

The badass comic that covered storylines from Halo and Halo 2, this precursor to the limited Halo: Uprising comic was heavily praised for the detail in the art and the story. These arcs focused on unexplored aspects of the Halo-verse, like the testing of the SPARTAN armor and the initial invasion of Earth in the second Halo game. Master Chief's role was limited in this series, but the cover art still promoted him in stellar illustration.

#5: Sonic The Hedgehog

If you thought that the Sonic games had a lot of sidekicks, the comic series mixes characters from the Saturday morning cartoons -and- the video games. Interestingly enough, this results in Sonic being the biggest pimp in Mobious -- between Princess Sally, Mina Mongoose, Amy Rose, and a handful of other critters, Sonic spends as much time fighting Eggman as he does pleasing his female furries. Thankfully, the fight scenes are long and beautifully drawn. Oh yeah, the characters also die and bleed in this comic. HARDCORE!

#4: Pokemon Adventures

This still-running Pokemon comic adds a PG-13 rating to your standard Pokemon fare. Thankfully, it also deviated heavily from the tired-ass anime -- main character "Red" starts his journey with a Poliwrath and a Bulbasaur, fights gym leaders AND Team Rocket by himself, and becomes an Indigo League champion with the flair of a badass. Kidnapping, blood, death, boobs, and danger makes this Pokemon adaptation the best of them.

#3: Super Mario Adventures

Super Mario Adventures was memorable for its characters above all else. Luigi was a weenie, Bowser wasn't nearly as threatening as his current-day incarnations, and Princess Toadstool seemed more like a raging bitch with anger management issues than a dainty peach. Based on the Super Mario World game, Mario and his crew were hilariously battling everything from Billet Bills to the rotten Koopa Kids.

#2: The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past

Reading this comic was the only Zelda-related thrill that even came close to playing the game. This comic stuck every close to the story, and seeing locations like The Desert of Mystery and the Dark World in full, hand-illustrated color was the most delicious eye candy ever. This super-rare comic exists in book-form, but you'd have a better chance of finding the Holy Grail.

#1: Metal Gear Solid

Reading the Metal Gear Solid comics not only helps to make sense of the storyline, but the artwork is wonderfully gritty. The illustrations by Ashley Wood made these graphic novels a cult hit, and the digital versions are worth a Patriot's legacy. There's even news of a fully voice-acted version in the works for UMD release, but only for people in the UK. Snake?! Snaaaaaaaaake!

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