Mass Effect and Dragon Age comics and merch announced

BioWare had a little moment at New York Comic Con and announced a looming mountain of new merchandise and tie-in media for fans of the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises.

Kicking off with Dragon Age, a brand new comic series is on the way, following in the footsteps of The Silent Grove and Those Who Speak.

MTV Multiplayer reports the new series is called Until We Sleep, and featuring a story from BioWare's David Gaider and art from franchise regular Chad Hardin.

Continuing the story arc of the last few series, Until We Sleep has King Alistair, Varric and Isabella allied with the Qunari to counter an evil mage responsible for the former king's disappearance. The first issue is due on March 27.

Moving on, BioWare is also set to publish an encyclopaedia, Dragon Age: The World of Thedas. The first volume will release on April 3, and features "hundreds" of pieces of art, as well as being the "definitive" guide to the setting.

For the Mass Effect contingent, there's also a new comic on the way, unless Kotaku is seriously yanking our chains. The one-shot comic tells a story from the varied adventures of Blasto, the first and perhaps only Hanar spectre. Yeahhh. From the announcement's pitch:

"Blasto, who is described as having 'a lover in every port and a gun in every tentacle' doesn't have time for your solid waste excretions. On a remote space station overlooking the Elcor homeworld the lone Spectre puts an end to the nefarious deeds of an outlaw band of mercenaries bent on galactic-wide domination."

Called Blasto: Eternity is Forever, the single issue was written by BioWare's Mac Walters with art from Omar Francia. It will launch exclusively through Dark Horse Digital on November 7, which BioWare has dubbed N7 Day; it's also the launch date for the Mass Effect Trilogy bundle.

Elsewhere, GameInformer notes a new sculpture for pre-order on the BioWare Store. The Sovereign replica is available for pre-order for a despoit of $100, but will sell at the hefty price of $350; it certainly looks pretty lovely though.