Tomb Raider

There's always been a seamless crossover between video games and comic books, and odds are if you're a fan of one, you're a fan of the other. Comics have been adapted into video games and vice-versa for almost as long as video games have been "a thing," and as both mediums have evolved, so too has the quality of those crossovers. With the holidays around the corner, we've put together a selection of some of the best video game related comics and art books for the gamer in your life.

With such rich tapestries to draw from, video games provide cosplayers with incredible creative opportunities. We’ve compiled a massive collection of cosplay inspired by video game characters to celebrate the dedication and passion of these fans, with costumes that runs the gamut from the truly iconic to the downright obscure. Some of these costumes are simple and clean; others are dazzlingly complex; but each cosplayer brings a personal touch to these memorable heroes, villains, and side-characters. These are the best video game cosplays.

Ever since the original Tomb Raider title first debuted in 1996 for the Sony PlayStation, players have been falling head over heels for Lara Croft and her Indiana Jones-inspired gameplay. As the first few Tomb Raider games would go on to gain widespread success, all eyes were on Lara during the late 1990s, fixated on the new female face of the video game industry (sorry Samus). To celebrate this week's launch of Rise of the Tomb Raider, it's time we go spelunking and exploring across the world in search of the best fan art we could find starring Lara Croft.

Considering how many different shows Square Enix participates in, it's a wonder there were any new figures on display at this year's New York Comic Con. Fortunately for all, the Play Arts line saw some strong new additions this week, with the 2016 Warner Brothers' tentpole Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice getting the most attention. We had seen the standard Superman and Batman figures back at SDCC, but here we got looks at the prototypes for a second Batman figure and what could be the best Wonder Woman Square has ever done. Seriously, Square Enix has dipped the toy quill in the DC Comics fountain before, and the Variant Wonder Woman, while true to Play Arts' style, wasn't exactly the strongest representation of the character. This new iteration, based on Gal Gadot's take on the iconic Amazonian, is incredibly detailed, but more importantly, it's spot-on, unembellished sculpt is the perfect counterpoint to the previous attempt. The articulation is impressive as always, but the real draw comes from that attention to detail Square has been stepping up over the course of the last year. The company's been working with a slightly larger scale than it was in the past, and though it means more expensive figures, it also means way more nuance for each figure.

Tomb Raider is a franchise with a lot of amalgamated input, and one that a lot of people have their own take on. Is Lara Croft a strong female character, or a 'Strong Female Character'? From franchise director to commentator and critic, everybody's got their own idea of who Ms Croft should be --- or be for. Recently Lara's been written by a succession of brilliant women, including Gail Simone, Rhianna Pratchett, and Corinna Bechko. As revealed today at New York Comic-Con, Mariko Tamaki is the next woman to take up Lara's story in comics form over at Dark Horse. ComicsAlliance spoke exclusively to Tamaki ahead of the announcement to find out more.

I didn't want to play Tomb Raider. I was never a huge fan of the franchise to begin with, but what really turned me off of the new game was the minor controversy last year that arose when executive producer Ron Rosenberg talked about how it was a game about players wanting to "protect" Lara Croft because players apparently couldn't project themselves onto the character like they do in other games. Throw in some rapey imagery in the trailer and some chatter about how that was going to be a key part of Lara's new origin story, and the whole thing seemed like something that was better left avoided.

Tech: Capcom will soon begin selling a Mega Man USB buster for about $20 that packs digital MM comics, art books and music. TV: Host Kevin Hart and company lampooned The Walking Dead on this past weekend's Saturday Night Live. Art: Michael Mateyko visualizes 50 years of team members in a hearty poster Assembling Marvel's Avengers ...

Upcoming: Dark Horse Comics and Crystal Dynamics will release the 48-page Tomb Raider: The Beginning prequel comic as a Tomb Raider video game pre-order bonus through Best Buy, with further stories and reading options to be announced. TV: Jeffrey Reiner (Awake) has signed on to direct NBC's The Sixth Gun TV pilot...

Humor: Why Lara Croft from "Tomb Raider" is dumb as a bag of hammers. (Bully) DC: What if... the Joker were a video blogger? (Newsarama) Awesome: The Great Darth Vader (and Yoda) pumpkin statues! (iGeektrooper) Threads: Speaking of, if you want the new "Star Wars"-themed "Diesel Sweeties" Halloween shirt, you've got till end of day tomorrow...

The Darkness #1(W) Phil Hester(A) Michael Broussard(Cov) Marc Silvestri, Dale Keown, Stjepan Sejic Following in the wake of the hugely successful The Darkness video game and the summer's smash hit, First Born, The Darkness returns in a brand new ongoing series by Phil Hester (Deep Sleeper, Green Arrow) and Michael Broussard (Unholy Union) ...