Shiftylook Celebrating 30 Years of ‘Dig Dug’ With Anniversary Webcomic Collaboration

ShiftyLook, the force behind reviving dormant Namco Bandai videogame properties like Bravoman, Sky Kid, Xevious, Scar and more as webcomics will turn its attention to throwing a birthday bash. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Dig Dug this summer, ShiftyLook will launch a collaborative webcomics project featuring self-contained Dig Dug stories by dozens of prolific creators. Among them? Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik (Penny Arcade), Scott Kurtz (PvP), Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics) and more.

Released in April of 1982, the original Dig Dug put players in control of a subterranean monster exterminator who exploded red Pookas and fire-breathing dragon dudes called Fygars. It's spawned several sequels over the years, including Dig Dug II, Dig Dug: Digging Strike and numerous spinoffs.

Dig Dug's protagonist known as Dig Dug/Taizo Hori is a fairly complex character with ties to loads of other Namco Bandai characters and franchises. Depending on how deep ShiftyLook is planning to dig into this history, they could wind up mining from three decades of subtle history or potentially just start fresh from the original game's basic premise. You can check out an initial list of talent attached to the project after the cut.ShiftyLook's full list of contributors: Added Mike Costa

• Raynato Castro (Buttersafe)

• Jeff "Chamba" Cruz (ShiftyLook's Sky Kid)

• Javier Charro (Soul & Sword)

• Mike Costa (Smoke and Mirrors)

• Alex Culang (Buttersafe)

• Omar Dogan (ShiftyLook's Wonder Momo)

• Joey Esposito (Footprints)

• Greg Fisher (Vivian)

• Dax "D-Gee" Gordine (ShiftyLook's Bravoman)

• Dean Haspiel (ShiftyLook's The Five-Dimensional Adventures of Dirk Davies)

• Marko Head (Vivian)

• Jerry Holkins (Penny Arcade)

• JJ Kirby (ShiftyLook title to be announced at London MCM Expo on 26 May)

• Mike Krahulik (Penny Arcade)

• Erik Ko (ShiftyLook's Wonder Momo)

• Scott Kurtz (PVP)

• Nick Langley (Rocket Llama)

• David Maliki (Wondermark)

• Ben McCool (ShiftyLook's The Five-Dimensional Adventures of Dirk Davies)

• Matt Melvin (Cyanide & Happiness)

• R. K. Milholland (Something Positive)

• Matt Moylan (ShiftyLook's Bravoman)

• Hoang Nguyen (Carbon Grey)

• Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics)

• Robert "Robaato" Porter (Title to be announced Summer 2012)

• Krishna Sadasivam (PC Weenies)

• Elliott Serrano (Geek to Me)

• Edmund Shern (ShiftyLook's Scar)

• Kris Straub (chainsawsuit)

• J. Torres (Power Lunch)

• Zach Weiner (Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)

• J. N. Wiedle (Helvetica)

• Marv Wolfman (ShiftyLook title to be announced at London MCM Expo on 26 May)

• Jim Zub (ShiftyLook's Wonder Momo, ShiftyLook's Sky Kid)

You can scope out some promo art for the project below: