North American comic books

Like them or hate them, comics nowadays are taking more and more video games and turning them into a readable format. With DMC's popularity rising, the smooth-talking, demon killer Dante made his way to comic book form. Canadian publisher Dreamwave Productions got to fiddle with Dante's world in their series. 

Written in English, the team decided to retell the story of DMC and add details of their own instead of making up a completely new adventure. All the books have two variant covers. One is hand-sketched artwork and the other is CG art. Sketched artwork is done by Pat Lee. The comics started out so successfully that after the first and second issues sold out, Dreamwave reprinted them with new covers. 

Sadly, at the beginning of 2005 Dreamwave Productions went bankrupt and the company is now defunct. Three books out of the proposed four were released before their announcement was made. 

~ Issue 1 front covers - Evil Woman ~

~ Issue 1 and 2 special edition covers (second print) ~

First issue reprinted cover	Second issue reprinted cover

~ Issue 2 front covers - Super Beast ~

The theme of Phantom is #2's cover.

~ Issue 3 front covers - Angel With the Scabbed Wings ~

The theme of Nero Angelo is #3's cover.

Text novels

A big part of DMC's appeal is its visual style. For those people who like to use their imaginations and don't mind thinking up their own visual environments and people, text novels are the answer. These novels are about 320 pages long, which make for some hefty reading. Unfortunately, like almost all Japan released goods, these books are written in Japanese only.

...But not any longer! Tokyopop has gotten the license for the novels! We'll finally be able to read an English version of a Japanese-only book series! The first novel is set to be released June 13, 2006. 

~ Devil May Cry - The Beginning Story ~

Written by Shinya Goikeda, The Beginning Story was released in April 2002. Events take place when Dante is a teenager. He doesn't know anything about his real identity or family yet and the main plot has him discovering more about his demonic powers  through the various demon-hunting jobs he accepts. 

Dante eventually encounters a mysterious man named Gilver who is wrapped entirely in bandages. The two of them confront each other a few times, but the stranger remains an enigma. In their final duel, the opponent loses and his bandages come partly undone. The man revealed is Dante's twin brother Vergil. Shocked, Dante naturally demands answers, but Vergil disappears before any are given. 

~ Devil May Cry 2 ~

A second text novel ingeniously titled Devil May Cry 2 was written by Shinya Goikeda. It was released in November 2003.  This novel sheds a little more light on Lucia's background. 

Japanese manga / English graphic novels

For those people unfamiliar to it, "manga" refers to Japanese comics published in Japan. Because manga are often as thick as paperback books, pages are printed in black and white. Any pages in color should be considered a treat because they are naturally more expensive to print. Unlike the other novels and comics, Capcom has said the events shown in the manga are canon to the series.

Graphic novels are translated versions of manga, usually from Japanese to English. Graphic novels are typically released in North America. 

The inaugural manga and graphic novel for DMC  is here! Written and sketched by Chayamachi Suguro, her story features Dante before the events in DMC3's timeline. You could say the novels are a prequel to a prequel. ^_^ Three volumes are expected to be released, with each one focusing on a character. The first book reveals more about Dante and his past, and the second and third books will focus on Vergil and Lady, respectively. 

Media Factory publishes the Japanese manga and Tokyopop publishes the English novels. Tokyopop's first novel is planned for an October 11, 2005 release. 

Summaries are listed below. They are taken from the English synopsis of each book.

~ Volume 1 - Code "Dante" ~

Dante is a demon slayer and bounty hunter with a demon heritage of his own that haunts his past. He's currently unemployed--and bored to death. Opportunity knocks in the form of a missing-child case, which his friend and manager, Enzo, offers him. But a four-million-dollar reward, an unexpected demon attack and a little girl named Alice all conspire to send Dante through the looking glass on a nightmarish adventure beyond his wildest imagination.

~ Volume 2 - Code "Vergil" ~

This manga was released July 2005. There is no announced release date for the English version yet.

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