Resident Evil’s First Foray into Comics

With the Season of Fear now upon us, I want to start it off with something traditional but also something different. Once again, I will be talking about the Resident Evil series, but this time with a focus on its comic adaptations. The franchise has been a staple of horror gaming, and it has also branched out into other mediums such as movies, novels, and comics. Before Hollywood came calling, Resident Evil bled onto the printed page. So it makes sense to focus on the franchise’s first foray into the comic medium by looking back at Resident Evil: Collection One.

To open the 2026 Season of Fear, Gamers Nightmare will spotlight Resident Evil: The Official Comic Magazine, which WildStorm published from March 1998 to February 1999. With the exception of Issue #5, the stories were compiled into a single graphic novel titled Resident Evil: Collection One. This retrospective draws on Collection One as its main reference throughout.

The Pages of Raccoon City

Resident Evil: Collection One features 11 stories spread across four issues, all set in the world of the series up to that point. Issue #1 focuses on the Spencer Mansion incident, the events leading up to it, and its aftermath. Issue #2 follows the Raccoon City outbreak, beginning with Leon and Claire’s story, followed by events unfolding during or before the outbreak. Issue #3 centers on two side stories set before the events of Resident Evil. “Wolf Hunt” follows S.T.A.R.S. investigating a series of murders at Raccoon City College. “Danger Island” follows a couple fighting to survive an outbreak on a tropical island. Issue #4 shifts to two side stories set after the events of Resident Evil 2. The first, “Night Stalkers,” follows Leon, now a government agent, as he hunts rogue Umbrella scientists. The second, “Special Delivery,” follows two Umbrella pilots tasked with tying up loose ends.

Despite its rich lineup of stories set in the Resident Evil world, Collection One unfortunately left out “Dead Air” and “Zombies Abroad.”

Dangerous Secret

Even though Resident Evil: The Official Comic Magazine was licensed by Capcom, none of its side stories or plot additions to the game lore are considered canon. That is okay, since it was released while the franchise’s popularity was still growing, before the events of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Code: Veronica, or even Resident Evil 4 had been fleshed out. However, it did a solid job of laying the groundwork for what was to come in later entries, particularly Leon’s turn as a badass government agent in the fourth game. Remember, “Night Stalkers” hit shelves in 1998, a full seven years before Resident Evil 4 launched on the GameCube and PlayStation 2.

But how do the stories hold up overall, even though they are not canon? The game adaptations do a solid job of retelling the original stories while working in both the A and B scenarios. The side stories are also well crafted and fit neatly within the series lore. “Lock Down” and “Raccoon City-R.I.P.” would slot perfectly into the main timeline had they been canon. “Special Delivery” makes sense given how Umbrella operates, from its actions in Nemesis to later canon stories. Yet not every story lands this well. “Wolf Hunt” feels the most out of place. It plays out like part slasher film, part werewolf story, and that is all there is to it. There is no explanation and no additional detail, and even when you let your imagination fill in the blanks, it still does not fit. It also does not help that werewolf bioweapons arrived much later in the series, and the creature here behaves nothing like the Lycans in Resident Evil Village. Overall, the stories are great for the material they had to work with, but their minor shortcomings and lore inconsistencies have become more noticeable with time.

The artwork has held up over the years, from its attention to detail to its unsettling atmosphere. Pencillers Ryan Odagawa, Lee Bermejo, and Carlos D’Anda, along with inkers Mark Irwin, John Tighe, and Armando Durruthy and colorist Tad Erlich, bring the world of Resident Evil to the page. The franchise has had a number of comic adaptations, but the WildStorm comics have always stood out for their artistic direction. They capture the feel of the games while placing a strong emphasis on the carnage that comes with a zombie outbreak. Other adaptations have done a solid job with their own visual styles, but Resident Evil: The Official Comic Magazine will always be my benchmark.

S.T.A.R.S. Files

I will admit, I am not much of a comic book or manga reader. I pick one up sparingly from time to time, but it is not really my hobby, and that was true when I was growing up as well. But I did enjoy Resident Evil, so when I saw a copy of Resident Evil: Collection One at Barnes & Noble, I had to pick it up. I have kept it all these years and still read it cover to cover from time to time. While I will not dive into the other comic adaptations here, I have read a few since founding 8Bit/Digi. They are good in their own way, but from a visual perspective, they do not hold up to the WildStorm adaptations. Maybe that is because the WildStorm comics put a stronger emphasis on blood and gore, as a horror comic should. Still, I understand the later comics’ storytelling is an improvement over the franchise’s early days in the medium.

Old-school Resident Evil fans will have fond memories of reading it, while newer fans might approach it as a novelty. Like the S.D. Perry novels, the comics are a product of their time, created in the limbo after the first two games launched and before Resident Evil 3: Nemesis arrived. They may not be canon, and their lore may not hold up against what followed, but they remain a staple of the early fandom and will always be a cornerstone of our youth.

No Loose Ends

Looking back at Resident Evil: The Official Comic Magazine through Collection One is not just the excuse I needed to reread this classic. It is also a chance to shine a light on the franchise’s first experiment with the comic medium, back when the series was still in its infancy. The story has grown and evolved over the years beyond anything the comics could tell. Still, the magazine will always be a fascinating piece of the franchise’s history.

Did you ever read Resident Evil: The Official Comic Magazine or Collection One? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. This article is part of our annual Gamers Nightmare series, running throughout October.

8Bit/Digi is a news outlet that provides insight for horror gamers in the Bay Area.