Thinking With Panels: Free Portal 2 Comic

Oh, the hornet's nest of Valve's omni-fiction is opening ever-further. Now we have part one of an official Valve comic, which apparently bridges the gap between the two Portal games - as well as introducing another Aperture survivor. Plus, a talking Companion Cube. Or is it?

It's a Valve-wide collaboration, headed up by famed comic artist/writer Michael Avon Oeming with input from the likes of Marc Laidlaw, Chet Faliszek, Erik Wolpaw and Jay Pinkerton. It is both cryptic and dramatic, and wastes no time in offering a new perspective on some of the critical events of the first Portal. You can read it here, and if you're suitably impressed download images free from text here. Part 2 lands April 11.

Meantime, the Valve ARG continues. The full bathysphere image, constructed from mystery emails sent to us and other sites by Gabe Newell yesterday has now been unlocked, and appears to point to secrets in Dejobaan's 1...2...3...Kick It! as well as referring to Newell's recruitment of various sites to draw attention the larger mystery.

At the same time, volunteers are needed to decipher a further clue hidden in Defence Grid. More details here. This story ain't anywhere near over, I suspect. Does the comic offer further clues?