Cult of the Lamb is spreading its influence with a crowdfunding Kickstarter comic by Oni Press called Cult of the Lamb: The First Verse. In a joint project between Devolver Digital, Massive Monster, and Oni, this upcoming comic book series crosses over one of the silliest yet beloved indie IPs in gaming and takes it into the comics space, giving its demonicly fluffy origins, a bit more lore. Available for prelaunch via Kickstarter, this new project has yet to announce its creative team.
Cult of The Lamb was highly praised for its gameplay and rogue-playing battle mechanics, though its lore was always open to expanding upon as almost everything about it is based on parodies of the very C’thulu-like cult tropes. The video game was nominated for three BAFTAs and was nominated for Best Indie Game at the Golden Joystick Awards. Amassing 3 million players since its game release. So the potential for comic book cross-pollination is rather huge.
What is Cult of The Lamb to comics fans?
Cult of The Lamb is a very silly yet dynamic video game that’s partly about maintaining the happiness and supplies of a cult as its leader, while also, going on missions in rogue-lite battles. In the game, you play as The Lamb, a resurrected sacrifice saved by an Elder God known as The One Who Waits. As repayment for saving your life, this mysterious deity has asked you to create a cult in its name. Mean to be the greatest cult of this world.
Mind you, all of these followers are adorable little animal critters. So seeing the juxtaposition of cult-like horrors with creatures looking like something out of the Disney movie Bambi, while hellish atmospheres like something out of Hazbin Hotel lay about in dungeons, are all prime comedic elements to this story. As someone who’s covered this IP in the past, there is more than enough groundwork here to see a breakout comic. Especially for this year, as we’re seeing smaller budget breakouts in the gaming space with Palworld and Helldivers II, showcasing that it seems people want something different than massive studio releases right now in almost every entertainment avenue.
Cult of the Lamb: The First Verse is releasing at the right time
For anyone in the comics space but not in the gaming space, Cult of the Lamb was one of those rare indie darlings that came from out of nowhere at the right place and time. Equal parts roguelite as it was cult simulator, this revenge-story about an adorable sacrificial lamb seeking to vanquish the four very bishops who had sacrificed it found a strangely popular cult following as a breakout hit in the summer of 2022.
The game came out during a period just after the worst of the Covid-19 production drought, where Elden Ring, Horizon Zero Dawn, and God of War: Ragnarok were gamings only major new releases. As a result, that year saw a lot of indie darlings make massive deals. Where games like the very basic yet popular Vampire Survivor (it looks like a game that could have been made in the 90s), snagged a potential movie deal with the creators of John Wick.
Atop of all this, video games have made for some pretty comic series the past decade. The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077, Life is Strange, Horizon Zero Dawn, and The Last of Us all had comic book adaptations to much acclaim.
