In the list of games I'd expect to get a comic book tie in, Crusader Kings 3 does not feature prominently. Yet here we are, only a couple of weeks away from Paradox's grand strategy game getting its very own free comic, Many Roads to Power, which serves as a prequel to the upcoming expansion Roads to Power. 

This mini comic will be available from CK3's website and Steam on August 22, and it'll chronicle the rise of the Byzantine emperor Basil I, who you'll then be able to play as once the expansion launches on September 24. 

Our pal Basil had an interesting rise to power. He was born a Macedonian peasant and ended up marrying the mistress of his predecessor, Michael III, before assassinating him and taking the throne for himself. Good for him. 

Honestly, there have been weirder adaptations. We live in a world where Battleship was turned into a terrible movie about aliens. And Crusader Kings 3 is all about using medieval nobles to tell compelling stories of murder and civil war. History is overflowing with weird shit worthy of a comic book.

At the very least, it's something to read while we wait for what's shaping up to be potentially CK3's most exciting expansion. Roads to Power is finally going to let us play as landless adventurers and members of the aristocracy, plotting our way to power through cunning, eventually rising to the position of governor, where we'll be able to influence royal courts and make big power grabs. Or we can just live it up as the leader of a band of mercenaries or bandits.

It's primarily a Byzantine-flavoured expansion, and along with new mechanics it's going to throw new events and activities into the mix, like chariot races, as well as new assets that will allow you to give your nobles a glow up.

Paradox has not been having a great time lately, with the botched launch of Cities: Skylines 2, the last-minute cancellation of Life By You and most recently the delay of Prison Architect 2, so it definitely needs a win. Maybe Roads to Power will be it.