The world of Injustice: Gods Among Us has made its anticipated return, but it isn't as the latest NetherRealm Studios fighting game. The franchise is back for another go around with a 14-part prequel comic called Injustice: Year Zero. Read on for details:

Writer Tom Taylor has returned for the digital first series that takes place before the conflict of the first Injustice video game. It will be a timely release for those struggling to access print comics during a time of pandemic, but as Taylor told The Hollywood Reporter, it's also an opportunity to tell an escapist story set before the corruption of Superman and the DC heroes.

"I really didn't feel like this was the right time for stories of a dictator Superman. My favorite comics are an escape from the real world, and the real world has more than enough power-hungry men stomping their will on the people. I wanted to write something where my heroes were truly heroic. The only way to do so in the Injustice universe, was to check in before Superman's fall and before Batman and Superman's friendship was broken."

Injustice: Year Zero will tackle some of the most glaring holes in the Injustice premise, including revisiting the reason for The Joker's fateful trip to Metropolis, which ended with the murders of Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, and Superman's unborn son.

The absence of reason behind these events, which set off the Injustice concept by triggering Superman to begin his totalitarian Regime, were a sticking point when MK Online reviewed the opening chapters: "You get a sense that there is - or should be - more to this story than we know. Joker's reasons for being in Metropolis -- a trip that includes the casual, quickly forgotten murder of Superman's pal, Jimmy Olsen -- aren't explained. To think a comic focused on backstory would gloss over this catalytic detail seems like a discredit to the creators involved. Joker may have a reputation for being a wildcard, but his actions are rarely so incongruous or shallow..."

Taylor also aims to answer what happened to the Golden Age heroes of the Justice Society, whose fate was teased in the first game with background cameos, but is yet to be fully divulged.

Injustice: Year Zero cover art features JSA heroes The Green Lantern (Alan Scott), The Flash (Jay Garrick), and Black Canary (Dinah Drake). A future digital cover also reveals Amazing-Man punching Nazi Germany's leader Adolf Hitler in a reference to classic comics of the 1940s. See below:

Introduced retroactively in All-Star Squadron #23 (1983); William Blake Everett was a competitor at the 1936 Olympic Games who was later caught in an explosion in Cyclotron's lab, granting him strange super-powers. Able to absorb the properties of anything he touched, he was deployed by the villainous Ultra-Humanite, before joining up with the WWII allied heroes in the All-Star Squadron to fight he Axis powers, and later join efforts in the American Civil Rights movement.

Doctor Fate was included in the playable Injustice 2 roster, along with a premier skin for The Flash. The modern day daughter of Black Canary was also playable. Retro versions of the Justice Society characters can be seen in the opening panels of Year Zero Chapter One.

You can read a digital Injustice: Year Zero #1 Free Preview right now on the DC Reader by following the link! Excited for more? Share your thoughts about the comic and future games in the DC Universe Injustice forum!

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath rewrote history with its reworked story mode, and there are more ripples to be felt! The downloadable skins schedule resumes this August starting with the three character Summer Heat pack! Check out the full schedule and hi-res render right here:

American style barbecue is on the menu starting August 6th when the Summer Heat pack unleashes Fireworks Erron Black, Endless Summer Kitana, and Off the Bone Baraka! They follow the gold jacket wearing Thanks a Million Johnny Cage, and previously released Eternal Klash Skin Pack released at launch.

The funcooker will keep sizzling on August 25th when the Klassic Femme Fatale Skin Pack is released, followed by the mysterious & spooky All Hallow's Eve Skin Pack that arrives in plenty of time for Halloween on October 8th!

Last year the Masquerade Skin Pack outfitted Liu Kang, Kitana, and Kabal in creepy costumes. Who do you think will feature on All Hallow's Eve? Share your thoughts and speculation about the upcoming skins in the comments below and check out more on the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!

Storm Collectibles may not be able to exhibit their wares at San Diego Comic-Con this year, but that hasn't stopped them turning arcade klassics into physical reality. Motaro breaks the mold with an authentic equine body and oversized proportions! Take a look:

Standing an impressive 9.4" tall; the 1/12th scale Motaro towers over other action figures with his original centaur body fully in tact in all its poseable four-legged glory! Multiple points of articulation allow for the recreation of his victory pose, back leg kick, or looming upright charge pose!

Motaro is available now for online pre-order with a premium price tag of $110.00US. That includes 2 interchangeable heads, 3 pairs of hands, and a bloodied skeleton for a display shelf fatality!

Its another Mortal Kombat 3 offering from the popular Hong Kong toymaker, who recently unveiled MK3 Sub-Zero designs, and have previously released the Lin Kuei cyber-assassins and MK3 final boss Shao Kahn.

It's not often we see Motaro in merchandise. The centaur was last seen as a non-playable story mode character killed in Mortal Kombat (2011), with a compromised two-legged centaur version making his last playable appearance in 2006's Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Johnny Cage fought one of his people in the animated Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge.

Are you excited to see Motaro join the klassic inspired VS series? Share your thoughts in the comments below and tell us which other fighters you'd like to see join the series. Discuss more action figures on the Media & Merchandise forum or do a deep dive on retro in the realm of 2D Kombat Klassics!

Around this time of year Storm Collectibles is usually on the floor of the San Diego International Comic-Con, but with pandemic concerns shuttering the massive crowds for now, the toymaker has taken to social media to reveal their next big action figure offering. Sub-Zero is on the run with a klassic design pending approval in new images. Take a closer look:

Wearing a mask may curb the communal spread of coronavirus in 2020, but the retro Mortal Kombat 3 style Sub-Zero is noteable for its uniquely unmasked design.

Originally portrayed in the 1995 arcade sequel by chiseled John Turk; this design finds Sub-Zero marked for death and on the run from his former comrades in the Lin Kuei clan. In MK3 he not only had the Outworld invasion to contend with, but also the pursuit of cyber assassins Sektor and Cyrax, who've already been released as Storm Collectibles figures.

[Related Article: McFarlane Toys Solicit Mortal Kombat 11 Kitana & Baraka]

MK3 is becoming a regular source of inspiration for the Hong Kong based action figure company, who previously released an exhaustive series of klassic ninja palette swaps. Other offerings have included UMK3 Scorpion and MKII Baraka.

The man we today know as Kuai Liang sports the famous eye scar earned in battle, and if other Storm releases are any indication, will probably be able to exhibit a variety of his trademark kori ice attacks. MK3 notably expanded his arsenal with the skyward ice shower attack.

What are your first impressions of the MK3 klassic Sub-Zero? Share your thoughts in the comments below and tell us which other klassic characters you'd like to see turned into collectible toys! Find and discuss more action figures in the Media & Merchandise forum, or go back in time for all things retro in the 2D Kombat Klassics forum!

The next Mortal Kombat Mobile update is scheduled to begin rolling out this morning, and will introduce brutal new equipment in the Shirai Ryu Towers!

Scorpion, Jade and Liu Kang will receive new unlockable equipment offering massive boosts to stats and special abilities, including Brutalities! Get the low down in infographics released to the official Twitter below:

Mortal Kombat Mobile will be down for maintenance to prepare for the 2.7 Update, starting sometime around 8:00AM CT Monday morning, July 20th. This will pave the way for Standard and Fatal Shirai Ryu Towers to challenge players over the coming weeks!

Also be on the look out for the mysterious arrival of Klassic Smoke: the latest MK Mobile Gold kard! Share your thoughts and tips in the comments below and find more MK Mobile discussion on the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!