My friend Layer recently sent me some very interesting info. Before I continue, let me state that I have no way of verifying the information. What I'm about to state is pure speculation, based on what I saw. But I still thought it would be interesting to share this with you all, and let you draw your own conclusions.

It would appear that a TRON graphic novel was once planned, to be published by a company called Cho-Zen Publishing. As proof, I was sent a link that allowed me to see mock-up front and back covers of this graphic novel, which hint that it was going to be an adaptation of the movie's story. (However, I will not post the images or the link to them, since I do not have permission.)

What leads me to believe that this is a past project that was canceled — as opposed to a current project that is upcoming — is the following.

• Doing a search on "Cho-Zen Publishing" (or "Books") reveals that they only have one published comic to their credit, called Shao Tzu, dating back to 2003.
• SLG is the current rights holder for comic books related to TRON, so any new books would likely be coming from them and not another company.

Considering that Cho-Zen only has one title released in 2003 to their name . . . it lends credence to the conclusion that Disney may have been floating the idea of a graphic novel based on the film, to coincide with the release of the TRON 2.0 game, but that this idea never made it past the planning stage. Either that, or this was a "spec" work, someone's wishful thinking that never came to pass.

VMan is bringing us another map soon, this time an attempt at making one with Co-Op objectives. Should be very interesting to see how it turns out!

Sample screenshots of VMan's Co-Op map

According to the latest update on SLG Publishing's site, TRON: The Ghost In the Machine Issue #3 has been delayed to January. Unfortunately, my prediction ended up being correct.

Well, the year is almost over anyway . . . perhaps the issue will be released in early January? What's a few more weeks? No matter how you slice it, it won't be that much longer. Patience, TRON fans. And please, please buy every issue of the TRON comic. The people creating the comic are doing a wonderful job on it, and deserve to be supported for their work.

Here is the estimated sales figure for TRON: The Ghost In The Machine Issue #2 from SLG Publishing, according to ICv2 News:


231 7.06 TRON #2 $3.50 SLG 6,661


It placed 231st in the top 300 comics for November, and once again was SLG's best-selling title of the month, just like last time when Issue #1 debuted in April.

TRON #2 was one of only two comics from SLG in the top 300, and far ahead of their other entry on the list: Haunted Mansion #5 at 3,519 copies.

Compared with sales of 8,688 copies for TRON #1, Issue #2 actually beat my expectations and compares quite favorably to the first issue. Yes, sales are down, but not nearly as much as I would have guessed. Taking the absurdly long delay of TRON #2 into account — where TRON fans had to wait even longer than fans of Gargoyles did for their delayed copy of Gargoyles #2 — color me impressed. Still, I'm not counting out the fact that the delay did have an impact, and TRON #2 probably could have sold even better if it had been released on time.

For those of you who haven't picked up TRON #1 or #2, read my reviews of Issue #1 and Issue #2 (which contain some spoilers) to get an idea of what you've been missing. You can order Issue #1 from Amazon.com, or both issues directly from SLG Publishing, if there isn't a local comic store in your area.

If you're a fan of TRON and haven't bought the comic yet, please consider buying it. And keep buying it! The numbers need to remain relatively steady throughout its (tentative) six-issue run. Otherwise, Disney will have another excuse to ignore TRON and never do anything with the property again. (No movie sequel, no more comics, no more games.)

The site Newsarama posted an interview a while back with Andrew Dabb, that I thought was worth bringing to everyone's attention and that they should read. Why? Because Andrew was the writer on the canceled TRON 2.0 comic from 88MPH Studios, as mentioned in a previous article.

In it, he elaborates a bit more on what it was like working with Disney, and shares his thoughts on the canceled comic, along with the current TRON comic by SLG Publishing.

Arriving a bit earlier than expected, Layer has released his new TRON LightCycle map.

Relive the excitement of the film TRON with this Light Cycle map, that recreates the grid and escape scenes in almost exact detail. It features voices, sound effects, models, and events that are true to our favorite film.

Screenshot montage of Layer's TRON LightCycle map
You can download the map from HERE.

Don't forget to check out the bridge of Sark's Carrier for some nice interactive features, that can be used with the action "F" key on the keyboard.

Congratulations to Layer, for creating a map that so faithfully honors and respects TRON. :)

UPDATE: Layer discovered a problem with the map, so he has released a new version. Please delete the map if you've already downloaded it, and get it again. The download link has been updated to point to the new version.

October 31st, 2012 UPDATE: This article is out of date. An updated User Error v1.1a is now available.

Last year, a problem was discovered with the Single Player mission User Error, created by Meatsack. This problem prevented the expansion from running in TRON 2.0 if the player was using Windows 98 or Me. (It would run fine in 2000 or XP, however.) I assisted Meatsack in fixing the problem, and the version for download from this site and the Unofficial FAQ is the 98/Me compatible version. (Boxhat is still hosting the version that will only work with 2000/XP.)

The problem was due to a file that stored the text for the mission. I thought I'd fixed the file, but didn't test it properly. It wasn't until now that I realized I had still made a mistake. While the mission would work in all versions of Windows, the e-mails in User Error were accidentally cut short. This didn't prevent you from finishing the mission, but the text for most e-mails you downloaded would be incomplete.

I'm sorry I didn't catch this mistake earlier. For those of you who have downloaded User Error already, please delete the file and re-download it from HERE. This new version works on all versions of Windows, plus the e-mails have been restored.

Note that "Uplink" is the last level in User Error. Once you complete that level, you have finished the mission. Hopefully there will be additional levels released in the future.

Aside from The Digital Messiah, and another potentially forthcoming User Error mission: Johnny LaRue, a map maker from the No One Lives Forever game community, is also working on a Single Player mission for TRON 2.0 called Abyss.

Sample Screenshots from Abyss


This expansion looks very promising. You can visit the author's home page to find out a bit more about Abyss, and his other map projects.

According to the latest update on SLG Publishing's site, Issue #4 of TRON: The Ghost In the Machine will be released in March of 2007.

Considering that this would mean another fairly large gap between issues: I can't help but wonder if Issue #3 will actually slip from December, and appear in January instead.