The Sci-Fi channel and Virgin Comics announced over the weekend that they’re going to be making beautiful music, television, movies and comic books together.

Dave Howe, Sci Fi’s exec VP and G.M., said the deal is designed, in part, to help the network develop new TV properties more cost-effectively.

“It’s a smart way for us to short circuit the development process without spending $6 million on a pilot,” he said, noting that publishing five installments of a comic gives the cabler the means to “road test characters and concepts.”

All titles “will be able to live outside the world of comics from the get-go.”

Perhaps just as importantly, deal gets Sci Fi actively involved in a new business — namely, comic publishing.

Full article here.

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