2K Games and Firaxis have partnered with several web comic creators popular in the gaming community to create and showcase comics and animated shorts set within the Sid Meier’s Civilization universe. To celebrate the release of Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, 2K Games and Firaxis Games have challenged several of the most beloved creators of “web comics” to give a voice to the characters in Civ through a series of comics called Civilization Daydreams. Starting on July 24 and ending August 10, 2007, these Civilization-themed web comics from the artists behind 8-Bit Theater, Control-Alt-Delete, Dueling Analogs, GUComics, MyExtraLife and PvPOnline, as well as animated shorts from the executive producer and collaborators behind the Over the Hedge comic and animated film, will debut on a combination of the comic creator websites and Civ fansites. The kick-off comic drawn by Woody Hearn of GUComics can be found at www.civilization.com/daydreams , which will also be updated weekly with all of the Civilization Daydreams comics and animated shorts.

If you have your own Civilization Daydream that you’d like to enter into the Civilization Daydreams Fan Art and Comic Contest, check out the rules and entry form at the link above. Five winners will each win an Xbox 360 Wireless game controller and Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series sound card while five runner-ups will receive an Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver. The winning submissions will then be displayed at www.civilization.com/daydreams .

Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is available now, as is Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Gold Edition – featuring both Civ IV and Civ IV: Warlords plus an exclusive fantasy poster by Greg Hildebrandt.