【The Exotic Time Machine】

Thief of Thievesis a great comic,The Exotic Time Machine and on July 16 it's going to try its hand as a video game.

The comic book series from Robert Kirkman's publishing imprint, Skybound, follows master thief Conrad "Redmond" Paulson as he quits his life of crime to pursue, well, a different life of crime. Instead of just stealing willy-nilly, he sets his sights on other thieves.

There's a little bit of Robin Hood here, though Paulson's motivations aren't nearly as virtuous as "rob from the rich to give to the poor." In truth, he's doing it to atone for his criminal past and to set a better example for both his grown son and his estranged wife.

In the comics, Paulson is joined -- and sometimes betrayed -- by his young protégé, Celia. The game steps away from the "present day" story arc in the comics, focusing instead on Celia's early days of connecting with her mentor and becoming a master thief.

See her in action in this newly released trailer.

Thief of Thievesis an episodic series, with the first two volumes launching on July 16. Volume 3 is set to arrive one week later, on July 23, and Volume 4 is coming a week after that, on July 30.

From all that we've seen so far, Thief of Thieveslooks like it lands at an intersection between Telltale Games storytelling -- Skybound previously partnered with Telltale on The Walking Dead-- and stealth game sneakery, maybe with a stronger lean toward the latter.

We haven't played it yet, but that's the vibe captured in trailers released so far. The Steam product page doesn't have much to say about the stealth/action side of the game, though it does note that the story is guided by choices you make, a la Telltale's efforts.

The game is arriving just a few weeks after Brett Lewis -- a writer known best for his WildStorm series, Winter Men-- kicks off Thief of Thievesfinal arc in the comics. His first issue arrives on July 5.