John Smedley, Sony Online Entertainment President, delivered a spark of good hope for those awaiting the arrival of their free-to-play MMO, Free Realms, on the PS3. Speaking at the Q&A session earlier today at the GDC in Austin, Smedley pointed to "next year."

The Free Realms (PS3 and PC) comic books that Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) announced last week is finally out and available - or at least the first of the 12 issues is. The Free Realms Comic Book issue #1 is available "wherever comic books are sold." Details after the jump.

Did you guys know that there will be a Free Realms (PS3 and PC) comic book? Yes, you read it right, Sony Online Entertainment's (SOE) MMORPG is venturing into the world of  colored ink and thought bubbles. Partnering with WildStorm and best-selling fantasy author J.S. Lewis of the Grey Griffin series, the Free Realms comic book will come out as a 12-issue series at the end of this month.

Earlier today, Sony Online Entertainment announced that the free-to-play, family-friendly MMO Free Realms now has more than two million registered users since its April 28 launch. As expected, Free Realms struck gold with young users, with 75% of registrants being under 17, and 46% under 13. More in the full article.

Enter the world of Free Realms - the colorful and magical free-to-play MMORPG for the the PS3 and PC. Taking us for a tour today are the masterminds at Sony Online Entertainment, and they talk about putting all the elements together to create the Realm, the gameplay features, what Free Realms has to offer in the face of all the other free-to-play MMORPGs out there.

I've always been pretty hesitant with Free Realms - I can' t get past the whole "it looks too kiddie" factor - but seeing this dev interview is giving me second thoughts. It's free-to-play, it's on the PC and one of the PS3's very first MMORPGs, and overall, the concept sounds pretty fun. For sure, it's not a game for everyone, but hey - if you've got 30 or 40-something year-olds playing Neopets, then that shouldn't be all that bad.