Dark Regards
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- $21.99
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
SOMETIMES YOU BREAK THE INTERNET—AND SOMETIMES THE INTERNET BREAKS YOU! AT LAST—THE TRUE STORY OF THE VIRAL HOAX SO INSANE IT COULD ONLY BE TOLD AS A COMIC BOOK!
From the honestly pretty impressive mind of multi-hyphenate writer-comedian-actor-musician Dave Hill (Tasteful Nudes) and breakout artist Artyom Topilin (I Hate This Place) comes the SHOCKINGLY TRUE, TERRIFYINGLY HILARIOUS, AND ONLY MODESTLY EXAGGERATED tale of how one stand-up comedian forged a secret online identity as America’s first true black metal icon . . . and accidentally started an international incident that almost wiped Gary, Indiana, off the map!
Two decades ago, Dave Hill and his first band set out to rock their high school auditorium in a fury of heavy metal hellfire. They failed miserably. Years later, Dave has made a new life for himself as a rising star in the New York comedy scene—a career where getting laughed at on stage is the entire point and not just a tragic consequence. But when Dave’s metal ambitions are reawakened by the über self-serious “satanic” genre of Norwegian black metal, Dave creates a ridiculously hyperbolic alter ego and a band to match that, together, reignite the spark of his forgotten rock ’n’ roll fantasy. But when Dave’s internet-fueled rumors of Witch Taint—a metal band “so extreme that you must remove all sharp objects from the immediate area” when their music is played—spreads all the way to Europe, his story will spiral dangerously out of control as Norway’s most extreme black metal butchers come to reap their revenge . . . and put everything and everyone Dave holds dear in the crosshairs (of their axes, which, truth be told, don’t actually have crosshairs, but hey, it’s a metaphor).
Collects Dark Regards #1–4.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Comedian Hill's comics debut, with art by Topilin (I Hate This Place), conjures a joyfully hellish celebration of heavy metal music that blends autobiographical storytelling, infernal battle-of-the-bands fantasy, and goofy horror comedy. In 2004, Hill invented a "Satan-y" band called Witch Taint for a prank in which he emailed real Norwegian black metal bands (calling himself "Lance the King of Black Metal") and accused them of insufficient "extremity." The comic re-imagines that viral lark as an exaggerated fiction in which one of the bands, led by chagrined ghoul Lucifuge, "the most feared man in all of Norway" (or so he claims), confronts Witch Taint at a Satanic ritual space (with wine tasting) in Gary, Ind. The ensuing tale is rife with beastly rock gods and horned demon lords, who, in Topilin's wickedly fun rendering, prove both menacing and hilarious. The strongest material centers Hill's personal fandom, from his discovery of the genre via a gatekeeping record store clerk to his relatable efforts at a metal god makeover ("Do you have corpse paint?" he asks an employee at Planet Makeup). Hill's lovingly parodic band names (Viking Colon, Misery Buffet) match Topilin's gleeful depictions of the vital catharsis of rocking out. Less assured is the busy, sometimes wordy second half, as rote, supervillain-style conflict erupts between bands. Still, metal lovers with a sense of humor will find much to enjoy.
