"Dark Regards: A Comic with an Outrageous Origin Story"

Dark Regards stands out as one of the most captivating new indie comics to hit the shelves recently, boasting a backstory as wild and unpredictable as the comic itself. Dive into our exclusive preview of Dark Regards #1 and form your own opinion on this thrilling series.

Before you delve into the slideshow gallery below, be warned: there's some NSFW language featured in the preview!

Oni Press' Dark Regards #1: Preview Gallery

13 Images

Dark Regards is the creative offspring of comedian, writer, and musician Dave Hill, along with artist Artyom Topilin, known for his work on Cruel Universe and I Hate This Place. This four-issue series draws inspiration from Hill's unique experience of founding a fictional Satanic metal band named Witch Taint, which led to an unexpected whirlwind of chaos.

Here's the official synopsis from Oni Press:

*Two decades ago, Dave Hill and his first band set out to rock their high school auditorium with a fury of heavy metal hellfire. They failed miserably. Years later, Dave has carved out a new life for himself as an up-and-coming star in the New York comedy scene—where getting laughed at on stage is the goal, not just a tragic consequence. But when his dormant metal ambitions are reignited by the über self-serious, “Satanic” genre of Norwegian black metal, Dave creates a ridiculously hyperbolic alter ego and a band to match. Together, they reignite the spark of his long-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—spread to Europe, his story spirals dangerously out of control. 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).*

Dave Hill shared his story in a statement: “A few years back, I sat down in my underwear late one night and decided to let my obsession with Norwegian black metal run wild by emailing a Norwegian black metal record label, telling them all the bands on their label sucked despite the fact that I had never listened to any of them, and suggesting they sign my extremely extreme black metal band Witch Taint, which had yet to record any music and didn't even exist beyond the band name I'd just made up on the spot. This first email led to months of correspondence with the record label that I never intended for anyone to see. But the Internet being the Internet, eventually a lot of people saw it and things got nuts. Now, beyond my wildest dreams, this story has become my first comic book series Dark Regards, written by me and illustrated by the amazing Artyom Topilin. If you don't devour every single issue, you are basically insane.”

Dark Regards #1 is priced at $4.99 and will hit the shelves on May 13, 2025.

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