DARK REGARDS (2025)

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).

From writer Dave Hill (Tasteless Nudes) and artist Artyom Topilin (Cruel Universe), the insanely true tale of how one stand-up comedian went to war with Norway's most feared black metal barbarians is just warming up!   After being visited by visions of the mysterious Lord Abscess-a real-life black metal cannibal so hardcore he ate himself to death-Dave has forged his band Witch Taint into full-fledged reality! But, in doing so, he's also wrought the wrath of Norway's most feared record label, and they're flying coach all the way to Gary, Indiana, to settle the score! (True fact: It's totally OK to put axes in your checked luggage, they just can't be in your carry-on.)

GARY, INDIANA, MUST BE DESTROYED! From writer Dave Hill (Tasteless Nudes) and artist Artyom Topilin (EC's Cruel Universe), one man's insane but all-too-true autobiography finally gets to the good stuff: all of the axe-swinging violence! Dave is on the cusp of getting a huge late-night writing gig . . . but his new Norwegian arch-nemeses have different plans! They've crossed the Atlantic to bring ruin and hellfire to the hometown of Witch Taint-Dave's hyper-extreme black-metal band-and taken his mom hostage until they can meet in one-on-one combat. There's only one problem: Witch Taint doesn't actually exist . . . YET!

THE END IS HERE! Dave Hill (Tasteful Nudes) and Artyom Topilin's (EC's Cruel Universe) insanely autobiographical epic of a comedian-turned-metal-band-frontman who tested the patience of Norway's most extreme black metal butchers is sure to end on a high note! As Monte's life hangs in the balance-held hostage by Lucifuge, the leader of Dave's Norwegian archnemeses who've traveled halfway around the world to confront him-Dave and Witch Taint must prove their music to be more grim and brutal than anything ever heard by humans ears . . . or possibly be savagely murdered in cold blood if they can't get it together. Talk about pressure! Dark Regards comes to its devilish denouement!