"Dark Regards: A Comic's Outrageous Origin Story"

Dark Regards emerges as one of the most captivating new indie comics in recent times, boasting a backstory that's as wild and engaging as the comic itself. Dive into our exclusive preview of Dark Regards #1 and decide for yourself the merit of this intriguing series.

Explore the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive sneak peek at the new series, but be warned: some content contains NSFW language!

Oni Press' Dark Regards #1: Preview Gallery

13 Images

Dark Regards is the creative brainchild of the multi-talented Dave Hill, known for his work as a comedian, writer, and musician, alongside the talented artist Artyom Topilin, famous for his contributions to Cruel Universe and I Hate This Place. This four-issue series draws inspiration from Hill's own adventures in forming the fictional Satanic metal band, Witch Taint, and the ensuing whirlwind of chaos.

Here's how Oni Press officially describes the series:

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 carved out a new life as a rising star in the New York comedy scene – a career where being laughed at on stage is the whole point and not just a tragic outcome. But when Dave's metal ambitions are rekindled by the über self-serious, “Satanic” genre of Norwegian black metal, he creates a ridiculously hyperbolic alter ego and a band to match, reigniting the spark of his forgotten rock 'n roll fantasy. But as 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 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).

“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,” Hill revealed in a statement. “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 is set to hit the shelves on May 13, 2025.

For more exciting comic book previews, don't miss out on a look at the final issue of TMNT: The Last Ronin II and the Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell, inspired by The Dark Knight Returns.