"Dark Regards Comic Unveils Absurd Back-Story"

Dark Regards stands out as one of the most fascinating new indie comics to hit the scene in a while. Its backstory is just as wild and crazy as the comic itself, and you can dive into this unique world with our exclusive preview of Dark Regards #1. Take a peek at the slideshow gallery below for an inside look at the series, but be warned—there's some NSFW language ahead!

Oni Press' Dark Regards #1: Preview Gallery

13 Images

Dark Regards is the creative brainchild of comedian, writer, and musician Dave Hill, and artist Artyom Topilin, known for his work on Cruel Universe and I Hate This Place. This four-issue series draws inspiration from Hill's real-life experiences forming a fictional Satanic metal band called Witch Taint and the unexpected chaos that followed.

Here's the official description 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 a rising star in the New York comedy scene—a career where getting laughed at on stage is the entire point, not just a tragic consequence. But when Dave's metal ambitions are reignited by the über self-serious, “Satanic” genre of Norwegian black metal, he creates a ridiculously hyperbolic alter ego and a band to match. Together, they reignite the spark of his forgotten rock 'n roll fantasy. But when Dave's internet-fueled rumors about 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 spirals dangerously out of control. Norway's most extreme black metal butchers come to reap their revenge, putting 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 let my obsession with Norwegian black metal run wild. I emailed a Norwegian black metal record label, telling them all the bands on their label sucked despite never having listened to any of them, and suggested they sign my extremely extreme black metal band Witch Taint, which hadn't recorded any music and didn't even exist beyond the name I'd just made up,” said Hill 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're basically insane.”

Dark Regards #1 is priced at $4.99 and is set to be released on May 13, 2025.

For more exclusive comic book previews, check out a look at the final issue of TMNT: The Last Ronin II and The Dark Knight Returns-inspired Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell.