Dark Regards is shaping up to be one of the most captivating new indie comics in recent memory. Its backstory is as wild and unpredictable as the comic itself, and you can be the judge with this exclusive preview of Dark Regards #1.
Browse the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive peek inside the new series. Fair warning: there's some NSFW language.
Oni Press' Dark Regards #1: Preview Gallery
13 Images
Dark Regards is the brainchild of comedian/writer/musician Dave Hill and artist Artyom Topilin (Cruel Universe, I Hate This Place). This four-issue series draws inspiration from Hill's own experiences forming a fictional Satanic metal band, Witch Taint, and the ensuing chaos.
Here's Oni Press' official synopsis:
Two decades ago, Dave Hill and his first band attempted to rock their high school auditorium with heavy metal hellfire. They failed miserably. Years later, Dave finds success in the New York comedy scene – a career where on-stage laughter is the goal, not a tragic consequence. But when his metal ambitions are rekindled by the intensely serious world of Norwegian black metal, Dave creates a ridiculously hyperbolic alter ego and a matching band, reigniting his rock 'n' roll fantasy. However, when internet rumors of Witch Taint – a metal band "so extreme that you must remove all sharp objects from the immediate area" when their music plays – reach Europe, his story spirals dangerously out of control as Norway's most extreme black metal musicians seek revenge, putting everything and everyone Dave holds dear in their crosshairs (of their axes, which, admittedly, lack crosshairs, but hey, it's a metaphor).
“A few years ago, I impulsively emailed a Norwegian black metal record label late one night, criticizing their bands despite never having listened to 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 invented,” Hill explained. “This email sparked months of correspondence I never intended for anyone to see. But the internet being the internet, it went viral, and things got crazy. Now, beyond my wildest expectations, this story has become my first comic book series, Dark Regards, illustrated by the incredible Artyom Topilin. If you don't read every issue, you're insane.”
Dark Regards #1 is priced at $4.99 and will be released on May 13, 2025.
For more exclusive comic book previews, check out the final issue of TMNT: The Last Ronin II and the Dark Knight Returns-inspired Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell.
