Dark Regards Is a Comic With a Truly Ludicrous Back-Story

Dark Regards is a truly captivating new indie comic, easily one of the most intriguing releases in recent memory. Its backstory is as wild and unpredictable as the comic itself. See for yourself with this exclusive preview of Dark Regards #1.

Browse the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive sneak peek into 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 chaotic whirlwind.

Here's Oni Press' official synopsis:

Two decades ago, Dave Hill and his first band attempted to unleash heavy metal hellfire upon their high school auditorium. They failed spectacularly. Years later, Dave has carved a new path as a rising star in the New York comedy scene—a career where onstage laughter is the goal, not a tragic byproduct. But when his metal aspirations are rekindled by the intensely serious world of Norwegian black metal, Dave creates a ridiculously hyperbolic alter ego and a band to match, reigniting his dormant rock 'n' roll fantasies. 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 it's a metaphor!).

“A few years back, fueled by a late-night obsession with Norwegian black metal, I emailed a Norwegian black metal record label, declaring all their bands terrible (despite never having listened to them), and suggested they sign my extremely extreme black metal band, Witch Taint, which hadn't recorded anything and didn't even exist beyond the name I'd just invented,” Hill explains. “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 dreams, this story has become my first comic book series, Dark Regards, co-created with the amazing Artyom Topilin. If you don't devour 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.