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

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. See for yourself with this exclusive preview of Dark Regards #1.

Browse the slideshow below for an exclusive look inside the new series. Fair warning: there's some NSFW language.

Oni Press' Dark Regards #1: Preview Gallery

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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 called Witch Taint and the ensuing chaos.

Here's Oni Press' official description:

Two decades ago, Dave Hill and his first band attempted to rock their high school auditorium in a blaze of heavy metal glory. They failed spectacularly. Years later, Dave has carved a successful niche for himself in the New York comedy scene—a career where onstage heckling is the norm, not a tragic byproduct. But when his dormant metal ambitions are rekindled by the intensely serious world of Norwegian black metal, Dave creates a wildly exaggerated alter ego and a band to match, reigniting his forgotten rock 'n' roll dreams. 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 takes a dangerous turn. Norway's most extreme black metal musicians arrive to 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 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, co-created with the amazing 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.