Lately, indie comics creators Z2 Comics has been really going in on graphic novels based on classic metal albums. The publishing company has already made graphic novels out of Dio’s Holy Diver and King Diamond’s Abigail, and now they’ve set their sights on a classic album with incredible sci-fi potential: Judas Priest‘s 1982 eardrum-melter Screaming for Vengeance.
Z2’s Screaming for Vengeance graphic novel was written by Z2 Senior Editor Rantz A. Hoseley and Neil Kleid, best known for his 2004 graphic novella Ninety Candles. The comic is drawn by Christopher Mitten, who’s best known for his work in Mike Mignola’s Hellboy universe.
Here’s the official summary of the book: “500 years from now, a ring of cities will orbit high above the surface of a dead world, controlled by a ruling elite that maintains power through manipulation and brutality. When a naïve engineer inadvertently threatens the status quo with his vital scientific discovery… A BLOODSTONE… he is betrayed by those he trusted and cast out to the broken planet below. In the wreckage and desolation of a broken world where every day is a battle for survival, he must choose between accepting his new life in exile… or SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE.”
“I cannot overstate what an inspiration Judas Priest has been to me, personally,” said Hoseley. “I was already a fan of the band, when Screaming For Vengeance was released, but no one was ready for the impact it had. That incredible cover art? Those songs?
“That album became my daily soundtrack and creative fuel, to the point where I wore the cassette out in my car. To be able to contribute to a project inspired by these songs that mean so much to me? Well, that is an honour and a responsibility I take very seriously.”
The book comes in various bundle packages, including hardcover and softcover editions, as well as some which include a limited-edition vinyl LP of Screaming for Vengeance. Perhaps coolest for metalheads is an edition that comes with a resin statue of the Hellion, which apparently is the name of the mechanical death-eagle gracing the cover of the album. The Platinum edition, which costs a whopping $500, comes with all of that, a patch, a pin set, and a poster.
Check out the products below:
Screaming for Vengeance is expected to be printed and released in July of 2022, but preorders are available now via Z2 Comics website.
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Words by Chris Krovatin
