Metal Band Slayer Is Releasing a Comic-Book, Looks as Bloody and Brutal as You'd Expect

Slayer, the famous metal band behind songs like "Raining Blood" and "War Ensemble," is getting in the comic book business. With the backing of its label, Nuclear Blast, Slayer today announced a partnership with Dark Horse for a three-part comic book series.

The first chapter, Slayer: Repentless, Vol. 1, will debut later this year, according to a story today from Rolling Stone. The series is written by Jon Schnepp (Metalocalypse), with art from Guiu Vilanova (Twilight Zone, Conan the Avenger).

Vol. 1 features two covers, both of which are pretty brutal-looking. The standard cover was designed by Glenn Fabry (Hellblazer, Preacher), and it shows an eyepatch-wearing man whose face is covered in blood. The variant cover, meanwhile, shows the top half a skeleton who might have been murdered by stakes, including one through each eye and another down the throat. This cover was designed by The Goon and Hillbilly artist Eric Powell.

If the standard cover looks familiar, it's because the blood-spattered character is based on the same one from the Slayer music video for "Repentless." You can visit Rolling Stone to see these covers.

In the Rolling Stone interview, Slayer guitarist Kerry King said he's not very involved with the comic and explained why that's for the best.

"My philosophy as far as anybody working on anything regarding Slayer, be it the album cover art or video concepts, is to let the people who do that for a living do it," he said.

As for Schnepp, he said he's "busting [his] ass" on the Repentless series because he wants to "honor the legacy" of Slayer. As such, "it can't be corny or jokey. It has to be harsh, violent and very gritty," he said. The writer teased that Slayer the band will factor into the plot somehow, though he didn't provide any details. The band's lyrics have had a impact on the story, he confirmed, explaining that they helped him find the "very dark tone" necessary for the comic.

King and Schnepp will be at San Diego Comic-Con this week to sign Repentless posters, while Slayer will play a show at the San Diego House of Blues on Thursday, July 21.

Slayer is not the first band to release a comic book. Coheed and Cambria singer and guitarist Claudio Sanchez previously put out a series called The Amory Wars, while KISS: A Marvel Comics Super Special came out in 1977.

Keep checking back with GameSpot all week for more on San Diego Comic-Con.