Dave Hill turning his black metal Witch Taint saga into comic (exclusive preview)

Back in 2004, comedian, guitar-shredder and sometimes BrooklynVegan contributor Dave Hill created alter-ego Lance, a teenager living with his parents in Gary, IN who also happened to be the lead singer and sole member of “the most extreme, brutal, and Satanic black metal band of all-time,” Witch Taint. That in turn led to an infamous email correspondence with a Norwegian black metal label owner named Saiitham wherein he relentlessly attempted to secure a record deal, which in turn became the stage show The Black Metal Dialogues.

Dave is now revisiting all this in comic book form, Dark Regards, which he created with illustrator Artyom Topilin (Cruel Universe, I Hate This Place). The first issue will be out in May via Oni Press (Scott Pilgrim). “Like all the best black metal bands, Witch Taint existed entirely in my mind at first, mostly because I didn’t think anyone could handle it,” said Dave Hill. “But it could not be contained. And now the mighty Witch Taint has no choice but to destroy the universe. Or at least the suburbs.”

Adds Oni Press publisher Hunter Gorinson: “Back in 2018, Dave Hill sat down with noted intellectual Malcolm Gladwell to finally come clean about his double life. A brilliant comedian, writer, satirist, and musician, Dave has done everything from play sold-out shows with Bill Murray and Tenacious D to write the theme song for John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight on HBO. But he’d never before revealed the details of how he’d orchestrated a years-long internet hoax by posing as the frontman of a fictional band, only to accidentally touch off an international trail of mayhem that included kidnappings, attempted human sacrifice, and the vandalizing of the last freestanding Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in the Midwest. Call it a guilty conscience . . . but, to this day, Dave still has only told half the story. Now, at last, the raw fury of the DARK REGARDS can finally be told – and, as visually reconstructed through the brilliant artwork of illustrator Artyom Topilin – rest assured: only the comic book medium can totally capture the depraved intensity of what Dave hath wrought on us all.”

We’ve got an exclusive preview of Dark Regards #1 including a few pages from the comic, cover art and more. Check that out below.

Dave Hill is currently on tour with Jason Narducy, Michael Shannon & Friends for their tribute tour to R.E.M.’s Fables of the Reconstruction that hits NYC on March 8 at Brooklyn Steel.