Vault Comics has announced a new, music-focused imprint called Headshell. But it won't just publish comics about music - it will publish graphic novels written by musicians including Metallica, Def Leppard, the Beach Boys, Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, Redman, and more.
Vault has enlisted songwriter, producer, music executive, and publisher Richard Rudolph to guide strategy and artist relations for Headshell, which will release more info about its debut group of titles in coming months.
The first title to be released from Headshell is Dying Inside, co-written by Wentz and Hannah Klein, and drawn by Lisa Sterle. In the announcement, Wentz says, "Creating a new graphic novel with Vault and one of my favorite writers, Hannah Klein, has been an insane experience - in the best possible way.
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"Between her perspective, honesty, and super dark sense of humor and Vault's creative support throughout the entire process, I'm excited to share it with the world soon."
Metallica co-founder Lars Ulrich says, "The team at Vault are pushing boundaries and are bold storytellers. We are excited to partner with them."
According to the announcement, Headshell graphic novels feature original stories that are inspired by and draw from artists' careers and music. Sony Music Publishing president and global chief marketing officer Brian Monoco reveals that the title of Def Leppard's graphic novel is Hysteria. Similar to Ulrich's statement, Monoco says the team at Sony is "honored to partner with Def Leppard and Vault Comics.
"There are many exciting opportunities for songwriters across the graphic novel space and I look forward to working with Vault to further amplify the stories of SMP songwriters," he continues.
Vault CEO Damian Wassel adds, "We have one overriding goal at Vault: to bring readers the very best comics and graphic novels. We're thrilled to bring that experience creating amazing, award-winning stories to Headshell in partnership with some of the biggest names in music. I can't wait to share the Headshell line of books with the world."
Headshell graphic novels will be available in multiple editions: standard, deluxe, and collectors. Vault has not yet specified the difference between these editions, but we expect more details will be released in the coming months. The announcement explains that each book will first be available for direct sale, then produced for mass market release through Vault's distribution partners, including Simon & Schuster.
Vault Comics has published several of the best horror comics of all time.
