It turns out comic books and alternative music do go well together. The raw and sometimes dark themes of heavy metal and the explosive and subversive attitude of punk rock have fueled comics for a while now.
If you’re a metalhead or a punk rocker and you’re looking for a little bit of those music genres in the ninth art, look no further! From stories of battle-vested protagonists fighting oppression to epic tales of dark phophecies, we have it all (and more). This is your list of seven comics every metal and punk rock fan should read.
1. The Little Book of Knowledge: Heavy Metal
Written by: Jacques de Pierpont (and translated by Edward Gauvin)
Art by: Hervé Bourhis
While not a comic book per se, this incredibly illustrated book deserved a place among other comic book recommendations as an IDW publication. Being a part of a series called “The Little Book of Knowledge” that delves into a variety of subjects, Heavy Metal is your beginner’s guide to all things metal.
It takes readers on a journey across the history of the heavy metal genre starting with its rock influences and ending with modern day metal. It touches on every main sub-genre, from traditional heavy metal to black metal and nu-metal, going through their most influential artists and more. Bourhis’ black-and-red art style adds to the visual motif of the alternative subcultures, as if each page were taken from an old-school punk zine.
2. Belzebubs
Written by: JP Ahonen
Art by: JP Ahonen
This Finnish web comic/newspaper strip follows the lives of a corpse-painted family of metalheads: Sloth, the dad; Lucyfer, the mom; Leviathan, their son; and their little daughter Lilith. Band dilemmas, parenting, and supernatural shenanigans are just some of the things this family will have to deal with. Belzebubs is slice-of-life/mockumentary meets black metal tropes with plenty of humor that’ll make even the truest metal-heads smile.
3. Spider-Punk
Written by: Cody Ziglar
Art by: Justin Mason
This version of Hobie Brown, the titular character, first appeared in the Spider-Verse event by Marvel Comics. It wasn’t until 2022 that he got his first solo miniseries set in his home universe. Spider-Punk reimagines the world of Spider-Man and the Marvel Universe through the lens of punk culture and its visual motifs.
In the story, Hobie teams up with RiotHeart, Captain Anarchy, Mz. Marvel, and the Hulk to face a vengeful Norman Osborn, the leader of a regime. Villains like Taskmaster, Venom, and Kraven The Hunter get their own punk spin as well. Jim Charalampidis’ colors pop and fit the theme perfectly.
4. Black Metal
Written by: Rick Spears
Art by: Chuck BB
Shawn and Sam Stronghand are twin brothers who, after playing a record, discover the prophecy of the Sword of Atoll which is related to a demon baron known as The Roth. What the brothers didn’t know was that they are reincarnates of the Roth, a destiny which takes them on a journey after the band that recorded the vinyl… and then to the pits of hell. Literally.
Chuck BB’s black-and-white art is charming and almost cartoon-like, contrasting well with the dark and demonic in the story.
5. The Secret History of Black Punk: Record Zero
Written by: Raeghan Buchanan
Art by: Raeghan Buchanan
Another beautifully illustrated edition that blends reference book with comic book sprinkled in, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of black artists that shaped the punk scene. It covers punk, post-punk, hardcore, no wave and experimental bands, from Rosetta Tharpe in the 40s all the way to Minor Threat in the 2010s. The pages are visually striking and the information here is a gold mine for lovers of the history of music.
6. Punk Rock & Trailer Parks
Written by: Derf Backderf
Art by: Derf Backdert
This graphic novel is set in Akron, Ohio, during the ’80s, and has as its main protagonist Otto, a young man who lives in a trailer with his family. Otto comes across the punk scene and is changed by it in the process, even meeting icons that shaped the genre. This story is influenced by Backderf’s own experiences growing up in a time when punk was at its peak and it speaks of real struggles and excitements of trailer life and counter-culture movements. The graphic novel also comes with a recommended playlist for you to listen to while you read it!
7. Murder Falcon
Written by: Daniel Warren Johnson
Art by: Daniel Warren Johnson
Back to heavy metal, we have Murder Falcon, an eight-issue miniseries about a guitarist named Jake. When Jake shreds his guitar, he can summon Murder Falcon, a badass, jacked, metal-armed anthropomorphic falcon who fights with the power of metal music (it can’t get any cooler than that!). When monsters terrorize the city, Jake and Murder Falcon go on a mission to bring back together Jake’s former band, which leads the protagonist to a journey of confronting his own past and traumas. Murder Falcon is the essence of metal epic-ness.
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