Z2 Comics has partnered with heavy metal legends Judas Priest for an original graphic novel to be released in 2022, in time for the return of Comic Con International and the 40th anniversary of the band’s highest-selling album of all time: ‘Screaming for Vengeance’.
Produced with writers Rantz Hoseley (Comic Book Tattoo, the Heroin Diaries) and Neil Kleid (Savor), and artist Christopher Mitten (Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.), the novel is set 500 years from now, when a ring of cities orbit high above the surface of a dead world, controlled by a ruling elite that maintains power through manipulation and brutality. When a naive 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.
The graphic novel includes an extensive interview with original cover artist Doug Johnson in which he discusses the process of creating the award-winning album cover design, and the origin of the metallic bird of prey, now known as The Hellion. Additionally, as part of the expansion of Z2’s product offerings, newly appointed Z2 Vice President of Collectibles and Aggronautix founder Clint Weiler has designed a detailed Hellion statue, with battery-operated LED “electric eyes” in celebration of both the original album design, and the dramatic conclusion of the story in the Screaming for Vengeance graphic novel.
Judas Priest: Screaming for Vengeance will be released in both softcover and hardcover formats in selected bookstores, comic shops and record stores in July 2022, with special limited deluxe and super deluxe versions featuring an exclusive anniversary vinyl LP, prints and more, available to preorder now exclusively through the Z2 website.
