Mad Cave Studios released the first issue of Satanic Panic on Wednesday, kicking off a four issue slasher miniseries that drags the decade’s moral hysteria over heavy metal and Dungeons & Dragons into the splatter genre.
Written by Matt Miner, with art by Clayton McCormack, colours by Oliver Mertz, and letters by Matt Krotzer, the book follows three small town outcasts, Naz, Sal, and Terry, who get branded devil worshippers after a masked killer starts carving up their neighbours. As per the synopsis, the trio has to clear their names and track down the real culprit before the town’s paranoia gets someone else killed.
Miner, who also wrote Young Men in Love, has said the project grew out of his own mother’s experience getting swept up in what he’s called the religious hysteria centred around heavy metal and D&D, and that he wanted to show just how absurd that moment in horror history actually was.
Issue #1 arrives as a $4.99 single issue and digital edition, with four variant covers, including foil and glow in the dark options from artist Justin Coffee. It’s available now at comic shops and directly from Mad Cave’s online store, along with Amazon, GlobalComix, and Neon Ichiban.
Mad Cave hasn’t announced exact release dates for issues #2 through #4.
