In a comic that sounds right up his alley, Tim Seeley will team will artist Fran Galan on The Roadie, a new miniseries coming in the fall from Dark Horse Comics.
The comic stars a former heavy metal band roadie from the 1980s “satanic panic” era — but it turns out all those stories about backwards lyrics summoning demons were real, so he not only carried gear but also served as an exorcist when needed.
“I wanted to tell the story of the ‘unsung hero’ of the 80s Satanic Panic era…,” Seeley said, “the roadies who supported all those metal bands, not only by tuning their guitars, but by casting out the horrific demons they accidentally summoned with backwards lyrics and screaming riffs. Joe D. is the seventh son of a seventh son, and though once he stood next to greatness, he now wallows in obscurity…. until he gets called upon to return to a past he thought he’d left far behind. The Roadie is part Hack/Slash, part Revival, and all heart, with Fran Galan doing some absolutely rockin’ art.”
Here’s how Dark Horse describes the series: More than thirty-five years after his heyday, a former heavy metal roadie must return to the backroads of America to do a job he thought he’d retired from: exorcist. But this time, he’s not saving groupies and drunk bassists. He’s trying to save his daughter.
Seeley has written a wide range of comics over the course of his career, from superheroes to science fiction to comedies to porn (those last three all apply to one book, Money Shot, actually), but he might be best known for his more horror-oriented books like Revival, Hack/Slash and West of Sundown. Galan drew the recent Lucky Devil for Dark Horse.
Look for the first issue of The Roadie on Sept. 28.