Visual Culture: Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels Preps Forthcoming 'DMC' #1 Comic

RUN DMC's Darryl McDaniels and chief collaborators Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez and Riggs Morales prep fans for the inaugural issue of the forthcoming DMC #1 graphic novel, which is slated to arrive on October 29th via Darryl Makes Comics. The comic written by McDaniels, Damion Scott and Ronald Wimberly is illustrated by Chase Conley, Jeff Stokely, Felipe Smith, Mike and Mark Davis aka the Mad Twiinz, Shawn Crystal and colorist Chris Sotomayor with cover art from Sal Buscema, Bob Wick and graffiti artist MARE 139. The announcement of DMC's highly-anticipated release comes with a primer on the story, based upon what DMC's life might have been if he had never decided to pick up the mic:

It's 1985 in New York City. Wildstyle graffiti covers subway cars as. B-boys break and spin in playgrounds and on street corners. Koch is mayor. Drugs and crime rule the streets. A terrifying plague is brewing in the shadows. And as the populace loses faith in the police, a man named Bernard Goetz is being hailed as a hero for shooting four teenagers in a subway car.

In this 1985, however, the city's brand new guardian angels wear spandex and capes, wielding their gadgets and their superpowers to clean up the City - even if their methods hurt more people than they help. There's the deluded "graffiti king" Mr. Marx patrolling the tunnels; the dark moral crusader The Puritan who stalks the shadows of the Lower East Side; and above it all, the godlike Helios, darling of the Upper East Side and the NYPD. It seems like only some of New York's residents are benefitting from these vigilantes' protection. The rest whisper the name of another hero: DMC.

You see, in this 1985, Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC) never rocks the mic to become one of hip-hop's most enduring icons. Instead, he dons his tracksuit and Adidas sneakers to defends the city's marginalized citizens against super villain and super hero alike, leaving no traces besides the imprint of his knuckle rings on his opponents' faces. (By day, though, he teaches junior high school English.) With the help of reporter Charlie Cooper and a band of graffiti artists led by the spunky Lak6, DMC must confront the new "heroes," and investigate whether there's anything behind their sudden appearance.

DMC, the inaugural title from Darryl Makes Comics, imagines an alternate history that blends traditional comic book storytelling with the pressures and anxieties of 1980's NYC, and explores how we got to where we are now. DMC is a superhero for those who need one most.

Physical copies of the full-length graphic novel will be available to fans attending New York Comic Con ahead of the scheduled release date. Check the gallery above for a taste of what McDaniels has in store with DMC #1. Get more information on the publication via dmccomics.com. Stay tuned for more.