Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer comes to comics

Death Dealer #1 — (Image credit: Incendium)

One of the late fantasy art legend Frank Frazetta's most famous creations - Death Dealer - is coming to the comic book page.

If you're not a fantasy art fan, or alternatively have never shopped at a Spencer's Gifts and don't know what a blacklight poster is, you may recognize the character Death Dealer from the 1978 self-titled debut album cover for southern rock gods Molly Hatchet.

Created in 1973 by Frazetta, the "Godfather" of fantasy art, the new comic book adaptation of Death Dealer will explore the backstory of the character described as "a shadowy warrior with red eyes, reminiscent of a medieval grim reaper with his bloody scythe, sitting astride his dark steed while ominously looking toward the viewer," by the comic book publisher Incendium.

And bravo to whoever wrote that copy.

Here's a six-page preview of the first issue:

Image 1 of 6

Incendium - which publishes through its music-inspired Opus Comics banner - calls it the first title building towards an entire multiverse of stories inspired by Frazetta's work. Death Dealer will be its first comic title to be sold in comic book shops in the specialty Direct Market.

The title is a collaboration with Frazetta Girls, founded by Frazetta's daughter Holly and granddaughter Sara, to showcase the artists' legacy of work.

"To see our Frazetta comic book series come to fruition is a fantasy fulfilled. I'm very grateful to the team for all of their respect and enthusiasm for my grandfather's legacy," said Sara Frazetta.

Incendium is also releasing a line of action figures based on Frazetta's artwork, launching with the Death Dealer, which will be available in May alongside the comic book debut.

Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer #1 goes on May 4, 2022.

Death Dealer is written by Mitch Iverson and illustrated by artists Stefano Martino and Luis Antonio Delgado. Death Dealer #1 and future issues will feature variant covers by a roster of brand name artists including Simone Bianchi, Gabriel Dell'Otto, Dan Panosian, Frank Cho, Joseph Michael Linsner, Gerald Parel (see here), Bill Sienkiewicz, and David Finch with Richard Friend.

You know what other famous 'death dealer' was created in 1973? Thanos!

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.