Hilltop Hoods have smashed records in their homeland, Australia. Now the hip-hop veterans are set to take-down aliens, through a groundbreaking alliance with Z2 Comics.
The Adelaide trio will make the leap into graphic novels for Hilltop Hoods Present: Noctis, and become the first Aussie act to work with the U.S. comic publisher.
Hoods founding members Pressure, Suffa and DJ Debris are characters in the sci-fi adventure and they’ll have their work cut out, as they tackle “demonic aliens from another dimension,” a joint-statement reads.
It’s a “childhood dream” realized, comments Suffa, who wrote the book with his bandmates in partnership with Scott Dooley (The New Yorker) and Andrew Archer (The Tokyo 5), with art by Jeff Nice (The Tokyo 5).
As a lifelong fan of Deathlok, X-Force, Spawn and others franchises, “I never thought I’d be able to play a part in putting a comic together, and Z2 have been so generous with their knowledge, resources and time,” Suffa notes.
“As for the writing and illustrations – I’ve been a fan of Tokyo 5 since its inception,” he adds, “Nice’s artwork is stunning, and Andrew Archer writes like someone who really understands how comic book universes should be constructed. Teaming them up with comedian Scott Dooley, who injected his sense of humor throughout, has resulted in a really exciting comic that everyone’s really proud of.”
Hilltop Hoods Present: Noctis will hit racks this October, with multiple versions available for preorder through Z2, including a deluxe and super deluxe edition, featuring limited edition art prints, vintage trading cards and sticker sheet.
In the past, Z2 Comics has worked on graphic novels with the likes of Gorillaz, Yungblud, Babymetal and Jimmy Eat World. “Ever since I saw the Parade of the Dead concert I knew the Hilltop Hoods would be down for anything,” enthuses Archer. “In the comic we throw monsters at them, we drown them in interdimensional ectoplasm and we blast them across a planet in a rocket car. They read our story idea, nodded their heads and said ‘We love it’. It’s been an absolute dream.”
It’s the latest outside-the-box project for The Hoods, who founded Golden Era Records, launched a sneaker range, and in 2016 teamed up with Google Play Music on a world-first immersive 3D video, for “Through The Dark”.
Hilltop Hoods have won multiple ARIA, APRA and AIR Awards and in 2019 set the record for most leaders by an Aussie band or group (six), when The Great Expanse debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Pre-order Hilltop Hoods Present: Noctis here.
