Signing: “Death Head” creators Zack and Nick Keller at Dr. Comics

deathhead“I heard he lures kids into the tunnel… then chokes them till their necks snap!”

Dr. Comics and Mr. Games is hosting a signing for Nick and Zack Keller as they celebrate the release of their new series Death Head. The series was announced in March by Dark Horse Comics at Emerald City Comicon. The first issue will finally hit shelves on July 15 and the Nick and Zack will be holding court at the Piedmont neighborhood comic shop on July 18 at 3 p.m.

After the Burton family discovers an ancient mask fashioned in the style of those worn by plague doctors in the 17th Century they’re soon targeted by the mask’s owner. In an interview with CraveOnline, Zack explained “there are many haunted locations, but only one Plague Doctor. Like an urban legend, everyone knows about the creature wearing the white beaked mask. However, no one truly knows what it wants, where it comes from or why it so often takes the victim’s head. These locations—the cemetery sewer, an abandoned town in the redwoods—are real places near where we grew up that have scared us since childhood. By writing this story we’re exorcising our demons and passing them on to you.”

The story is especially relevant to those of us who call Oakland home. The graffiti sewer tunnel in Mountain View Cemetery serves as inspiration for a similar tunnel which makes several appearances in the series. It might be a fun place to set up camp and read the first issue. Or not, because plague doctors.

Find Death Head on Tumblr and Facebook.
Creator Website: Zack Keller
Creator Website: Nick Keller

What: Death Head signing with Nick and Zack Keller
Where: Dr. Comics and Mr. Games
4014 Piedmont Street
Oakland, CA
When: July 15, 3 p.m.

Jesse Russell

Before Oakland, there was Madison, Wisconsin. In Madison, the hours that weren’t filled up by my day job were typically devoured by event planning and running the city’s popular arts and politics news site, Dane101. Some of the events I organized include an annual two-night cabaret/carnival/masquerade party called the Fire Ball Masquerade, Madison's biggest non-city sponsored Halloween party, the geek culture focused MadPubQuiz of Awesomeness, and the first Whedonesque Burlesque in the country. Having successfully reshaped the reality of Madison, Wisconsin I packed up and moved to the Bay Area in February of 2013. In addition to comics, I enjoy imbibing cocktails and beer, exploring foreign cities, consuming food of various temperatures, hearing music performed live, losing at board and card games, and getting caught in the rain.