‘Anthrax: Among The Living’ Graphic Novel Line-Up Revealed

Legendary band Anthrax and music-comics publisher Z2 announced the full creative line-up for the forthcoming Among The Living graphic novel, out on May 12 2021, including music legends Scott Ian and Rob Zombie alongside comic legends Grant Morrison, Brian Azzarello, and Dave Johnson!

It was announced back in 2020, but now we have the full creative line-up on the Anthrax: Among The Living graphic novel celebrating the band’s landmark 1987 album.

It’s bringing together some big, big names in comics and music for a track-by-track storyline inspired by one of heavy metal’s most iconic albums.

The anthology is narrated by the longtime mascot ‘The Not Man’ newly designed by Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead) and written by Jimmy Palmiotti (Harley Quinn, Blondie: Against the Odds) and illustrated by classic Aliens artist Nelson.

Among the Living unites bandmembers Joey Belladonna, Frank Bello, Charlie Benante, and Scott Ian, with writers, artists, and other rock legends in a tribute to their landmark 1987 album, featuring covers by JG Jones, Eric Powell, and a preorder variant from Charlie Benante.

Scott Ian contributes an original story inspired by the fan-favorite anthem ‘I Am the Law,’ featuring Judge Dredd himself, all in partnership with 2000 AD. The band and the 2000 AD character have a long, long history and this makes it official! And to make it all the better, the I Am The Law inspired story has art by longtime Dredd artist Chris Weston.

Scott Ian‘s love for Judge Dredd began on discovering 2000 AD back in 1986 at the iconic Forbidden Planet store on a promo visit to London for Anthrax’s second album ‘Spreading The Disease’. Although getting hold of 2000 AD back in the USA wasn’t easy, Ian found them and I Am The Law was the eventual result of his newfound comic love.

The next step was getting the character on the sleeve, something 2000 AD were completely up for according to his interview at Loudersound.com – “Either the label or our merch company contacted whoever owned the rights to the Dredd artwork, because we had to have it.  Surprisingly enough, they were amazingly open and cool about it. They didn’t ask for some large amount of money for the licensing and they were really excited and happy that we wanted to promote their character, especially in the US where Dredd was a relative unknown. Still to this day, whenever we want to do anything Dredd-related on a t-shirt, they’re always very cool about it.”

The full line-up for the Among the Living runs like this…

1- Among the Living – Writer: Brian Posehn, artists: Scott Koblish and Alladin Collar

2- Caught in a Mosh – Writers: Gerard and Mikey Way, artists: Darick Robertson and Diego Rodriguez

3- I Am the Law (featuring Judge Dredd) – Writer: Scott Ian, artists: Chris Weston and Aladdin Collar

4- Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.) – Writers: Rick Remender and Joe Trohman, artists: Roland Boschi and Dan Brown

5- A Skeleton in the Closet – Writer: Corey Taylor, artist: Maan House

6- Indians – Writer: Grant Morrison, artists: Freddie Williams II and Andrew Dalhouse

7- One World – Writer: Frank Bello, artists: Andy Belanger and Tatto Caballero

8- A.D.I./Horror of it All – Writer: Brian Azzarello, artist: Dave Johnson

9- Imitation of Life – Writer: Rob Zombie, artists: Erik Rodriguez and Steve Chanks

If you didn’t already know, Anthrax’s landmark 1987 album influenced an entire generation of metalheads, cementing the New York band’s place in the Big 4 of Thrash alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer. Among the Living ranks high in The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time (Rolling Stone), The 50 Best Metal Albums of the Last 50 Years (Metal Hammer), and The 25 Greatest Thrash Metal Albums Ever (Kerrang!).

The graphic novel will be released in finer comic shops and bookstores on May 12 and is available to preorder with your favorite retailer now. Exclusive deluxe and super deluxe editions packaged with special vinyl and more are available to order directly from Z2’s website now, with Charlie Benante’s Judge Dredd variant exclusive to Z2 preorders of the standard edition!