DC Vertigo Shares A First Look At New ’50s Hollywood Horror, ‘Hide Nor Hair’ #1 And #2
by Olly MacNamee
This January, writer Adam Smith (Long Walk to Valhalla) and artist Bob Quinn (Kill Your Darlings) travel back to 1950s Hollywood in the new six-issue series Hide Nor Hair. The DC Vertigo limited series is about “movie magic, stolen credit, a monstrous found family, and the brutal lengths one overlooked artist will go to protect the creatures she brought to life.” Featuring special effects artist Mallory Headley, who’s had her masks taken from her. Masks that are alive! And she wants them back, by any means necessary, judging by the series’ synopsis:
“Working on Galaxy Pictures’ creature features from inside the famed Leonard family’s special effects house, Mallory Headley creates the masks behind monsters like the Thing from the Muck, Baba Yaga the witch, and Koschei the vampire. The monsters become stars. The Leonards get the credit. Mallory remains largely invisible.
Hollywood knows Mallory Headley’s monsters. It just doesn’t know Mallory Headley.
And Mallory knows something Hollywood doesn’t: the masks are alive.
When the masks are violently taken from her, Mallory sets out to bring them home, beginning a fantastical and brutal path of vengeance through the shadows of 1950s Hollywood.”
Artist Bob Quinn had more to add:
“It’s equal parts intensely frightening and exciting when someone asks you to go out on an artistic limb. to find parts of yourself and what you do that you didn’t know were there, and to do it all in front of an audience. I tried bizarre techniques, invested in obscure tools — did you know you can ink with burlap? — and pushed myself in directions I probably never would have had it not been for this book. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy creating it.
It’s a very special look into what it’s like to be an artist, to be alive, to find out what you’re made of.”
Smith added:
“We talked a lot about it being noir-y, being a mystery. But there’s some really gruesome action stuff in here that I had never written before, and it was really wonderful to see Bob do it.”
Quinn continues:
“We put poor Mallory through the wringer at every opportunity. So much of this book is about her either not getting credit for that journey and that effort … or struggling just to do it. Because that’s all you’re trying to do at the end of the day as an artist: understand both yourself and the world around you.”
Smith concludes:
“Making this book with Bob, Lucas, and Andrea has been everything I love about creating comics. Seeing all the characters come to life so vividly and beautifully is, without question, why the comic book medium is so perfect for this kind of story. We wanted to celebrate the strange and beautiful in a way that felt true to us. And I couldn’t be happier that, in doing so, Hide Nor Hair gets to contribute to Vertigo’s storied history. As a particular sort of comics fan, it is absolutely flooring, and I could not be more grateful and excited.
I sincerely hope you all love Mallory and her pals as much as I do. Like all good friends, they came along right when I needed them, and I can’t wait to share them with you!”
Now here’s your sneak peek at Hide Nor Hair #1 and Hide Nor Hair #2:
Hide Nor Hair #1 is a blend of “old-Hollywood glamour and creature-feature fantasy with noir, mystery, and visceral horror” and is out on Wednesday 6th January, 2027, with covers by Quinn, Reiko Murakami, Jasmine Darnell, and Niko Henrichon. The 40-page debut issue is $3.99 US, with card stock variants available for $4.99 US.
