Steve Niles & Company Create Black Mask Studios

Steve Niles, Matt Pizzolo, and Brett Gurewitz are getting into the comic book publishing game with the new comic book company, BLACK MASK STUDIOS.

They want the label to be indicative of their punk roots, and put the onus on the creators.

Pizzolo: “Comics has a troubled history with its treatment of creators…our goal is to bring the supportive ethic of record labels like Epitaph, Dischord, and Revelation to comics.”

Niles: “Brett, Matt, and I all came up in the DiY punk scene…And we’re bringing that kind of attitude to this… the constructive part about supporting voices who are talking about real things but in a bold and exciting way. We’re not afraid to bring in activism and politics and counterculture. What publisher today could be bringing out the next V For Vendetta? Nobody.“

The trio’s new venture start with a bang, with four new series in May, featuring a star studded lineup of talent.

Occupy Comics Anthology - out May 1st, the star-studded political anthology is the first shared project between Alan Moore (Watchmen) and David Lloyd since V For Vendetta, as well as Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead), Art Spiegelman (Pulitzer-winning Maus), Molly Crabapple (Shell Game), Matt Bors (Pulitzer-nominated political cartoonist), Mike Allred (Madman), Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night), J.M. DeMatteis (Justice League, Spider-Man), Tyler Crook (Petrograd), Joshua Hale Fialkov (I, Vampire), Joe Infurnari (Mush!), Ales Kot (Wild Children), Dean Haspiel (American Splendor), Douglas Rushkoff (media theorist), Joshua Dysart (Unknown Soldier, Swamp Thing), Matt Miner (Liberator) and the project’s organizational spearhead Matt Pizzolo (Godkiller).

12 Reasons To Die - out May 29th, this horror-crime hybrid is the latest comic book from the legendary Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and Ghostface Killah. It is illustrated by a rotating team of artists including Riley Rossmo (Bedlam), Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash), Joe Infurnari (Mush!), Kyle Strahm (Haunt), Gus Storms & Breno Tamura (Pigs), with covers by Ronald Wimberly (Prince of Cats) and Christopher Mitten (30 Days of Night).

Ballistic – out June 26th, the new comic book by Darick Robertson (Happy, The Boys, Transmetropolitan) and Adam Egypt Mortimer (director of Grant Morrison’s upcoming Sinatoro) is a madcap, futurist, sci-fi adventure about a wanna-be bank robber and his best friend: a psychotic, drug addicted living gun.

Liberator – out June 19th, this is a hard-edged vigilante series about two young heroes who avenge the torture of animals, created by writer and real-life dog rescuer Matt Miner (Occupy Comics) and artist Joel Gomez (Detective Comics) with covers by Chris Burnham (Batman Incorporated), Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash), Yildiray Cinar (Earth 2), and Joe Prado (Aquaman, Justice League).

To learn more about Black Mask Studios and/or pre-order their comics, go to their website here.