Judas Priest has announced a new graphic novel entitled Screaming for Vengeance based on the group’s 1982 album release. The graphic novel is a first for Judas Priest and is scheduled for June 2022 release.

The comic is a collaboration with Z2 Comics with the charge being led by writers Rantz Hoseley and Neil Kleid, and artist Christopher Mitten. According to Consequence, the team is ecstatic about the forthcoming comic.

“I cannot overstate what an inspiration Judas Priest has been to me, personally,” said Hoseley. “I was already a fan of the band, when Screaming for Vengeance was released, but no one was ready for the impact it had. That incredible cover art? Those songs? That album became my daily soundtrack and creative fuel, to the point where I wore the cassette out in my car.”

The graphic novel is said to be inspired by the 1982 album’s songs and aesthetic adapted into a gritty post-apocalyptic atmosphere. As summed up by the team, “500 years from now, a ring of cities orbit high above the surface of a dead world, controlled by a ruling elite that maintains power through manipulation and brutality. When a naïve engineer inadvertently threatens the status quo with his vital scientific discovery… A BLOODSTONE… he is betrayed by those he trusted and cast out to the broken planet below. In the wreckage and desolation of a broken world where every day is a battle for survival, he must choose between accepting his new life in exile…or SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE.”

While the comic won’t release until June of next year, fans can preorder deluxe and platinum editions featuring an exclusive anniversary vinyl LP and much more on the Z2 Comics website.

Earlier this week, Ozzy Osbourne announced that his tour with Judas Priest will be postponed to 2023 due to complications surrounding COVID in Europe. Last month, Rob Halford, the frontman for Judas Priest, revealed that he is in remission following a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2020 and more recently, Richie Faulkner updated fans on his recovery following his heart surgery.