Fans of comic books and hip-hop, rejoice: The Weeknd has teamed up with Marvel Comics for a graphic novel called Starboy, and now we have our first look at the project and an online version on the way.
Entertainment Weekly posted an exclusive preview of the issue on Wednesday (April 18), a couple of months before the comic’s June 13 physical release. A variant cover for the first issue with a black background instead of red goes on sale Friday and includes an online version, according to a tweet from The Weeknd himself.
special online edition of @Marvel “Starboy” coming out TOMORROW || original comic SET TO HIT STANDS IN JUNE !! pic.twitter.com/Lt7RMOb88b
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) April 18, 2018
Starboy features The Weeknd as the titular character, an on-page adaptation of his famed persona — and was written by the rapper too, under his real name Abel Tesfaye, with La Mar Taylor and Christos Gate. Tesfaye previously named a song and album after Starboy, of course. The comic promises to follow Starboy as he battles a “cannibalistic criminal mastermind” known as Jack “The Chef” Smiley to save the city of Alphatron.
.@theweeknd becomes a superhero in exclusive first look at Marvel’s Starboy comic https://t.co/u4TMYjXk10
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) April 18, 2018
Following a major 2018 for The Weeknd, whose new EP My Dear Melancholy debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, this seems to be a unique and far-out new route for the LA-based rapper. You can check out the full exclusive Starboy preview over at EW.