"Kill Audio" preview book available at Comic-Con InternationalFollowing on the adventurous "Amory Wars," Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez returns to comics in October with six issues of surreal mayhem from BOOM! Studios in "Kill Audio." The series, written by Sanchez and fiancee Chondra Echert with art by Mr. Sheldon, first appeared in Image Comics' "PopGun" anthology. The miniseries will allow the creators to flesh out the twisted world beyond the initial short story. In support of the project, Sanchez will be attending San Diego's Comic-Con International next weekend to sign a preview edition of "Kill Audio." CBR News caught up with the rock star writer to discuss the new title.

Though Sanchez's previous comic book work, "Amory Wars," tied-in closely with stories told through Coheed and Cambria's music, "Kill Audio" is an entity entirely separate from the band's material. "The concept began with the vinyl figure, a version of which will be available at Comic-Con," Sanchez told CBR. The figure is of a short, tough-looking guy pierced through with knives and other assorted blades. This character grew into Kill Audio, the title character and leader of misfits with similarly odd monikers.

Kill Audio himself is immortal-or so he says, and there is at least one guy who'd like to test that theory. But while Kill's would-be assassin may not be good at his job, at least he has goals, a purpose. "Kill Audio" follows the hero on his journey to Clockwork, the creator of Sight and Sound, a realm where creativity is carefully regulated, and where Kill and his crew reside.

Sanchez said the characters of "Kill Audio" are based on friends of his, including a gangster chicken who is one or two paces out of step with objective reality. "That's someone who would not recognize himself, and other people would not recognize that it's based on him," the writer laughed. "Chicken Coke Daddy was just an idea I really wanted to play around with, and have some fun with him."

With characters like Chicken Coke Daddy and an alcoholic skeleton in a beaver costume, Kill Audio may be the most well adjusted individual in all of Sight and Sound. "It is a fantasy world, and at least at first Kill Audio doesn't know his own role in it," Sanchez said. "There are these magics keeping things in place in Sight and Sound, holding together the status quo, and he's been disrupting that. So, in many ways, he's kind of the bad guy. But as things go on, it becomes clear that he's more a force for good."

As to Kill Audio's much-vaunted immortality, Sanchez said, "He does have an Achilles' heel, but I don't think that's something we're going to get into with this first miniseries."

Setting "Kill Audio" apart at even a casual glance, Mr. Sheldon's grayscale-plus-red artwork adds an edge to the unusual series. "Originally, the idea was that the grayscale concept was more for the doll, but then when pushing it into the comic, we just decided to keep that contrast," Sanchez explained. "There were thoughts of possibly, after the first issue, when he came to his realization of 'oh, this is who I am,' we thought of maybe busting the story into color, giving the feeling of light being shed on the subject. But at the same time, we thought the first issue looked so cool in this color scheme that we just decided to keep it."