Heavy Metal Magazine has officially announced Virus, an ambitious new creator-owned comic book imprint slated to start releasing new titles as early as this Wednesday, April 29.

With the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hitting the comics industry hard, Heavy Metal's Virus imprint aims to offer a new platform that will "bring real comics, printed on paper, to readers while paying the creators a fair price for their work." The platform "takes takes advantage of today's nimble, on-demand technologies, backed by the magazine's enduring mojo as the authority in science fiction, fantasy and horror."

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Virus' launch titles include The Red, Nomobots, Hymn of the Teada and Garbage Factory, as well as Dotty's Inferno, an upcoming book by Bob Fingerman. The first wave of titles is set to arrive online on April. 29, with new comics arriving each following Wednesday. What's more, Heavy Metal assures creators will make a "revolutionary" 15 percent of their comics' sticker price, "whether they sell one book or 10,000."

"Virus was kind of birthed out of a viewpoint of the industry needing evolution, as well as us being like, 'How do we serve the Heavy Metal fan base more, with more stories and more content?'" Heavy Metal CEO Matt Medney told Syfy Wire. Medney also touched on why the decision was made to call the imprint "Virus," given the current situation. "When a virus pulls us apart, nothing brings us closer together than great stories," he said. "And that's what we're trying there. We're trying to bring people together through great stories, find the silver lining of the pandemic through genre, and that's the message. So even though the name is kind of more on the dark side, the ethos is on the light side, and that sort of juxtaposition has always been Heavy Metal."

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"There's even more of a need to connect, to reach out and tell stories to each other," said Ron Marz, another creator attached to the Virus imprint. "Anything that makes that easier is a huge boon. Virus is going to outlast this pandemic."

Of course, the pandemic came with its challenges -- namely when it comes to inventory and distribution. Said Heavy Metal Publisher Dan Erwin, "When the pandemic hit, disrupting everything and everyone, it forced us to look at how we can continue to keep the industry alive and provide fans of comicdom with the medium we all love. "Unfortunately, there will be casualties in the retail space and perhaps some publishers. But, we're fortunate to offer an alternative and ability to service all the fans, as well as talented creators of this wonderful medium, comic books."

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Virus launches on Heavy Metal's online store Wednesday, April 29. New comics will be added to the store every week.