Nowadays, when every graphic novel for teens seems to be about superheroes behaving heroically, ninjas heroically defending their friends, or high school girls struggling heroically to break family curses, there doesn't seem to be much out there for the non-heroic. The weirdoes. The troubled. What is there for the metal heads to read? Oni Press has answered that question with BLACK METAL, the story of twin boys, a sword and the Hell Baron of the Pit.

Orphaned at birth, Shawn and Sam Stronghold have never quite fit in. On their first day at Ronald Reagan Junior High, their fifth school in four years, rumors about the boys are already flying. Dressed all black and looking like they're wearing thick black eye makeup, Shawn and Sam aren't interested in socializing or making friends. What they want is to go home and listen to the newest Frost Axe album. Way beyond heavy metal, the Norwegian band plays black metal, and when the boys listen to the album backwards, they hear a prophecy meant just for them. Shawn and Sam learn that they are the reincarnation of Roth, defeated king of the Goblins and former ruler of the underworld. And in order to fulfill the prophecy, the boys have to figure out how to win back hell.

Including mundane conversations about babysitting or going to the mall, Shawn and Sam speak entirely in B-movie, pseudo-godlike, Clash of the Titans-type phrases, making everything they say sound profound and profoundly funny. The square, blocky art and thick black lines lend a bleakness to the story that fits perfectly with the characters' personalities and their head-banger character designs.

BLACK METAL is infused with black humor and full of tidbits from popular culture that true fans will have fun spotting. It's also dark and scattered with mythological gods, demons and the violence that comes with both, so the story won't appeal to everyone. But there isn't much else like this out there, and the people this book does appeal to will enjoy it tremendously. It's not every day you get to read about slackers and metal heads acting heroically --- even if what they're saving is The Pit.