Praise to the Elder Gods, our dark prayers have been answered! This summer, Heavy Metal will unleash an Iron Maiden comic book and it looks awesome. Metal music and comic books have a long history of intertwining, so teaming up one of the genre’s most iconic bands with one of the industry’s most innovative publishers is a no-freaking-brainer.

Based on the mobile role-playing game Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast, the comic is set to feature the band’s longtime mascot Eddie battling through the worlds of their albums. Does this mean we’ll get an issue dedicated to Powerslave? We can only hope!

So, what do we know about the series? Quite a bit, it turns out. As Heavy Metal told us, “Eddie’s immortal soul is shattered and strewn across the cosmos.” Okay, yes, we are onboard for that–go on. “Now, Eddie must journey across space and time to battle the twisted legions of The Beast, seek out the lost shards of his soul, and bring order to the realms.” Stop right there. We’re sold. We’re gonna put on a copy of The Number of the Beast and read the hell out of this thing.

There have a been a slew of metal and rock comics lately–stuff from Slayer, KISS, and GWAR comes to mind–but none of these bands have the sort of mythos that Iron Maiden brings to the table. Their albums are big and often tell a story. Looking at their album covers feels like you are journeying into a grand narrative. Really, this comic is 35 years in the making and heavy metal fans should be seriously fired up. 

“As a lifelong fan of Iron Maiden, it is a privilege to publish the first comic giving a narrative to their iconic mascot, Eddie,” Heavy Metal’s Jeff Krelitz said of the project. “When we discussed the potential of coming together on this project it was immediately clear that there was no better home for Iron Maiden than Heavy Metal. Heavy Metal’s nearly half-century-long history of either working with or launching the careers of only the most accomplished artists continues here with the amazing team Iron Maiden has working on this series.”

Written by Llexi Leon and Ian Edginton with art from Kevin J.  West, Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Beast is set to premiere in July’s Heavy Metal #287 and holy crap we are excited.

Image: Heavy Metal

Benjamin Bailey writes for the Nerdist and can be found on Twitter talking about Godzilla, comic books, and hardcore music. He spent a large part of his youth trying to learn Iron Maiden riffs on a guitar he bought at a garage sale.