Suicide Squad Writer’s Petrol Head Puts Pedal to the Post-Apocalyptic Metal at Image Comics (Exclusive)

Petrol Head from Rob Williams and Pye Parr launches at Image Comics this November.

August 14, 2023, 9:33am

Petrol Head, a new series from Rob Williams (Suicide Squad) and Pye Parr (2000 AD), takes readers on a drag race through dystopia when it launches from Image Comics in November. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity lives in a domed city, sheltering from the catastrophic climate outside, Petrol Head follows a genius girl and her robot who are on the run and hoping to save what’s left of humankind. Described as “a super-kinetic sci-fi chase thriller,” Petrol Head asks whether young Lupa and the cynical Petrol Head can make it to the edge of The O-Zone before it’s too late.

“Petrol Head is the story of a very smart girl, Lupa, in a future domed city called ‘The O-Zone,’” Williams explains. “Lupa’s dad thinks he has a cure to the environmental disaster thatdestroyed the breathable planet, and so he and Lupa go on the run from the city’s terrifying administrator, ‘The O’, who doesn’t want that cure getting out into the world. And Lupa and her dad then meet a giant, defunct, gas-guzzling drag-racing robot called Petrol Head who has his own beef with ‘The O’. Together they go on the run, and from that point on it’s a pedal-to-the-robo-metal chase thriller with colors and art that’ll take your head off.”

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He continues, “Pye Parr’s not really well known to a US audience, having been the designer on 2000 AD previously. I honestly think his work here’s going to blow people away. His concept work is Pixar-level and he’s just a great visual storyteller. Not many comics can convey the kinetic thrill of speed on the page. There’s hints of Otomo’s Akira here in sequences that seem to have genuine high-velocity movement.”

Pye adds, “I love drawing racing cars and I love drawing robots, so Petrol Head really is a dream book for me. We wanted to take all that punk 2000 AD energy and throw it onto the page with adventure and action and movement that you can feel when you read. You’re going to hear the engines and smell the fumes. Add some rad colors and characters you really care about and it’s a comic like nothing else on the shelves.”

Petrol Head launches on November 8th with a 48-page debut issue. Check out a first look at the series below.