Death Saves Debuts New Collection of Fantasy Metal Streetwear

Joe Manganiello's Death Saves streetwear line has debuted a new collection of shirts featuring a variety of artwork inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and a unique fantasy metal aesthetic. The popular streetwear company debuted a collection of nine new shirts at D&D Live 2019: The Descent, some of which featured new artwork of classic D&D creatures like the displacer beast or the fearsome demon lord Orcus. "This is probably my favorite drop so far," Manganiello told ComicBook.com in a phone interview last week. "We had a lot of different types of designs. I think [The Descent collection] went in a lot of different directions. There was something for everybody in this one."

The new line features shirts with a mix of heavy metal-inspired art to "retro" pieces that capture pieces of classic Dungeons & Dragons history. Manganiello lined up several well known artists in the heavy metal scene to produce pieces for his new collection, all of whom had schedules that conveniently lined up for his new collection. The new shirts feature a raging Barbarian by Burney, a glow-in-the-dark displacer beast by Appalachian folk artist Brian Serway, and a gnarly depiction of Orcus by an artist named Sawblade. Another shirt is a homage to an infamous B.A.D.D (Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons) flyer that stoked the flames of the Satanic panic against the game in the 1980s, while two other pieces feature bizarre D&D ads from old issues of Omni Magazine.

The Omni Magazine t-shirts (an example of which can be seen below) are a particularly interesting shirt, in that they feature the logo of TSR, the company that created Dungeons & Dragons. TSR went out of business in 1997 and the trademark to the logo eventually passed out of the hands of Hasbro, who currently owns the D&D brand. In order to produce the shirt, Manganiello acted as a mediator to clear the use of the TSR logo with its current rights holder. "I'm very proud of that shirt," Manganiello said. "From a legal standpoint, that's a very unique shirt that really couldn't happen anywhere else other than with our line.

While Manganiello is best known for his acting roles in True Blood, Magic Mike, and Justice League, he's also become an unofficial ambassador for Dungeons & Dragons in Hollywood and on late night talk shows. Manganiello opened Death Saves last year, in part to capture an aesthetic from his childhood that was missing in the present day. "I was that kid who listened obsessively to Metallica, and loved Iron Maiden artwork, and listened to Led Zeppelin, and hung out in an arcade, and then obsessively read comic books, and Stephen King novels, and watched horror movies, and fantasy movies, and loved Conan and was obsessed with Frank Frazetta," Manganiello told us. "I know where all this artwork comes from, and so, for me, it was, 'Who better than me? Who knows this stuff better than I do?' Nobody."

Death Saves is a passion project for Manganiello, and he takes a very active role in commissioning artwork for the streetwear line and promoting it at major conventions like SDCC, NYCC, and Gen Con. "This is an art project," Magnaniello told us." I set out to create a museum full of heavy metal fantasy art, and that's exactly what's happening." He also points out that Death Saves is more than just D&D clothes - his line also includes a collection of shirts featuring the work of Frank Frazetta, along with artwork inspired from the wider world of fantasy.

Death Saves has quickly become popular among D&D and fantasy fans. The shirts were one of the predominant clothing choices at D&D Live 2019: The Descent, and you can usually see fans sporting the shirt at gaming conventions and stores. "I'm really glad," Manganiello said when asked about the success of Death Saves. "I'm over the moon to know that there are droves of people out there who appreciate this same type of artwork as I do. Because growing up, I was told I was a weirdo. I certainly felt that way, because of the things that I was into, and I had to go out and find and scour the planet for those other weirdos that were into this stuff that I was into."

"And I think now, because of the Internet, because of the power of social media, I know who these people are, specifically, who like the things that I do, and I can cater to them," Manganiello continued. "Because, prior to a year ago, that really weren't being catered to in that way."

You can check out Death Saves' full Descent line here. Individual t-shirts are available for purchase for $35.00.