Z2, the premier destination for top quality music-based comics and graphic novels, has teamed up with the Ronnie James Dio estate to create a comic book based on the the cover art of DIO‘s classic debut album, “Holy Diver”.

Tentatively due in the summer of 2021, “Ronnie James Dio’s Holy Diver” will be written by Steve Niles, with art by Scott Hampton and cover by Bill Sienkiewicz.

The news of the Dio comic book was broken by Ronnie‘s widow and longtime manager Wendy Dio during an appearance on the latest episode of Syfy Wire‘s “Metal Crush”.

“We have a comic book coming out on Z2 Comics, which I’m very excited about, by Steven Niles,” Wendy said (see video below). “And it’s gonna feature the album cover art of DIO‘s ‘Holy Diver’.”

Niles also appeared on the program to discuss his involvement with “Ronnie James Dio’s Holy Diver”. He stated about the inspiration for the project: “The ‘Holy Diver’ cover by DIO is one of the most iconic heavy metal covers people know. So what I wanna try to do is create the background story for that, so we get the whole story of how that image came to be. It’s really fun to work with. I’m just in the planning stages right now, but the cover is my main inspiration — the cover and the song, but mainly the cover.”

Since his 2010 passing, Wendy has kept Ronnie in the public eye largely through the much-debated Dio hologram tour. More recently, Wendy, in cooperation with BMG, released a series of vinyl reissues spanning Ronnie‘s solo career.

This past May, Wendy told Consequence Of Sound that Ronnie‘s long-awaited autobiography is “on hold” due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe. Legendary rock journalist Mick Wall is working with Wendy on the book, which was partially written before the singer’s death and which was originally scheduled to be published several years ago via MTV Books.

Ronnie James Dio passed away of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 at the age of 67. A few months after his death, MTV Books announced plans to release his memoir, which at the time was going to be called “Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography Of Ronnie James Dio”.

Dio was renowned throughout the world as one of the greatest and most influential vocalists in heavy metal history. The singer, who was recording and touring with BLACK SABBATH offshoot HEAVEN & HELL prior to his illness, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 2009. He underwent chemotherapy and made what is now his final public appearance in April 2010 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles.

Also tentatively due in 2021 is a documentary that will cover Dio‘s career from his early days with ELF to his final project, HEAVEN & HELL. It is the first documentary about Dio to be fully authorized by the artist’s estate. BMG is both financier and executive producer of the film.

Z2 has worked across genres to deliver an authentic experience to diverse audiences. Some of the publisher’s best-selling books include “Apocrypha: The Legend Of Babymetal”, “Yungblud Presents: The Twisted Tales Of The Ritalin Club” and “Eden: A Skillet Graphic Novel”, alongside debut works of graphic fiction by Dan Auerbach (THE BLACK KEYS), Andy Biersack (BLACK VEIL BRIDES), DJ Paul Oakenfold, Internet sensation Poppy, jazz trumpeter Dave Chisholm and others.

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