The fun of movie magic and creature features meets the bitterness of stolen credit and an artist desperate to protect her creations in Hide Nor Hair. The 1950s Hollywood comic from DC Vertigo is written by Adam Smith (Long Walk to Valhalla) and illustrated by Bob Quinn (Kill Your Darlings). The six-issue series begins in January 2027.

Mallory Headley creates monster masks for Galaxy Pictures. She works in the famous Leonard family’s special effects house, designing masks for “the Thing from the Muck, Baba Yaga the Witch, and Koschei the vampire,” per the press release. The monsters have become big stars, the Leonards get all the credit, and Mallory is barely mentioned.

But Mallory knows a big secret, the masks are actually alive, and when they are stolen from her, Mallory makes it her mission to retrieve them. It leads to vengeance and violence throughout Hollywood as Mallory seeks to find what she considers her family, and confronts the industry that has overlooked her.

Vertigo described the book as old Hollywood glamour, the fantasy of creature features, noir, mystery, and horror.

“It’s equal parts intensely frightening and exciting when someone asks you to go out on an artistic limb to find parts of yourself and what you do that you didn’t know were there, and to do it all in front of an audience,” Quinn said. “I tried bizarre techniques, invested in obscure tools – did you know you can ink with burlap? – and pushed myself in directions I probably never would have had it not been for this book. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy creating it.”

“It’s a very special look into what it’s like to be an artist, to be alive, to find out what you’re made of,” Quinn said.

“Making this book with Bob, Lucas [Gattoni], and Andrea [Shea] has been everything I love about creating comics,” Smith said. “Seeing all the characters come to life so vividly and beautifully is, without question, why the comic book medium is so perfect for this kind of story. We wanted to celebrate the strange and beautiful in a way that felt true to us. And I couldn’t be happier that, in doing so, Hide Nor Hair gets to contribute to Vertigo’s storied history. As a particular sort of comics fan, it is absolutely flooring, and I could not be more grateful and excited.”

“We put poor Mallory through the wringer at every opportunity,” Quinn said. “So much of this book is about her either not getting credit for that journey and that effort… or struggling just to do it. Because that’s all you’re trying to do at the end of the day as an artist: understand both yourself and the world around you.”

“I sincerely hope you all love Mallory and her pals as much as I do,” Smith added. “Like all good friends, they came along right when I needed them, and I can’t wait to share them with you!”

Hide Nor Hair #1 features a main cover by Quinn, and variant covers by Reiko Murakami, Jasmine Darnell, and Niko Henrichon. The first issue comes with card stock variants. It will be in comic shops on January 6.