Founder of Public Enemy Chuck D is collaborating on the original graphic novel APOCALYPSE 91: THE REVOLUTION NEVER SLEEPS With Z2 Comics.

The press release follows:

Media Release -- Z2, along with UMe/Def Jam, announces the first-ever graphic novel from hip hop icon Chuck D, Apocalypse 91: The Revolution Never Sleeps, the latest in the publisher's series of graphic celebrations of music icons which pair some of most notable names in comics with music luminaries from all genres. The book will be available in November, marking the 30th anniversary of the album that inspired it, Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Black. Nominated for a GRAMMY Award, the album hit #4 on the Billboard 200 chart and featured powerful anthems "Shut 'Em Down," "Can't Truss It" and "By the Time I Get To Arizona," a fiery retort to the state governor's refusal to recognize the new Martin Luther King, Jr national holiday.

"For the past few years, and especially during lockdown, I've been drawn back to my roots in visual arts," says Chuck D. "This graphic novel is a new take on the artwork I've been making, growing naturally from the paint and pens that express what's on my mind and reflect what's happening around us. It was a real honor to have my illustrations alongside the who's who of comic book artists." In recent years, Chuck's visual artwork has appeared in solo and group shows in galleries throughout the world and is part of the permanent collection at The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum Of African American History And Culture, including his design of the renowned Public Enemy logo. On Friday, he offers his new NFT collection on Foundation, declaring NFTs as "the new canvas" for visual artists. Chuck is a graduate of New York's Adelphi University with a B.F.A. in Graphic Design.

Apocalypse 91: Revolution Never Sleeps begins in 1991 and explodes into far-flung futures with a series of speculative fiction stories by the industry's leading creators, including Evan Narcisse (Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Black Panther), Regine Sawyer (Dark Nights: Death Metal), Che Grayson (Batman: Urban Legends), Troy-Jeffrey Allen (Villain: All Caps), and many more. Revolutionaries in every millennium stand up and fight the power.

The poignant and inspired graphic novel inspired by PE's 1991 album, will be released in the fall of its thirtieth anniversary with multiple editions available to order now direct from Z2 Comics, including limited edition vinyl and prints exclusively available to the deluxe and super deluxe editions. In conjunction, UMe will release a special limited-edition version of this icon LP, originally released in 1991 by Def Jam Recordings. Standard softcover and hardcover versions available in finer comic, book, and record stores everywhere in November. Preorder your copy today.

About Z2 Comics:
Z2 Comics is the premier destination for official music-related graphic novels, created in partnership with top-tier artists, musicians, directors and pop-culture icons. Distributed globally via Simon & Schuster, Z2 has collaborated with such diverse artists as Blondie, Elvis Presley, Gorillaz, Machine Gun Kelly, Sublime, Yungblud, Cypress Hill, Babymetal, Major Lazer, Rico Nasty and Paul Oakenfold as well as debut comic works by Grammy-nominated artists Sturgill Simpson, Poppy and Anthrax. Additionally, the company has tapped top talent for the official graphic biographies of such pop-culture legends as The Grateful Dead, Beethoven and Charlie "Bird" Parker. In 2021, Z2 will publish graphic novel tie-ins to essential albums by The Doors, Ronnie James Dio, King Diamond, All Time Low with many more to be announced in the coming months.

About Public Enemy:
Public Enemy have proven that rebellion is more than the sound of a musical genre, the culture of a social class or the color of a skin; it is an unmovable, unmistakable state of mind and heart. PE is hellbent on creating change where it is needed most. Determined to give voice to those who have long been ignored, unafraid to question institutional injustices, and intent on challenging any and all obstacles to social justice, Public Enemy have resisted with unprecedented intensity and eloquence.

Last year, the group released the critically acclaimed album "What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down," reuniting them with their original record label, Def Jam and featuring "Fight The Power: Remix 2020" with Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, Jahi, YG and Questlove. The album also included guest appearances by Mike D and Ad-Rock of Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, Run-DMC, Ice-T, PMD, George Clinton and more. Their classic albums are the soundtrack to hip-hop's rise as a form of social and political commentary. 1988's It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back was, and still is, one of the most important records ever made, with Rolling Stone recently naming it the #15 Greatest Album of All Time and The New York Times added it to their list of "25 Most Significant Albums of the Last Century." Fear of a Black Planet--also named on the Rolling Stone list--features PE anthems including the original version of "Fight The Power," "911 Is a Joke" and "Welcome To The Terrordome." Most recently, SPIN Magazine named them to the #9 position on their "Most Influential Artists of the Last 35 Years" list. PE was inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 and received The Recording Academy's "Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2020.

About UMe:
Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) is the global catalog and special markets division of Universal Music Group. Working closely in concert with UMG's record labels, territories and operating companies, UMe provides a frontline approach to catalog management, an emphasis on strategic marketing initiatives and creating opportunities in new technologies.