Poppy creates a new original subverted superhero epic of teen angst and vengeance with writer Ryan Cady artist Norzine Lama in POPPY PRESENTS: TIT TAT.

The press release follows:

Media Release -- Z2 Comics is proud to announce Poppy Presents: Tit Tat, the third collaboration between the musical auteur and publisher. Whereas the two previous graphic novels starred the breakout metal/punk/pop pioneer as the lead antihero, this new outing features an original story and characters created by Poppy.

The graphic novel revolves around Lydia, a teenager with mysterious psionic powers. Her only tether to reality is her best friend—amateur rockstar Marigold Sykes, who's barely better at navigating bullies and boy trouble. But when local girls start disappearing, can Lydia and her freak talents offer new hope? Or will her growing rage burn all bridges, leaving tears and regret?

"Having been the main character in the first two volumes, I adored the chance to create my own horror opus with Ryan and Norzine. Tit Tat merges superpowers, suspense, and weird fiction into a bombshell graphic novel," Poppy explains.

Due in Spring 2023, the graphic novel reunites Poppy with co-writer Ryan Cady (Batman: Urban Legends, Winter Guard) who collaborated with the musician on Poppy: Genesis 1 and Poppy's Inferno, and Norzine Lama, who provided art on the latter sequel. Norzine also provides cover art.

"Every time we put together one of these graphic novels, Poppy has some wild new ideas—and I love them. We really wanted to get bloody this time and escalate the horror factor. We've been taking inspiration from Junji Ito, Stephen King, and director Ana Lily Amirpour, diving into the brutality of being a teenage girl," co-writer Cady continues. "It's not just about blood (though we certainly have that), but the nightmares that come from anger and being othered—the ways that you can twist that violence back on the world."

Poppy has served as a surreal force of pop-art and genre-melting music since debuting in 2014 as a streaming sensation. Throughout her musical career, Poppy's music has stretched the boundaries of pop, electro, metal, punk, and industrial into a hypnotic melange that's garnered millions of fans the world over. Poppy is the first and only woman to be nominated for a GRAMMY in a metal category, recognized for her song "BLOODMONEY" at the 2021 ceremony. Earlier this month, Poppy released the Stagger EP on Republic and Lava Records, featuring her adrenaline-doused punk single "FYB."

Z2 Comics and Poppy present Tit Tat in standard hardcover and deluxe hardcover editions, set to release Spring 2023. The deluxe hardcover will come with three art prints from Alexandria Walsh and Andrea Yewon. Oversized platinum editions will come signed by Poppy and come with an elegant slipcase, the art prints, a charm bracelet, and a personal letter written by Poppy.

Preorder now at https://z2comics.com/poppy3

About Poppy:

Poppy is everything you imagine and everything you can't imagine all at once. She's made of nightmares and dreams. She's fragile and abrasive. She's runway-ready and moshpit-ready. She's as real as it gets, but she's as otherworldly as can be. She's always changing, but she's still simply Poppy.

That's why she's quietly incited the sort of underground revolution that popular culture needs to move forward, and it continues with her 2022 Stagger EP [LAVA/Republic Records] and much more to come on the horizon.

"Poppy is to-be-determined," she says. "The art you make should have intention to it, but you don't need to push any sort of narrative. Poppy doesn't have a definition."

As such, she has no regard for convention, genres, labels, assumptions, or expectations either. Instead, she eclipses all of them in the flames of an intensely uncompromising creative spirit with no rival. By burning everything down and building a vision of her own out of the ashes, she represents a future where high art and high fashion equal subversion of the highest order. Following a quiet grind, she reached critical mass with I Disagree. Beyond tallying 100 million-plus streams, it concluded 2020 on year-end lists by Upset [#1], Revolver, Popbuzz, Kerrang!, and more as she graced the covers of NME, Revolver, Upset, Kerrang!, and Tush. Standout "BLOODMONEY" even garnered a GRAMMY® nod for "Best Metal Performance," lifting her to rarified air as the "first-ever solo female artist nominated in the category." At the same time, she electrified the stage at the GRAMMY® Awards.

Throughout 2021, Poppy only maintained her momentum with the EAT (NXT Soundtrack) EP, and Flux (album). She steered the vision entirely—from the aesthetic to personally directing multiple videos. Casting a shadow over multiple forms of media, she has also penned two graphic novels, Genesis One and Poppy's Inferno, and her short film I'm Poppy premiered at Sundance Film Festival during 2019.

During December of 2021, she carefully created what would become Stagger. In fits of emotion and inspiration, she pulled ideas from a handwritten journal accompanied by her own visual illustrations. Absorbing this energy, her unfiltered words dictated the direction of the ensuing project.

"I wrote the songs in a condensed period of time, and I was capturing a very raw emotion that I'll never return to now."

She introduced the EP with "FYB." Clocking in at under two minutes, the track seesaws between gritty guitar and a singsong vocal conjuration as she breathes pure fire on the refrain, "Fuck the world, it'll just fuck you back."

"It's very satisfying to scream, 'Fuck the world'," she exclaims. "At the time, I felt like I wanted the asteroid to hit the world and set it on fire."

Elsewhere, "Shapes" glides on an up-tempo punk beat and wavy riff towards a claustrophobic chorus, "I'm changing shapes; I'm a work-in-progress."

"Someone is forcing you into a small space and backing you against a wall," she reveals. "Any step you believe you're making forward is actually a step in the wrong direction in the other person's eyes. For a large part of the situation I was in, my breaths were really shallow, and I couldn't lift my head as high as I would. Once it was over, I got my legs again."

Then, there's "Pocket." Haunting vocals crash into a tidal wave of guitar as she confesses, "I forgot how to stand 'cause I stood for you." In many ways, the title track "Stagger" bottles the catharsis at the heart of the project. An ominous sample practically chokes the glitchy production as her high-register hypnotizes in a twinkling chorus.

"Stagger is defined as an unsteady step in motion," she says.

Ultimately, Poppy steps in her own direction now and forever.

"It's an artist's responsibility to always change," she leaves off. "I don't think I'd want to be in my body if I was repeating the same thing over and over again. I'm only competing with myself. I will continue to write the story until I get tired of the book. Then, I'll write another one."

About Z2 Comics:

Recently dubbed the "Hottest brand in music" by Forbes, Z2 Comics has quickly become the premier destination for authentic graphic novels and collectibles, created in partnership with top-tier artists, musicians and pop-culture icons. Distributed globally via Simon & Schuster, Z2 has produced 50-plus unique graphic novel properties, collaborating with Gorillaz , Blondie, Elvis Presley, Balmain, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Jason Derulo, The Grateful Dead, Machine Gun Kelly, Sublime, Beethoven, RZA, Mötley Crüe, Vince Staples, Cheech & Chong, The Doors, Anthrax, Public Enemy, Ronnie James Dio, King Diamond, All Time Low, Ivan Moody, Yungblud, Cypress Hill, Babymetal, Major Lazer, RZA, Alter Bridge, Sturgill Simpson, Poppy, John Lee Hooker, and Charlie "Bird" Parker. Learn more at Z2comics.com, and follow us on Instagram (@z2comics) and Twitter (@z2comics).