Exclusive Preview: Ghostface Killah’s “12 Reasons to Die” Graphic Novel

Ghostface Killah is taking an unorthodox approach to his tenth studio album, Twelve Reasons to Die, releasing on Soul Temple Records, the newly launched label from Wu-Tang member RZA. He plans on pairing the album with a comic book

“The Rise of the Ghostface Killah” and “The Sure Shot (Parts 1 and Part 2)” has introduced fans to the narrative featuring Tony Starks, who is a soldier for the 12 Delucas, a 1960s-era Italian crime family. The snippets of the album released over the weekend showcased the sonic composition of Los Angeles-based producer/composer Adrian Younge.

Earlier this month, when we spoke to Ghostface at SXSW, it wasn’t hard to believe that he sounded confident about the concept album. “We started with a few tracks first, working on the direction and which way to go, and we started just getting good and more good. Then we just wound up doing 12 records,” he said. “It’s so different. The world is going crazy for the shit. It’s something that I never really did before, but I’m good for writing stories and going into shit.”

Soul Temple and Black Mask Studios have produced a six-issue comic book of the same name. It was written by Matthew Rosenberg and Patrick Kindlon and inspired by classic Spaghetti Western film scores. The release follows Ghostface’s 2009 foray into comics called Cell Block Z.

The folks over at Black Mask Studios have given XXL an exclusive preview of the first issue. Below, you can peep the cover and few selected pages. Twelve Reasons to Die is set to release on April 16.—Eric Diep, with reporting by Jaeki Cho

Previously: Check Out Snippets From Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge’s New Album ’12 Reasons To Die’