Verotika #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeVerotika #1 marks the public debut of Verotik — Glenn Danzig's adult-oriented horror-erotica imprint — and is the first comic book to feature the characters who would become Dalkiel and Satanika, the demonic figures around whom much of the publisher's mythology would be built. The lead story, 'Obscenity,' presented the unnamed origin of a hellborn demoness (retroactively established as Satanika) and her demonic progenitor Dalkiel, seeding what grew into Verotik's longest-running character franchise across two dedicated Satanika series, spin-off one-shots, and an animated pilot by Madhouse. Beyond its own mythology, the issue is a document of the mid-1990s independent landscape: it paired a rock musician turned publisher with two very different creative voices — Simon Bisley at the height of his painted-comics notoriety and a then-rising Grant Morrison contributing 'The Braille Encyclopaedia' alongside a young Ted Naifeh, an anthology combination that would have been impossible at any mainstream publisher of the era.
"Obscenity" kicks off Verotika #1 with a chilling, mythic horror that begins in the wake of a fallen angel’s violent crime—Dalkiel’s rape and murder of a mortal woman. The spilled blood and semen that stain the earth awaken a grotesque miracle, birthing an unnamed female demon, Satanika, from a worm in the dirt. Written by Glenn Danzig and brought to life with grotesque, hyper-detailed art by Simon Bisley—both in pencils and inks—and colored by Steve Oliff, the cover by Bisley alone captures the issue’s unsettling, visceral tone.
In the grim aftermath of a celestial atrocity, a grotesque fusion of blood and semen ignites a terrible transformation in a worm, birthing a nameless female demon—Satanika—whose existence is a twisted echo of the violence that created her.
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Verotik was founded in August 1994 by Glenn Danzig, the name itself a portmanteau of 'violent' and 'erotic' that telegraphed the imprint's entire editorial mission. The company launched under editor-in-chief Valarie Jones of the New Comics Group, with writer-publisher Hart D. Fisher also serving as an editor in 1994–1995. Verotika #1 was the imprint's flagship first release, structured as an adult anthology that let Danzig script alongside established or emerging talent rather than carrying the line alone; the decision to open with both Simon Bisley — already well known for his ABC Warriors and Lobo work — and Grant Morrison demonstrated Danzig's genuine ambition as a comics publisher rather than a vanity exercise.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published October 1994 by Verotik; a 36-page, full-color, adults-only anthology.
- Contains two stories: 'Obscenity,' written by Glenn Danzig with art by Simon Bisley and colors by Steve Oliff/Olyoptics; and 'The Braille Encyclopaedia,' written by Grant Morrison with art by Ted Naifeh and colors by Ominous Color.
- Cover art and the book's visual flagship identity established by Simon Bisley; title-page centerpiece art by Craig Hamilton.
- The 'Obscenity' story features the unnamed demonic characters who would become Dalkiel and Satanika — notably, neither character is identified by name in this issue; Satanika's origin here depicts her as born from the commingled seed of the fallen angel Dalkiel and the blood of a murdered mortal woman.
- The story was later reprinted (with recoloring) in Satanika #0 (1995), where the Satanika title and name were formally applied, retroactively establishing Verotika #1 as the origin's first publication.
- The Satanika dedicated series — which grew out of these characters — became one of Verotik's two longest-running titles alongside Verotika itself, which ran for 15 issues.
- Grant Morrison and Ted Naifeh's 'The Braille Encyclopaedia' represents one of Naifeh's earliest-known published comic book credits, predating his better-known work on Gloomcookie.
- The Verotika anthology later served as the direct source material for a 2019 anthology horror film written, directed, and scored by Danzig and released by Cleopatra Entertainment.
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Reprinted in Satanika #0 (1995), ICKS #7 (Premiere Edition) (2025)
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