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Anyone who’s ever heard the song ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ already knows this, but Def Leppard’s Hysteria is an all-time great album… but, as of spring 2025, it’s also going to be an all-time great graphic novel as well, with the iconic band teaming with Vault Comics’ Headshell imprint to transform the 1987 classic into comic book form. Even better: the book will be co-written by Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen.

Written by Collen and Eliot Rahal, with art from Alex Schlitz and colorist Fabi Marques and letters from Andworld Design, Hysteria will tell the tale of Fox, the frontwoman of indie band Darkside, whose rock and roll drams get more complicated when she inherits a guitar that promises fame, fortune, and more — and, more surprising still, seems to be capable of actually delivering. But what happens when the guitar goes missing just before the band is about to play a gig with Def Leppard…? And where did the guitar really come from, anyway…?

The graphic novel, which will be released in both regular and deluxe editions April 15, 2025, with merch to follow, is the culmination of a lifelong dream for Collen, who’s not just a longtime member of the band — he joined way back in 1982, during the recording of Pyromania — but also a longtime comic book fan.

“Blending music and comics together like this is an incredible and insane dream, and I could not be more thrilled by the work Eliot, Alex, and Vault have put into Hysteria,” Collen said in a statement provided by the publisher, adding that working on the project “has been a joy and one hell of a ride. I know fans are going to love it.”

“From the very beginning, before we had anything, this story felt big,” added co-writer Eliot Rahal. “Phil came to us with a vision, a ton of passion, and the word ‘Hysteria’ — something that has a lot of history for the band. It’s something that carries a lot of meaning. A legacy. And in many ways, that’s what this story is about. The Vault team worked with me tirelessly to help create a framework to capture that spirit. Then… as the team assembled and the art came in… I saw the idea take shape in real-time, and the weight of the project became even more real. I put everything I had into this book because it was clear to me that everyone else also had as well. I’ll be forever grateful for being a part of this project.”

And it is a project, beyond “just” the graphic novel: Collen is involved in the creation of an EP from Darkside to accompany the book’s release, with details to be announced at a later date. Oh, and we mentioned merch above, didn’t we? Here’s a sneak peek of what that might look like…

Hysteria, from Def Leppard and Headshell, is coming April 2025. In the meantime, Def Leppard is co-headling The Summer Stadium Tour 2024 with Journey; it kicked off on July 6th in St. Louis, MO at Busch Stadium and will run through 24 cities, from coast-to-coast, ending on September 8th in Denver, Colorado at Coors Field.

Get a fuller San Diego Comic-Con experience with a full rundown of our SDCC 2024 stories, as well as all the big SDCC 2024 news, how to make the most out of San Diego Comic-Con, and the real burning question: how much does it actually cost to go to SDCC?