A few weeks ago Marvel released images from their Hip-Hop variant cover line showing iconic hip-hop album covers redone with comic characters. Dr. Dre’s The Chronic becomes Dr. Strange’s The Mystic and Deadpool vs. Thanos becomes the two fisted symbol for Run The Jewels. While it may seem like an odd choice to mix the worlds of music and comic books, it’s not the first (nor weirdest) time they’ve crossed over.

A Disco Record Company Helped To Create A Mutant Hero

In the late '70s Disco was still a thing that, like Richard Dawson, refused to die. Looking to create a cross media star, Casablanca Records commissioned Marvel Comics to create a comic book character with Disco Powers (I wish I was making this up). The original plan was to create a cross media superstar that would be a comic book hero, a disco superstar and a movie starlet. That’s right, a record company wanted to create a comic book hero—with Disco Powers mind you (whatever in the shit that means)—that they would then find an actual human to portray in real life that would record Disco records with and, only the 1970s could imagine this, then go on to star in their own Saturday Night Fever-inspired films backed by Filmworks studios. The result was a mutant named Dazzler.

Dazzler was a singer with the ability to wow crowds with her light powers (honestly the '70s were weird in a way that’s hard to explain) who ended up turning into a bonafide superhero even after the cross-media promotion fell out. Over the years, she’s managed to be a pivotal member of the X-men, The Avengers and the forthcoming A-force. So I guess even some remnants of the Disco era have a viable shelf life; unlike John Travolta.

Kiss Turned A Comic Book Into A Biological Weapon

On the list of things that I’ll never even begin to understand (just above Carrot Top’s fame) is the rabid devotion of KISS fans. Known as the Kiss Army, the long standing fan community has continued, beyond all reasonable expectation or understanding of good taste, to support a group of mediocre talents whose sole skill is not their ability to rock, but their ability to sell out. Over their 42 years of alleged “rocking” Kiss has managed to do one thing better than any other “band,” and that is appease their fan base by plastering everything that isn’t tied down with their image.

The sad thing about this is that The Kiss Army ate this shit up like Kanye’s ego eats compliments. T-shirts, lunch boxes, action figures, bumper stickers; if there’s a single dollar left in a fan’s pocket, KISS wants to get their slimy hands on it. Which is why they commissioned a comic book of their “amazing” exploits. Not ones to pay lip service to their fans, however, Kiss decided that the comic book should be a true collectors item. Which is why, one would assume, after little debate and even less forethought, each member of the band contributed a vial of their own blood to be mixed into the printing ink. Given the fact that Gene Simmons alone claims to have bedded 4,800 women, along with whatever mental deficiency caused Peter Criss to paint his face like a cat amongst cosmic rockers; a comic book laced with the blood of sexually promiscuous 1970s rockstars would be considered a terrorist act this day and age.

Billy Ray Cyrus Is A Time Traveling Adventurer And A Danger To Children

Many many years ago Billy Ray Cyrus was a bona fide international star whose job didn’t involve pimping out, or apologizing for, his daughter. As a one hit wonder aiming to capitalize on what was likely his very brief stint in the spotlight—and because comic books weren’t a very revered art form at the time—Billy Ray Cyrus was put into a comic book (it was the early '90s man, everything was sideways and wrong). In this two-part, single issue, Billy Ray, imbued with the power of the mullet, takes several of his under-aged fans on adventures to fight ghosts on the open prairie and back in time to face a dragon.

In adventure one, Billy Ray randomly happens upon two teens at a historical fort—where they’ve just seen a ghost—as he’s out riding his horse. (Because that’s what you do when you’re an international star on a strict touring schedule—wander off with a horse to ride the open plains and insert yourself into the personal drama of youngsters.) Seeing as how Scooby and the rest of the gang aren’t around to solve the mystery, Mr. Cyrus invites them to his concert and then takes them on an adventure to uncover the secret of the ghost on the plains. With their pre-arranged parents' consent mind you.

The second story in this very same issue (honestly how much Billy Ray Cyrus goodness can you cram into a single comic) involves two kids stowing away in Billy Ray’s touring bus after a concert. The bus gets pulled into a mystical fog and dragged back in time where Billy Ray, with the assistance of two underage stowaways, fights on behalf of an Authorian king to defeat a dragon. People were paid money to create this. Actual human money. The kind that you use to buy groceries and stuff.

Kid n Play Want To Be Kung Fu Masters

In the late '80s/early '90s Kid n’ Play were a verifiable thing. They were a rap duo that transcended their albums to create movies, TV shows and even a Saturday morning cartoon. Not content to end their cash-cowing on their fame, they also opted for the type of immortality that only comic books can bring. Much like the story of House Party, it starts with a misunderstanding the leads the rappers to take drastic measures; except this time instead of throwing the bitchenest party ever, they’re going to be Kung Fu Masters. Yes, just like a low-rent Wu Tang.

After a misconstrued advance on a young lady that is immediately rebuffed by her current—and stronger—beaux, masters Kid and Play sign up for Kung Fu classes in order to fight, physically, for their right to party. After undergoing significant trials and tribulations on their road to become instantaneous martials art masters they are faced with the final step in their ascension: facing the teacher’s greatest student—who just so happens to be the boyfriend who confronted them at the beginning of the issue. WHAT A TWIST. Sadly, that is where the story ends because the powers that be very quickly learned that no one actually cared what happened to Kid N’ Play. Just like history.

The Gorillaz

Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin are the pair that conceived the off wall, irreverent, kangaroo loving, beer swilling, defender of the commoner Tank Girl. She was a punk rocker who had a tank, a distaste for authority and penchant for doing only what satisfied her libido or moral compass. Damon Alban was the lead singer of Blur, a british pop/punk band whose "Song 2" you’ve heard at every pep-rally that has ever occurred since 1997. You are, at a very base level, aware of the efforts of all of three of these gentlemen because pop culture is pervasive like a virus.

At some point in time in the waning of both of their careers and, one only assumes a fit of hallucinogenic induced boredom, Alban and Hewlett (roommates at the time) conceived of a etherial band that would only exist as fictional characters, unbound by rules of conventional pop music structure. The Gorillaz would never have a standard roster. They would never perform conventional show. Their initial shows would be cartoons played on a big screen as the actual accompanying band performed in darkness. Over the years though the pseudo-identities of The Gorillaz have taken on a life of their own. Murdoc has hosted pirate radio shows. The story of the band has played out, serial comic style, through their videos. They’ve even, on the very rare occasion, appeared as holograms in concert. What seems like a disjointed fever dream of two mad men has turned into a performance art piece that rivals only the legacy of Ziggy Stardust in straight up weirdness. And that's saying something.