David Banner & 9th Wonder Release Comic

As a promotion for their upcoming 'Death of a Pop Star' collaborative album, David Banner and 9th Wonder have unveiled a new comic series in which the Dirty South duo fight crime using superhuman powers. The first installment of their 'Adventures of Banner & 9th: Death of a Pop Star' comic is titled 'The Shake Down.' It was published on their website this past Thursday as a companion piece to the album, which drops Dec. 21.

"The idea with 'Death of a Pop Star' was never for it to be only an album," Banner explained, of their collaboration. "The aim of this project was to engage the consumer on many different levels. With the music industry being in the state it's in, we as artist need to provide as much intriguing content as possible for our fans. This is the second step in exposing the 'Death of a Pop Star' project on many different platforms."

Banner and 9th are longtime comic fans, and as 9th explained, they see hip-hop and comic books as closely related. "Comics, sneakers and hip-hop have always been close-knit with each other for years and years," the former Little Brother producer said. "This comic strip will show you exactly how CLOSE the relationships between those entities are."

As an introduction to the series, in 'The Shake Down,' Banner fights off a would-be assassin, after performing a show in downtown Memphis. Following the release of the comic, 9th and Banner will be debuting the video for their single 'Be With You,' which features Ludacris, on Dec. 16.

'Death of a Pop Star' also features appearances by Erykah Badu, Anthony Hamilton and Marsha Ambrosious, and hits shelves on Dec. 21.