MAURICE & THE METAL CRANKS IT TO 11 IN ISSUE #5, HEAVY METAL MAYHEM MEETS TMNT-STYLE COMIC BOOK ACTION

Aaron Sammut and Lauren Marshall unleash a heavy-metal-powered battle for individuality as the acclaimed indie comic returns to Kickstarter with its loudest chapter yet.

Plug in, press play, and prepare to have your face melted.

Maurice & The Metal, the riff-roaring comic book series created and written by Aaron Sammut, returns with a thunderous fifth issue featuring artwork by Lauren Marshall, whose credits include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers: Prime, and The Phantom. The campaign officially launched on Kickstarter on July 7, 2026, and is now live for fans ready to support Maurice’s biggest, loudest, and most personal adventure yet.

Back Maurice & The Metal Issue #5 on Kickstarter

The first four issues may have set the stage, but Issue #5 is where this band finally kicks down the venue doors, blows out the speakers, and discovers what its music is really trying to say. Maurice has survived the void and found his purpose or at least something resembling one. Armed with strange new abilities he barely understands and a Walkman possessed by the restless spirit of a Black Sabbath roadie, he is beginning to realize that having power means carrying responsibility. Unfortunately, responsibility is not exactly Maurice’s strongest track.

While he attempts to understand his new role, something sinister is spreading across the Bay Area. A strange wave of gloom has begun consuming local kids, carried by an infectious new sound and the sudden rise of a mysterious gothic band known as The Vamplifiers.

At the center of the growing phenomenon is V, a magnetic frontman whose influence reaches far beyond music. His songs do not simply attract listeners. They flatten emotions, erase individuality, and transform self-expression into something manufactured, controlled, and dangerously uniform. Maurice soon discovers that his first true battle is not against a traditional monster. It is against conformity wearing rebellion’s leather jacket.

Every guitar riff makes Maurice stronger. Every pounding beat charges his abilities. The louder the music becomes, the more powerful he gets but that power comes with a brutal cost. The further Maurice pushes his abilities, the further he drifts from the reason he fell in love with music in the first place: the simple joy of playing it.

Issue #5 turns that internal conflict into a full-volume showdown, pitting freedom against control, individuality against uniformity, and raw noise against manufactured silence. Maurice must decide whether he can control his growing power without allowing it to distort the voice he is fighting to protect.

“Maurice & The Metal has always been about finding your own sound in a world that wants to flatten everyone into the same flat note,” said Sammut. “Issue 5 is where that idea gets its loudest, most personal test yet. This is the issue where Maurice either finds his groove or gets swallowed by the static.”

Marshall amplifies that conflict through bold colors, kinetic linework, and artwork that practically vibrates off the page. Her experience across comics, public murals, immersive installations, and community-focused art gives the issue a visual scale that feels less like reading a comic and more like standing in the front row of a packed metal show. Every page carries movement. Every panel has rhythm. Every impact lands like a drum solo nobody warned the neighbors about.

At its core, Maurice & The Metal remains a high-voltage coming-of-age story about identity, rebellion, creativity, and the power music holds to shape who we become. When Maurice plugs in, he does not simply listen to heavy metal he becomes part of it.

But when a seductive new sound begins controlling emotions and turning individuality into uniformity, Maurice finds himself standing as the last line of defense for self-expression itself. No pressure, kid. Backers supporting the Kickstarter campaign can expect fulfillment to begin in November 2026.

Launch Details

Campaign: Maurice & The Metal Issue #5 – Made of Metal
Status: Live Now
Issue: #5
Expected Fulfillment: November 2026
Kickstarter: Support the campaign here

Follow Maurice & The Metal

Facebook: Maurice & The Metal
Instagram: @mauriceandthemetal
Official Website: Maurice & The Metal

Follow Lauren Marshall and The Marshall Arts

Website: The Marshall Arts
Instagram: @themarshallarts

About Aaron Sammut

Aaron Sammut is a multidisciplinary creative professional whose career spans graphic design, publishing, arts management, marketing leadership, education, and comic book creation. As the creator and writer of Maurice & The Metal, Sammut champions the belief that powerful creative work can begin with one person, one idea, and the determination to turn up the volume.

His work has received multiple industry awards across publishing and design. Sammut is currently available for interviews regarding Maurice & The Metal and its continuing journey.

About Lauren Marshall

Lauren Marshall is an accomplished artist and creative visionary working across comic books, fine art, public murals, immersive installations, and community-driven projects.

Through The Marshall Arts, she has built a global platform around the belief that art should do more than look beautiful—it should connect people, strengthen communities, and create meaningful conversations.

Maurice & The Metal Issue #5 is live now on Kickstarter.

Grab your Walkman, protect your identity, and crank that volume before The Vamplifiers turn everybody into the same boring song.