AKRON, Ohio -- When Matt Horak isn't creating the artwork that will embellish effects pedals used by acts like Speedy Ortiz, the Melvins and Modest Mouse, the EarthQuaker Devices lead artist is busy working on comics of his own. Inevitably, the two passions combined. The Akron company just launched their new comic, "Octo Skull."

Since joining the EarthQuaker Devices team four years ago, Horak has been responsible for the artwork seen on many of their pedals. Each device is pieced together by hand at their Akron headquarters, which was founded in 2005 by former Black Keys tour manager Jamie Stillman.

Special effects

EarthQuaker's pedals have become synonymous with their colorful details, from imagery like a slightly sinister octopus arm (the octave up Tentacle) to a wizard (the Afterneath reverb pedal). That includes equipment like the Terminal, a fuzzal pedal with a stark, black-and-white rendering of the Terminal Tower.

"It's fun to come up with the ideas of iconic images to put on the pedals," says Horak. "And then to have something you designed be stepped on all over the world is pretty mind-blowing."

In the past year, they debuted six pedals at once, such as the fiery black and rust red Bellows transistor and vintage treasure chest-adorned distortion pedal Acapulco Gold.

"It's fun to make them look as good as they sound," he says.

But while Horak was preparing for the big roll out, he was also burning the midnight oil to put the finishing touches on a project of his own, his comic "The Covenant." He also has a monster hunter adventure co-created with Corey Fryia, "Dr. Crowe," slated to be published soon.

Horak, a self-taught artist, discovered his love for comics at 12 years old. It was around the same time he started getting into music.

"For as long as I knew comics existed, that's what I wanted to do," says Horak. "It's the best thing for telling stories. You can control all of it; you can do anything you want. It's whatever you can pull off."

"Octo Skull"

Horak describes "Octo Skull" as an adventure story about righting a wrong. The catch: The characters and settings are all inspired by the names of EarthQuaker pedals.

"I was mulling the idea over since I started at EarthQuaker, and then I started to assign names to different characters and the narrative just began piecing itself together," he says.

The story opens in the haunted canyon Ghost Echo, lifted from the name of the reverb pedal, where dead warriors lay. The main character, the legendary warrior Octo Skull, is on a quest through the Ghost Echo to defend the world from a demonic invasion at the hands of the merciless Hoof Reaper, a character named after their fuzz pedal of the same name and spin-off, Cloven Hoof.

Assisting with colors will be Chris O'Halloran ("Star Wars Rebels," "Star Trek: Waypoint"), while letters will be done by artist Crank ("Rick and Morty," "Battlepug").

Four chapter are planned. The first five pages will be part of its debut, with additional pages being revealed every Tuesday and Thursday. There will also be a soundtrack of all original music featuring EarthQuaker Devices artists.