Tag Archives: craig hurd-mckenney

SDCC 2024: Oni Press reveals four new graphic novels for Spring 2025

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In advance of San Diego Comic Con 2024, Oni Press has unveiled a stunning slate of four new original graphic novels for spring 2025 featuring some of the most acclaimed and captivating artistic talents working in the comic book medium today: El Fuego by David Rubín; Soma by Fernando Llor and Carles Dalmau, Station Grand from Xeric Grant winner Craig Hurd-McKenney and Noah Bailey, and an all-new edition of cartoonist Matt Lesniewski’s Eisner Award-nominated debut The Freak. 

EL FUEGO

By David Rubín
In Stores February, 2025

From visionary storyteller David Rubín (Cosmic Detective, Beowulf), El Fuego is a psychological, philosophical, and geographical odyssey through the last remaining days of planet Earth. It is the story of one particular inhabitant, who must decide how much more of himself to give to the greater good before truly finding peace within.

A mass-extinction event is imminent as a giant meteorite is hurtling toward the Earth. Renowned architect Alexander Yorba, entrusted to design a citadel on the Moon which would ensure the survival of humanity, is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Thrust into an existential crisis, Alexander begins to question the validity of his successes, having colluded with the world’s elite to spare only the wealthiest members of society, and grapples with what it means to be a decent person in a decaying world.

His spiritual and moral journey will take him from the Moon to Madrid, by way of New York, Helsinki, Amsterdam, and Rome, where he will have to confront his past choices with those who were his greatest influences, in hopes of finding his way . . . before the end comes.

SOMA

By Fernando Llor & Carles Dalmau
In Stores February 25th, 2025

From writer Fernando Llor (Ojos Grises, Subnormal: Una Historia de Acoso Escolar) and writer/illustrator Carles Dalmau (Lucid Lucy, Cult of the Lamb) comes Soma, a science-fiction adventure about creativity and companionship during times of peril. 

Maya is a comic book artist in the middle of a creative crisis. She’s constantly stressed about deadlines and feels like she’s not doing the type of work she loves. In between trying to fight her writer’s block and doling out advice to her best friend on how to finally land a date, Maya receives an unexpected visitor: Soma, an extraterrestrial alien who crashlands in Maya’s living room. Soma delivers a message to Maya, warning her that an alien invasion from his own kind is fast approaching, and he needs her help to stop it!

STATION GRAND

Craig Hurd-McKenney & Noah Bailey
In Stores March 25th, 2025

From Xeric grant-awarded and Ignatz Award-nominated writer Craig Hurd-McKenney (The Brontës: Infernal Angria) and acclaimed illustrator Noah Bailey (Double Walker, Tremor Dose) comes a gripping sci-fi novella exploring the reaches of space and the human psyche.

Dr. Michael Kinney is light years from Earth, overseeing the terraformation of Venus. Michael is all alone, save for the computer who keeps him company during the 272 day-long orbit from night to day around the sun. And during this time, there is no contact with Mission Control. 

With his circadian rhythms disrupted by his extended stay in deep space, his insomnia peaks. Reality as he knows it comes into question. As Michael struggles to finish his mission, what he thinks he knows will collide with the existential mysteries of the universe: Who am I? Why am I here? Am I alone? Why is this happening to me?

THE FREAK

By Matt Lesniewski
Coming April 15th, 2025

Oni Press is proud to present Eisner Award–nominated creator Matt Lesniewski’s carefully crafted tale of rejection, loss and loathing—now in hardcover for the first time.

Who hasn’t, at some point in their life, felt misunderstood, outcast . . . alone? This is the constant conflict and plight of our eponymously named protagonist. Everywhere he travels, he is met with violence and disgust. But will his trip to the big city, where he hopes to go unnoticed amongst the masses, be any different from the places and experiences he’s had previously? 

Enter the unique and visually expressive mind of writer-artist Matt Lesniewski (Faceless & The Family) in an all-new edition of his debut graphic novel, which received a 2020 Eisner Award nomination. 

Gold Key returns with its first new title Boris Karloff’s Gold Key Mysteries

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Boris Karloff’s Gold Key Mysteries is coming! The new series blends the feel of the classic horror anthology with a modern, ongoing narrative in a way that is sure to excite fans new and old.  To reward early supporters, Gold Key has created a unique, early special edition of issue one available through Kickstarter. This crowdfunding campaign’s pre-launch page is live so individuals can get notified on launch and will go live on March 28, 2023. The special edition offers a one of a kind reading experience peeling back the layers of the creative process to give readers a behind the scenes look into the creative process. The high-quality printing will be akin to that of an artist’s edition. With a hardcover printed exclusively for backers of the Kickstarter campaign, the special edition will be desired among fans and collectors.

Wrapped inside a beautiful cover by Johnny Dombrowski, issue one of Boris Karloff’s Gold Key Mysteries contains three original stories from talented creators including Michael W Conrad, Steve Orlando, Artyom Trakanov, Kelly Williams, Jok, Craig Hurd-Mckenny, Sergey Nazarov, and Kyle Arends. Each issue of this ongoing series will contain complete stories and a continuing narrative, ensuring a satisfying reading experience while building the foundations of a multi-issue storyline to be carried forth in subsequent issues. 

Gold Key Comics originally published nearly 100 issues of the series, Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery, between 1964-1980. This Spring, these two icons return to comics.

Boris Karloff’s Gold Key Mysteries

Review: Some Strange Disturbances

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Some Strange Disturbances

When the words “Victorian England” are usually uttered, visions of Sherlock Holmes and Jane Austen period pieces often cloud the mind. Rarely, in any iteration of these stories, are the existence of other cultures acknowledged, the different portrayal of gender types presented, or even something as commonplace now as sexual orientation mentioned. It’s true that there were shades of progressive thinking in Doyle’s portrayal of Irene Adler and Isadora Klein. Those two are close to contemporary archetypes as Doyle and his famous character can come to modern thinking. In Austen’s stories, she often made strides in portrayals of the complexities of being a woman but didn’t portray queer women or women of color in her stories.

It makes you wonder if England was strictly made up of cisgender Caucasians but history portrays a different story, one that shows a brutal reality for most who is a bearer of either category. Movies and books in recent years have sought to tell a truer picture than what has been historically been shown. As was shown in Amma Asante’s Belle, the true story of mulatto women whose fame spawned from the popularity of a famous painting. The film showcased a complicated story of race, gender roles, and freedom of thought. In Craig Hurd-McKinney, Gervasio, and Carlos Aon’s brilliant Some Strange Disturbances, we get a fine blend of horror, historical fiction, and progressive storytelling which seeks to remix how we look at the era.

We’re taken to 1870 Baltimore, where a young man’s mother has just been deemed insane, because she can see ghosts. 5 years later, we are taken to England, where that young man, Mr. Mayfair, a professional spiritualist, who is grown up and is partaking in a seance, one which threatens the well being of a patron, and which turns out all to be a hoax to lure connoisseurs of this “parlor trick” out of their money. Everything changes when one of the patrons asks for his professional help in finding out whether their son is possessed by the devil, which leads to a different client dying from a freak rodent related incident. As he visits Lord Duncan, it reminds him of his mother, before she died, and the demons that haunted her until she died. This is where Ms. Quinton, who is part of a choir but doesn’t feel like she belongs, as her family’s upbringing in Africa and connection to her roots, gives her a knowledge of self and identity, but because of gender roles shackles her to the time’s reality. As we find out that what possesses Lord Duncan is the Madwoman Of Chaillot. Mayfair has another threat is the form of Ms. Maylie, who just happens to be the Rat King, and who has been killing anyone who has come close to spoiling her plot.

Overall, an engaging and enthralling story that expertly mixes historical fiction and horror into something devastatingly beautiful. The story by Hurd-McKinney is harrowing, smart, and diverse. The art by the creative team is awe-inspiring. Altogether, a story that probably more accurate to life than any Doyle, Austen or Dickens book can ever depict.

Story: Craig Hurd-McKenney Art: Gervasio and Carlos Aon
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy