This Summer, EC Comics returns with a vengeance at Oni Press – and, though times may have changed, the lettering remains the same! Oni has announced that Eisner Award-nominated and legendary letterer Richard Starkings will be joining the groundbreaking publisher’s upcoming resurrection of the notorious EC Comics line in the pages of July’s Epitaphs From the Abyss #1and August’s Cruel Universe #1 to redefine EC’s iconic “Leroy” lettering style for the new millennium.
Starkings has been tasked with recapturing the regimented form, grit, and texture of one of EC Comics’ most instantly recognizable traits: the publisher’s iconic “Leroy” lettering style – so-named for the mechanical lettering apparatus utilized by EC in the publisher’s 1950s heydey in lieu of hand lettering.
It all begins EC Comics surges out of the grave with a jugular-pounding, 40-page horror milestone on July 24th in Epitaphs From the Abyss #1 – featuring four self-contained exercises in adrenaline from Brian Azzarello and Vlad Legostaev, Chris Condon and Peter Krause, J. Holtham and Jorge Fornés, and Stephanie Phillipsand Phil Hester, and more deadly surprises — including the first glimpse of EC’s new cast of horror hosts . . .!
And then . . . Two short weeks later on August 7th, bizarre tales of time and space enter our dimensional plane on Cruel Universe #1 – featuring 40, all-new pages of destructive wonder with cosmic implications from the irradiated imaginations of Hugo Award nominee Corinna Bechko and Caitlin Yarsky, Chris Condon and Jonathan Case, Eisner Award nominee Matt Kindt and Kano, and Edgar Award winner Ben H. Winters and Artyom Topilin!
In 2024, the most notorious name in terror is back! EC Comics lives again at Oni Press!
THIS SUMMER, THE MOST NOTORIOUS NAME IN TERROR IS BACK FROM THE GRAVE . . . AND FUELED BY VENGEANCE! Oni Press has announced details about Epitaphs From the Abyss #2– the second shock-fueled installment of the all-new horror series resurrecting the eternal legacy of EC Comics with brand-new tales of terror and torment from the most depraved talents comics has to offer!
On August 21st, EC Comics proudly presents another epitaph that’s good until the last balloon pops! In our next terrifying festival of fright from the most infamous and influential comic book publisher of all time, prepare yourself for three ALL-NEW tales of depraved intention and traumatic tension in the immortal EC tradition—culled from the fingertips of death-addled writers Jason Aaron, Matt Kindt, and writer/artist Tyler Crook, and forever wedded to the bloodstained brushstrokes of artists Klaus Janson, and Jorge Fornes!
THREE UNRELENTING NAIL-BITERS FROM FIVE MASTERS OF THE COMICS TRADE . . . You’d have to CRAZY to miss this issue—or DEAD!
Corrupted even further by the malign influence of cover artists Lee Bermejo, Adam Pollina, Jay Stephens, and Rian Hughes, EC Comics’ terrifying return barrels forward with fearsome velocity on August 21s!
From the publisher that drove Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Haunt of Fear, and many more into the depraved hearts of an unsuspecting world, the immortal EC Comics returns on July 24th with its first bold and bloody new NEW series in nearly 70 years! In partnership with William M. Gaines Agent, Inc., Oni Press has revealed the complete line-up of “all-killer” writers, artists, and cover artists behind Epitaphs From the Abyss #1 – a 40-page testament to terror ushering in the full-scale resurrection of comics’ most infamous and influential publishing house…
In our first extra-sized, 40-page dose of fear, witness shocking tales of torment and tension in the immortal EC tradition—as wrenched from the grave by the vile intentions of acclaimed writers Brian Azzarello, Chris Condon, J. Holtham, and Stephanie Phillips and realized into bloody reality by “all-slaughter” artists Jorge Fornes, Phil Hester, Peter Krause, and Vlad Legostaev.
What the Comics Code Authority couldn’t kill has only made it stronger… EC Comics enters the 21st century with a jugular-pounding horror milestone that not only features four self-contained exercises in adrenaline from Brian Azzarello & Vlad Legostaev, Chris Condon & Peter Krause, J. Holtham & Jorge Fornes, and Stephanie Phillips & Phil Hester, and more — but also the first glimpse of EC’s new cast of horror hosts…and a razor-sharp gallery of covers inspired by the eternal artistry of the EC’s infernal legacy with talents including Lee Bermejo, Andrea Sorrentino with Dave Stewart, Jay Stephens, Rian Hughes, and Dustin Weaver.
Oni Press has announced a publishing partnership with William M. Gaines Agent, Inc. that will see the full-fledged return of EC Comics to comic shop and bookstore shelves worldwide with a slate of all-new series beginning in the summer of 2024.
Beginning with Epitaphs From the Abyss #1 in July andCruel Universe #1 in August – the first official EC Comics series produced in nearly seven decades – Oni’s ambitious EC Comics publishing program will be overseen by Oni Press President & Publisher Hunter Gorinson and Editor-in-Chief Sierra Hahn in partnership with Cathy Gaines Mifsud and Corey Mifsud, the daughter and grandson of legendary EC Publisher William M. Gaines and administrators of William M. Gaines Agent, Inc.
Edited by Hahn, Oni’s curated line of EC titles – which will include at least two series on a monthly basis from July 2024 onward in the genres of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and more – will feature contributions from a rotating cast of high-profile comics talents that includes writers Jason Aaron, Brian Azzarello, Rodney Barnes, Corinna Bechko, Cullen Bunn, Christopher Cantwell, Cecil Castellucci, Chris Condon, Joshua Hale Fialkov, J. Holtham, Jeff Jensen, Matt Kindt, Sean Lewis, Stephanie Phillips, Jay Stephens, Zac Thompson, Ben H. Winters, and more; artists Kano, Peter Krause, Leomacs, Malachi Ward, Dustin Weaver, and more; designer Rian Hughes; alongside covers from Lee Bermejo, Greg Smallwood, J.H. Williams III, and more to be revealed in the weeks and months ahead.
Founded by M.C. “Max” Gaines – often cited as one of the original creators of the comic book format – as “Educational Comics” in 1944, EC spearheaded a watershed evolution in the craft, quality, and power of the comics medium under Max’s son, William M. Gaines, following the elder Gaines’ sudden death in 1947. Rechristening his father’s creation as “Entertaining Comics,” publisher, editor, and writer William M. Gaines recruited one of the most legendary creative stables in the history of the comics medium – including future Eisner Hall of Fame inductees Johnny Craig, Reed Crandall, Jack Davis, Will Elder, Al Feldstein, Frank Frazetta, Bernard Krigstein, Harvey Kurtzman, Joe Orlando, John Severin, Marie Severin, Al Williamson, Wally Wood, and many more – to oversee the creation of a revolutionary slate of new series that would soon grow to includeTales From the Crypt, Mad Magazine, Weird Sience, Two-Fist Tales, and more.
Widely celebrated for fearlessly confrontational stories that were as creatively innovative as they were culturally subversive – confronting racial and gender inequality, militarism, and environmental degradation in ways that would anticipate both the burgeoning counterculture and Civil Rights movements – EC’s urge to probe the darkness lurking beyond the edges of post-war America through tales of horror, science fiction, humor, and war earned the company millions of readers … and established a new high watermark for one of the first definitively American artforms: the comic book.
However, EC’s reign at the forefront of the American comic book industry – a period during which it eclipsed Marvel, DC, and Archie with sales of 10 million comics per year – would come crashing down in 1954 as an anti-comics moral panic swept America, inspiring book burnings, police surveillance, and a Congressional investigation that would see William M. Gaines’ testimony broadcast live in households across the country. This pro-censorship movement soon culminated in the creation of the Comics Code Authority, a sanitizing regulatory group whose guidelines were specifically tailored to remove EC’s comics from newsstands. EC’s final comics – until now – were published in 1956, and the hugely popular MAD was re-formatted as a magazine to escape Code scrutiny. Even so, the untimely death of EC could not erase the company’s far-reaching impact, having already inspired a young generation of readers – including John Carpenter, Guillermo del Toro, Matt Groening, James Gunn, George Lucas, Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, The Ramones, George Romero, Steven Spielberg, and hundreds more – who have cited EC’s iconoclastic brand of storytelling as a deep and primordial influence.
