Kiss your rifle and swallow your fear, because EC Comics is rotating back into combat for the 21st century’s first dose of two-fisted fury with staggering new tales of war and fighting men in our next giant-sized special! EC Shellshock #1 is a fun debut that brings back EC’s classic horror and twisted style to the war comic genre.
Featuring four brand-new stories and one reprint, EC Shellshock #1 is an anthology varied in its concepts and ideas delivering tales of war from various time periods. The comic is an interesting one, and like all anthologies, the stories can vary in so many ways.
The issue opens with a more modern story, “Scorched Earth,” taking place in Afghanistan in 2002. It’s an interesting one touching upon the very real burn pits that have caused severe health issues for those who were around them. By John Arcudi, Shawn Martinbrough, and Matt Herms, the comic’s premise is nothing new, but how the story plays out does feel like something different. Readers may think it’ll go in one direction when it doesn’t, resulting in an entertianing opening that ends in unexpected ways.
“Christmas” by Michael W. Conrad and Albert Monteys for me is the highlight of the issue with a very real moment where battling armies paused to celebrate Christmas together. The comic focuses a lot on the perceptions of one army has an the other but it’s depiction of German soldiers builds up sympathy before delivering a subtle and twisted ending. It’s a good one that feels like it almost has a punchline as its final panels play out.
“Blowback” by Julio Anta, David Lapham, and Nick Filardi is a weirdly comedic entry that feels like it might fight in Mad Magazine. A CIA operative goes to a BBQ and… well things get a little explosive. The end absolutely delivers a punchline but the entry has a clear vision of being over the top in its delivery, and it works.
“World of the Wars” is the final new entry for the comic by Benito Cereno, Tom Fowler, and Michelle Madsen. It’s a weird one that follows intergalactic powers as they figure out their disputes with a very familiar world as their place to do it. With three stories grounded in the real world, this addition is an odd one. It’s really entertaining and good but its more sci-fi bent feels out of the place surrounded by much more grounded war stories.
Finally, “Yellow,” by William M. Gaines, Al Feldstein, Jack Davis, and color restoration by Michael Atiyeh is an interesting reprint. It’s high quality in its storytelling but fascinating to read it after four modern stories proceeded it. It’s very different in its style and you can see how much things has changed in comic storytelling techniques.
The comic is an entertaining one overall and for those who like war comics but don’t need them to be detailed with accurate facts, it’s a great entry in the genre and another solid return from EC Comics. The art is well done with each story featuring a distinct style and the stories themselves are unique and so different though all have a connection in they all have to do with war in some way. Oni Press has been doing a fantastic job with bringing back the classic EC Comics brand and this is another solid return.
Story: John Arcudi, Michael W. Conrad, Julio Anta, Benito Cereno, Tom Fowler, William M. Gaines, Al Feldstein Art: Shawn Martinbrough, Albert Monteys, David Lapham, Tom Fowler, Jack Davis Color: Matt Herms, Nick Filardi, Michelle Madsen, Michael Atiyeh Letterer: Richard Starkings, Tyler Smith Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read
Oni Press provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Writer: Michael W. Conrad Artist: Caitlin Yarsky Colorist: Alex Guimarães Letterer: Clayton Cowles Cover artist: Caitlin Yarsky
As danger looms in both past and present, Jace continues to search for answers in his memories. Jace discovers that he and his mentor are not the only ones seeking the powerful artifact, but the truth behind Tezzeret’s intentions remain obscured.
Writer: Michael W. Conrad Artist: Caitlin Yarsky Colorist: Alex Guimarães Letterer: Clayton Cowles Cover artist: Caitlin Yarsky
Jace and Tezzeret arrive on Dominaria, seeking a powerful artifact on the volatile and unforgiving island of Shiv. As Jace relives the violence and brutality of his old mentor, he struggles to remember the purpose of their mission.
This August, Oni Press and William M. Gaines Agent, Inc. are rotating back into combat for a powerful dose of two-fisted fury with staggering new tales of war and fighting men in EC Comics’ next giant-sized, 56-page special: Presenting … Shellshock #1! You’ve warmed yourselves by the pyres of SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES . . . You’ve grabbed OUTLAW SHOWDOWN by both red-hot barrels . . . And you’ve felt the poison touch of TORTURED HEARTS. But nothing can prepare you for what awaits—or who you will become—when you finally reach the front line. Here, there can be no peace—only SHELLSHOCK, on sale August 19th!!
Meet mankind’s greatest enemy of all—himself—as commanding writers Julio Anta, John Arcudi, Benito Cereno, and Michael W. Conrad lead a joint campaign alongside artistic bombardiers Tom Fowler, David Lapham, Albert Monteys, and Shawn Martinbrough that will always bring enemy and ally, private and general, to the same reward in the end: a flag-draped casket and glory posthumously conferred.
Plus: This 56-page testament to fortitude also features another all-time EC classic, painstakingly remastered and restored!
We’ve got incoming, so kiss your rifle and swallow your fear when Shellshock #1 lays siege to comic shops on August 19th – featuring shrapnel-laden covers by modern masters Lee Bermejo, Tyler Crook, Tom Fowler, Jay Stephens, and Rian Hughes!
Baltimore Comic-Con will return to the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center on the weekend of September 25-27, 2026. Baltimore Comic-Con welcomes Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Chris Kemple, Kevin Maguire, John K. Snyder III, and Kelly Yates as guests of the 2026 event! Buy your tickets today online!
Becky Cloonan began her career making minicomics as part of the Meathaus collective. Since then, she’s gone on to write and draw on titles like Dark Agnes, Conan the Barbarian, The Punisher, True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, Gotham Academy, Detective Comics, and Batman, and working on creator-owned books like Southern Cross and the critically acclaimed collection of short stories, By Chance or Providence. When she’s not making comics, she illustrates album art, and gig and movie posters for My Chemical Romance, Black Sabbath, Adult Swim, and Mondo. She enjoys old movies, true crime podcasts, and still tries to self-publish new minicomics when she can. Becky currently lives in Portland with her partner Michael, two weird cats, and a couple dozen plants.
Michael W. Conrad has often been described as “a gin soaked monster”, which is a lie — that was how Hemingway’s son described his father. Based on this, we can ascertain that Conrad is a liar, which is a fine way to describe a writer.
While Conrad laments the fact that his art is indeed a commodity, he revels in the high strangeness that has afforded him the opportunity to contribute to the legacies of many characters y’all know including: Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Godzilla, Nightwing, Doom Patrol, and countless others.
Michael’s own work has been markedly more subversive, including Tremor Dose and Double Walker. These books explore an absurd and often surreal anxiety, with a focus on an inability to reconcile one’s own perceptions. With a number of creator-owned projects currently in development, one can only imagine that these explorations will continue in future work.
Conrad remains critical of himself and often feels like an imposter, but as his contributions to comics grow, one can only imagine that such ideations are rapidly being replaced with dread.
Chris Kemple is one of the contributors to the digital comics effort, Artist Alley Comics. After graduating with a BFA in Painting and Drawing from East Carolina University, Kemple worked as an assistant at Artamus Studios with Richard Case, Mike Wieringo, Jeff Parker, Casey Jones, and Scott Hampton, among others. Currently a teacher and freelance artist, Chris was a founding member of and texture artist and 3D object modeler at video game development studio, Red Storm Entertainment.
Kevin Maguire is an artist who is known for his work on Justice League International, Man Of Steel, Adventures Of Captain America, Batman Confidential, Defenders, and so many more it would just seem like bragging. You probably know him as the guy who draws goofy facial expressions. In his spare time, he enjoys yoga, IMAX films, and tweeting.
John K. Snyder III is an Eisner-nominated illustrator and writer of comic books and graphic novels. Creator of the independent comic series Fashion In Action, and adapter/illustrator of the graphic novel adaptation of Grand Master mystery writer Lawrence Block’s classic novel Eight Million Ways to Die published by IDW, he has worked for nearly every major publisher including DC, Dark Horse, Marvel, IDW, and many others. Snyder worked on Suicide Squad during its classic 1980’s run with writers John Ostrander and Kim Yale, and provided covers for the 2007 Suicide Squad mini-series. Along with Matt Wagner, Snyder co-created the Pieter Cross version of Doctor Mid-Nite for DC and Lady Zorro for Dynamite. Snyder also worked with Wagner on the epic Grendel: God and the Devil storyline. John’s recent work includes work for The Doors’ graphic novel anthology, Morrison Hotel written by Leah Moore and published by Z2 Comics, and a return to Suicide Squad with new covers for DC Comics to coincide with the release of the Warner Brothers movie. John’s future work includes all-new Fashion In Action adventures to be published by Clover Press. John encourages all artists and writers, young and old, to actively pursue their own creator-owned aspirations.
Kelly Yates is an illustrator best known for his work on Doctor Who comics for both Titan and IDW Publishing. His artwork inspired the Doctor Who, My Hero Academia, Junji Ito, and Attack on Titan Kawaii TITANS toy lines. In addition, he writes and illustrates the creator-owned books, Amber Atoms and MonstHer.
This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Jason Aaron (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Marty Baumann (Pixar artist), Josh Blaylock (Mercy Sparx, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Russ Braun (The Boys), Jeffrey Brown (Hulk Teach, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Richard Case (Doom Patrol), Keith Champagne (Stranger Things), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jo Chen (Runaways), Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Becky Cloonan (War), Michael W. Conrad (In Bloom), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn), Olivia Cuartero-Briggs (The College Try), Paris Cullins (Blue Devil), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Colleen Doran (The Sandman), Scott Dunbier (DC Silver Age Covers and Stories Artist’s Edition), Garth Ennis (The Boys), Trish Forstner (Feral), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Chris Giarrusso (Mini Marvels), Randy Green (Witchblade), Torunn Grønbekk (Catwoman), Gene Ha (Mae), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Larry Hama (GI Joe: A Real American Hero), Tony Harris (The Whistling Skull), Dean Haspiel (Chest Face), Glenn Hauman (They Keep Killing Glenn), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Marc Hempel (Sandman), Jamal Igle (Superman), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Infernal Hulk), Dan Jurgens (Action Comics), Chris Kemple (Red Vengeance), Peter Krause (The Power of Shazam, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Mike Kunkel (Herobear and the Kid), Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon), Jae Lee (Inhumans), Nate Lovett (Commander Tomorrow), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Shawn Martinbrough (Red Hood: The Hill), Ron Marz (Green Lantern), Jose Marzen Jr. (Y: The Last Man), Mike McKone (Teen Titans), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Adriana Melo (Fantastic Four), Pop Mhan (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Mark Morales (Thor), Bill Morrison (The Simpsons), Trevor Mueller (Bat Pat), Sarah Myer (TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures), Phil Noto (Fantastic Four: First Foes), Kevin Nowlan (Batman: Sword of Azrael), Patrick Olliffe (Untold Tales of Spider-Man), Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Jimmy Palmiotti (The Punisher), Dan Parent (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Margeaux Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Khoi Pham (Star Wars: Darth Vader), Tom Raney (Incredible Hulk), Afua Richardson (Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds), Tone Rodriguez (Feral, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Joe Schmalke (We Don’t Kill Spiders), Erica Schultz (Rogue), Mark Schultz (Xenozoic Tales, courtesy of Flesk Publishing), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Matthew Dow Smith (DC’s Misfits of Magic), Scott Snyder (Friday and Sunday only, DC K.O.), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Mark Sparacio (Liberty Girl Deluxe), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Martha Thomases (Dakota North), Billy Tucci (Shi), Gus Vazquez (Sunfire and the Big Hero Six), Mark Waid (Action Comics), Mark Wheatley (Breathtaker), Bob Wiacek (All-New Wolverine, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Chuck Wojtkiewicz (Justice League, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Rich Woodall (Sgt. Werewolf), Kelly Yates (Doctor Who), and Thom Zahler (Long Distance).
Jace Beleren is the most talented mind mage in the Multiverse. A master of telepathy, illusion, and memory distortion, Jace’s heroic feats are tainted by a duplicitous past that threatens to unravel him at any given moment.
Dive deep into Jace’s lost memories to uncover the manipulation by his mentor, Tezzeret, in pursuit of a dangerous magical artifact with the potential to reshape or destroy the Multiverse as we know it.
Story: Michael W. Conrad Art: Caitlin Yarsky Color: Alex Guimaraes Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
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Writer: Michael W. Conrad Artist: Caitlin Yarsky Colorist: Alex Guimarães Letterer: Clayton Cowles Cover artist: Caitlin Yarsky
Jace Beleren is the most talented mind mage in the Multiverse. A master of telepathy, illusion, and memory distortion, Jace’s heroic feats are tainted by a duplicitous past that threatens to unravel him at any given moment.
Dive deep into Jace’s lost memories to uncover the manipulation by his mentor, Tezzeret, in pursuit of a dangerous magical artifact with the potential to reshape or destroy the Multiverse as we know it. Written by Eisner Award–winning author Michael W. Conrad and illustrated by the talented Caitlin Yarsky.
BOOM! Studios’ acclaimed horror anthology Hello Darkness collects some of its most stomach-churning stories, along with new spinetingling tales in the new one-shot Hello Body Horror#1 coming to comic shops April 2026!
In “Body Positivity” by Mark Bouchard and Rye Hickman, a fitness influencer striving for greatness has her mind go where her body cannot follow…yet.
In “Minimal Scarring” by indie sensation Derick Jones, a plastic surgeon who caters to the ultra-rich uses what pieces they leave behind to transform himself.
Also featuring stories by Michael W. Conrad, Martín Marazzo, Jeremy Bastian, Ziyan Qiu, Jenna Cha, and Robert Hack for a veritable “Who’s Who” in “Kill U Comics!”
Hello Body Horror #1features cover art by Rebeca Puebla, Jenny Frison, Jonathan Wayshak, and Yanick Paquette and comes to comic shops on April 29, 2026.
HOUSES AREN’T THE ONLY THINGS THAT ARE HAUNTED…Oni Press invites readers into a haunted house unlike any other in Plague House. The softcover trade edition of the deep and disturbing excursion into 21st century horror from Eisner-award winning writer Michael W. Conrad and 2024 Ringo Award winner Dave Chisholm arrives in shops this January. Ahead of this horrifying housewarming, Oni Press has released a free look at the entire first chapter of the otherworldly series.
Thirteen years ago, Orin McCabe was a family man living a privileged life in the California suburbs. Today, he’s condemned to death row for murdering his entire family in an unexpected fit of hammer-wielding brutality. In the aftermath of his heinous crime, it’s fallen to a trio of eclectic, but dedicated, ghost hunters—Jacob, the holy man; Holland, the skeptic; and their leader, Del, a true believer in the occult and worlds beyond—to surveil the abandoned McCabe home in search of proof for the existence of the undead . . . and whatever supernatural source may have possibly fueled McCabe’s inhuman massacre. But this ill-matched and uneasy squad of investigators is about to discover something much more terrifying than any ordinary spirit. . . . Something much more pernicious, much more contagious, that if not contained, could take full advantage of America’s unquenchable appetite for violence and deliver a plague of blood unto us all . . .
Collecting issues #1–4 of the mind-bending ghost story, Plague House will plunge readers into a twisting tale of horror that’s as blood-soaked as the ground you stand on this January 20th.
Dark Horse Comics and Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast present Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories—Jace, a new series featuring the Planeswalker and mind mage, Jace Beleren. The four-issue miniseries will be written by Eisner Award-winning author Michael W. Conrad, illustrated by Caitlin Yarsky, colored by Alex Guimarães, and lettered by Clayton Cowles. Issue #1 arrives in February 2026 and will feature covers by Yarsky, Francesco Francavilla, and Aleksi Briclot.
Jace Beleren is the most talented mind mage in the Multiverse. A master of telepathy, illusion, and memory distortion, Jace’s heroic feats are tainted by a duplicitous past that threatens to unravel him at any given moment.
Dive deep into Jace’s lost memories to uncover the manipulation by his mentor, Tezzeret, in pursuit of a dangerous magical artifact with the potential to reshape or destroy the Multiverse as we know it.
Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories—Jace #1 (of 4) releases in stores on February 4, 2026. It is now available to preorder from your local comic shop for $4.99.
