One of the best publishing lines in the realm of horror and sci-fi comics is back in business. Monday, EC Comics announced a new partnership with Oni Press to create brand new comic anthologies that pay tribute to the publisher’s iconic pre-code titles. The group says it intends to release at least two titles per month after its first two titles launch later this summer—Epitaphs From The Abyss #1 in July and Cruel Universe #1 in August.
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“As my father said, ‘Only in the bounds of good taste!’ and I’m so excited to exhibit EC’s good taste with Oni Press, who have distinguished themselves with both an award-winning library of comics and graphic novels and a passionate understanding of EC’s singular role in shaping comics history,” William M. Gaines Agent, Inc., the owner of EC Comics, president Cathy Gaines Mifsud said in a press release.
EC Comics already has some bigger names in comics attached to its upcoming offerings, including Jason Aaron, Brian Azzarello, Rodney Barnes, Corinna Bechko, Cullen Bunn, Christopher Cantwell, Chris Condon, Matt Kindt, Zac thompson, Mat Kindt, Greg Smallwood, and more. Oni’s new EC Comics line will be edited and curated by Oni Editor-in-Chief Sierra Hahn, who’ll work directly with Cathy Gaines Mifsud and Corey Mifsud on the titles.
“Seventy years ago, EC Comics redefined what comics could be with shocking, confrontational and brilliantly crafted stories that challenged the existential issues at the center of American life – censorship, racism, sexism, nuclear proliferation, and more. Today, those battles continue in alarming and pernicious new ways,” Hahn added. “What better time to resurrect the undying spirit of EC Comics – one of the most entertaining, subversive, and influential publishers of all time – with an all-star cast of storytellers to examine today’s society through the lens that William Gaines and his legendary collaborators have left us.”
EC Comics first published titles such as Tales From The Crypt, Mad Magazine, Weird Science, and Two-Fist Tales, among countless outhers. Epitaphs and Cruel will feature various horror and sci-fi stores, respectively, before future titles branch out into other genres.
“There are few things more sacred to the canon of comic book history – and global pop culture – than EC Comics. The company’s audaciously inspired sensibilities have continuously echoed through nearly all facets of entertainment – like pieces of shrapnel embedded in American imagination,” Oni Press President & Publisher Hunter Gorinson concluded. “It’s both a huge honor and immense responsibility to be entrusted to work alongside the Gaines family in inhabiting EC’s indomitable spirit for a new generation. At a moment when we find ourselves confronting the same reactionary forces – injustice, inequality, and of course, censorship – that EC challenged head-on, we intend to write a new and powerful chapter that honors and expands one of the most important legacies the comic book medium has ever produced.”
