Courtesy of Oni Press, we can exclusively reveal cartoonist Tom Fowler‘s 1:100 “Library Variant” cover for Cruel Kingdom #1, the latest book in the publisher’s revival of EC Comics. The four-issue series, which kicks off in the new year, will offer EC’s characteristically dark brand of genre stories, but this time in the fantasy world, instead of horror or sci-fi, and Fowler’s cover appropriately shows a young wizard’s apprentice finding his master’s dusty tomes are anything but merely old books:
Colors by Nick FilardiComing in at 40 pages, Cruel Kingdom #1 will feature stories by Chris Condon, Al Ewing, Greg Pak, Charlie Adlard, Kano, and Leomacs (interior art). One of these will be “Blood of the Robo King,” which graces the main cover by Adam Pollina, and we are pleased to also share an uncolored, two-page interior preview of that segment:
Hunter Gorinson, President and Publisher of Oni, states, “Since the beginning of EC’s resurrection at Oni Press, we’ve always aimed to extend the patented and powerful EC formula into new and unexpected arenas. First came our first-ever foray into holiday tales with Shiver Suspenstories… But Cruel Kingdom is our biggest and boldest swerve yet, as EC turns its dark gaze toward the golden spires of high fantasy – with its many fairies, witches, and sword-wielding warriors – for the very first time. Picking up exactly where its predecessor Cruel Universe is leaving off with its final issue in December, these are delectably dark and deadly inversions of the genre conventions you know and love – where wizards wield curses instead of grant wishes, and every knight harbors a dark secret instead of a valiant heart.”
Cruel Kingdom #1 will retail for $4.99 on January 8, and is available to pre-order from your local comics shop until Monday, December 2. Other variant covers by Liam Sharp, Jay Stephens, and Rian Hughes will be available, alongside gold foil and black-and-white editions of Pollina’s artwork, and a blank sketch cover. In the meantime, EC’s Cruel Universe #5 will wrap up its series on December 4, Shiver Suspenstories will follow on December 11, and the horror-themed Epitaphs from the Abyss #6 (of 12) will be released on December 18.
English (US) · 