Cruel Universe

[Jeff of Earth-J]

This is the second of Oni Press's new EC imprint (following last month's Epitaphs from the Abyss).

SPOILERS - I generally don't like to know in advance if a story has a twist ending. That itself is a spoiler for me because in the back of my mind I try to guess the spoiler in advance rather than cancentrating on the the story itself. But more often than not EC stories had spoilers and so do these. I was not expecting one in the first story, and I must admit it caught me totally off guard. I'm not going to reveal what the spoilers are, but you may be able to guess them if you know in advance that they are coming.

1. "The Champion" - Cover story. About a group of slaves forced into gladatorial combat in outer space.
2. "Solo Shift" - A "closed door mystery" set aboard a ship on the event horizon of a black hole. (I guesseed the"who" but not the "how.")
3. "Drink Up" - An eccentric billionaire obsessed with living forever finds the legendary "Fountain of Youth."
4. "Priceless" - Another rich eccentric lives his life vicariously through an "experiencer" implanted in someone else's brain.

END SPOILERS

These are not exactly like classic EC comics, but they are an incredible simulation. EC comics pushed the envelope of what was considered acceptable in the 1950s, and Oni Press is doing the same thing 70 years later. (That Richard Starkings and his team at Comicraft have resurrected EC's original Leroy-style font helps to complete the illusion.) To me, these stories suggest a mash-up of the original EC comics and DC's Wasteland of the late '80s (for those of you reading this who remember that). 

 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

v2 #1:

• "In a Strange Land" - Social commentary disguised as a morality tale with a twist ending. Very retro, but more like Marvel of that era than EC. A+.
• "Catch & Kill" - What do our pets really think about us? Let's find out.
• "The Fittest" - Two spaceships filled with the "fittest" specimens of humanity flee plague-ridden Earth for the colonies of Europa.

BONUS STORY: "Derelict Ship" by William Gaines, Al Feldstein and Bernie Krigstein from 1953.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

v2 #2:

• "I Have and Alien in My Basement" - A journalist interviews a man who claims to have... well, an alien in his basement.
• "Ham Radio" - A guy learns of an abused girl over his ham radio.
• "For Art's Sake" - AI taps directly, physically, into an artist's brain... and that's just page one.

This first story, I think, was my favorite. As it turns out, the guy does have an alien in his basement... the corpse of an alien he killed so he could dissect and preserve it. But it turns out  [SPOILER] that the journalist is an alien from the saem race. Don't worry; the guy gets what's coming to him. [END SPOILER]

The second story was a bit hard to follow until I figured out what was going on. Once I did I appreciated the twist, but, as I said, it was a bit hard to follow up until then. [SPOILER] It turns out that the little girl's "rescuer" was actually her killer, brainwashed in the name of rehabilitation." [END SPOILER]

The third story is a cautionary tale about the last human left on Earth and the AI robot he inspired.

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

Oh man, I am a full month behind. I just read the first issue this morning.

On a side note, I have a friend looking to get back into comics, and I recommended the new EC line to him.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

v2 #3:

• "Genocide to Go" - The Zyszasz Unitary Xenarchy comes to Earth and... opens a fast food chain? (There's more to it than that, of course.) This issue is off too a good start.
• "Pheromone" - A common meme among EC Comics was to start a story based in science, then, using the the spriongboard of imagination, extrapolate from there.
• "Worth It" - Quincet Price is an "Elon Musk" type. 'Nuff said?

These stories are so different from each other that it becomes difficult to choose a favorite among them. I think I like them all equally.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

v2 #4:

• "True Believer" - A story about a cult and its leader. After our discussion of Outlaw Showdown, I don't know whether this story is "good predictable": or "bad predictable."
• "A Helping Hand" - Asteroid mining brings prosperity to Earth... until it doesn't.
• "Beat the Clock" - What if you knew, in advance, how long you were going to live? Then what if, overnight, your L.E. ("life expectancy") went from 78 years to 15 days? this is my favorite story of the issue.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

v2 #5:

• "Hope Endures" - A spaceship pilot makes his final log entry after he and his ship, Hope, have crash-landed on a planet. The quality of the art really rises to support this story. Not exactly the ending I expected. 
• "Byproduct" - I guessed where this story was going early on, but that does not mean it is "predictable." It's the journey, not the destination. There's a quite unnecessary double-twist at the end.
• "Some Time to Reflect" - I didn't guess where this one was headed, but it ended the only way it could have, I suppose.

All of this issue's stories were good, with "Hope Endures" being my favorite. In every case, the title offers a big clue as to the ending.

I almost never buy anything other than the main cover, but I made an exception for CU v2 #5. As Cap said, "Liam Sharp is clearly doing his best Wally Wood on Cover B."

[Captain Comics]

Makes me wish I'd bought that one. But I had ordered the issue months ago without loooking.

I also enjoyed all the stories this issue, which isn't always the case. I thought the ending of "Some Time to Reflect" was a little soft, but I guess as you said, sometimes it's the journey, not the destination.

Yeah, "Hope Endures" was probably the best. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

v2 #6:

• "Chum" - Predictable, BUT... the point of this story would appear to be gore, at which it succeeds most admirably. The punny title is the most original thing here. 
• "Silk" - The Natural History Museum needs an exhibit to replace the butterflies, which are dying off due to the season. It is decided to replace the butterflies with spiders, which will eat them. "They're new, specially bread to grow big to produce more silk. Supposedly smarter, too." Do you see where this is goping yet? If not, there's plenty more foreshadowing on practically every page.
• "Back to Nature" - This is two stories in one: the story of the human kept as a pet by an alien, and the story of the alien keeper. 

None of these stories are quite up to EC standards, frankly, but that's all right. I'm glad Oni Press is publishing this line.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

v2 #7:

• "Feature or Bug" - This one is all about the visuals, and you know what? I'm okay with that. Art by Dave Lapham.
• "War Machines" - A story about drone warfare or desensitivity. Or both.
• "Artificial Insanity" - A cautionary tale about AI. (Frankly, I thihnk it's already too late.)

Not gonna pick a favorite this issue.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

v2 #8:

• "Blackout" - An AI runs an isolated couple's lives. He is happy, she is not. Then there's a blackout. What happenes next?
• "Clinical Trial" - A research assistant with no empathy and zero experience with the opposite sex comes up with a theory on how to pick up women. Then he decides to conduct  a live clinical trial. 
• "Puppy Lake" - In order to evolve by learning love, a family of robots adopts a dog.

I will say at least two of these stories surprised me. Also, one of those plot descriptions is somewhat deceptive.