Epitaphs from the Abyss

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Oni Press's new "EC" imprint first came to my attention when my retailer gave me a double-sided promotional poster (because I buy all those archival EC reprints published by Dark Horse and Fantagraphics and IDW). I thought it was a good sign that they were attempting to revive EC Comics without resurrecting an actual EC title. This decision indicted to me that they were planning to bring back the spirit of EC Comics, yet do something original with it. My impression was confirmed by publisher Hunter Gorinson's full-page editorial: ""From the earliest stages of this project, we've agreed amonst ourselves that it would be a fool's errand to try and produce a knock-off simulacrum of the original EC titles... Instead, we've challenged ourselves to imagine a world where the Comics Code never unceremoniously amputated EC's publishing line at the end of 1955 and, through that lens, what kind of series and stories EC Comics would be producing foar a new generation of readers eager to disturb and discover in the year 2024."

A new title calls for a new host: the Grave-digger. In the first issue, he introduces four stories: "Killer Spec" (about a "genius" writer whose roommate writes the the perfect movie script); "Senator, Senator" (which "brings dread to the steps of the American Capitol"); "Family Values" (about a streaming gameshow in which a father must choose which of his family to kill or else they all die); and "Us. vs. Us" (about "vaxxers" and "ant-vaxxers" taken to a ridiculous degree). I find myself very much looking forward to next month's Cruel Universe #1.

Recommended.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ISSUE #9:

• "Exterminator" - I liked the art (David Lapham), but the story (Brian Azzarello) not so much.
• "Heaven is a Rounded Diamond" - 1937. Prison. Baseball. The setting made this one come alive. My favorite of the issue.
• "The Rats of Ash Street" - In desperation, a woman kills her husband and feeds him to rats. That's it. Oh, and he returns from the dead. It's appropriately gruesome, but there's nothing to it other than that. and the husband kept referring to a can of beer as a "coulee"...?

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ISSUE #10:

• "I Don't Miss You" - This one I had to work for. By the time I got to the end (and understood the pun), I went back to the beginning and read it again.
• "Splinter" - A boy strives to attain his father's love. I see some Fred/Donald Trump in this one. Gory ending.
• "Feed the Right Hole" - This story is an extended metaphor which applies to everyone differently. My favorite story of the issue.