Posted in: Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: eccc, End Of Life, kyle starks, preacher, steve pugh, vertigo

DC Comics Announces Their "Character Find Of 2026" At ECCC

DC Comics announces Big C**k as their Character Find of 2026 at ECCC for the new Vertigo series End Of Life

Published Sat, 07 Mar 2026 16:41:09 -0600

Last updated Sat, 07 Mar 2026 16:57:09 -0600

Article Summary

DC Comics unveils Big C**k, a chicken-headed assassin, as their Character Find of 2026 at Emerald City Comic Con
End of Life, a mature Vertigo series by Kyle Starks and Steve Pugh, delivers dark humor and hitman action
The story follows Eddie Stallion, a bungling hitman hiding in his tiny Midwestern hometown from the Menagerie
Issue #3 introduces Big C**k, adding chaos as assassins and old rivals converge on the town of Pluto

Kyle Starks, the irreverent writer behind Peacemaker Tries Hard! and Sexcastle, brought high-energy chaos to the Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC) DC What's Next panel discussing End of Life, his new series for the revived DC Vertigo imprint. With art by Steve Pugh and coloured by Chris O'Halloran, the book launched last month and saw End of Life #1 sell out immediately, prompting a quick second printing. The series follows Eddie Stallion, a self-absorbed, man-child hitman who screws up royally by accidentally robbing the Raven, a high-ranking boss in the animal-themed assassin cabal known as the Menagerie. With a bounty on his head, Eddie flees to the last place anyone expects: Pluto, a tiny, weird-but-nice Midwestern town of about 50 people where he grew up. There, he confronts his estranged, dying father (a hard-ass named George Stallion), with old friends gunning for the contract money, Menagerie killers closing in, a cancelled comic-strip creator turned local crime lord, and his childhood first love.

Kyle Starks says he pitched the tone as "John Wick meets Northern Exposure", with Eddie as the man that everyone wants to kill because he "sucks" and that it is full of Preacher energy. And talking of Preacher, he added that a major debut in End of Life #3 would be a character called Big C**k, described as a chicken-headed Menagerie assassin, and calling it DC Comics' breakout character of 2026." You're hearing it here! Big C**k!" Batman Editor Rob Levin was quick to remind the crowd that End Of Life is a mature readers title. The series mixes brutal hitman action with emotional undercurrents of regret, small-town family drama, and reluctant heroism. And as Eddie gets drawn back into the community he abandoned, he starts solving problems the only way he knows how: violently. And with a Big C**k… more ECCC coverage can be found here.

End Of Life #3 covers — First appearance of Big C**k on the cover of End Of Life #3 out in May 2026

END OF LIFE #1 Second Printing
(W) Kyle Starks (A) Steve Pugh (CA) Gerald Parel
KYLE STARKS AND STEVE PUGH TAKE ON A HITMAN IN TROUBLE! Professional hitman Eddie Stallion has messed up. He's accidentally robbed the Raven, a high-ranking boss of the international cabal of assassins the Menagerie, of which Eddie is a member…or he was. Now with a price on his head, Eddie chooses to hide in the one place everyone knows he'd never go…the small midwestern town of Pluto, home of his estranged father and known hard-ass George Stallion. Looking for safe harbor, Eddie instead finds his resentful father dying of cancer, old friends looking to collect that bounty, Menagerie assassins who have wandered into town, a cancelled newspaper comic-strip creator turned local crime lord, and oh yeah, his childhood first love, too. Kyle Starks and Steve Pugh, the team behind Peacemaker Tries Hard!, present the story of a man-child assassin with some very grown-up problems. As Eddie grows more attached to the people of Pluto, he'll have to step in to solve those problems the only way a hitman knows how!
$3.99 4/15/2026
END OF LIFE #2
(W) Kyle Starks (A) Steve Pugh (CA) Gerald Parel
THE HARD-HITTING NEW SERIES FROM KYLE STARKS AND STEVE PUGH! Okay, so maybe hiding out in this podunk town with his sick father, estranged ex, and nauseatingly pleasant townsfolk was a bad idea. But Eddie has a plan to make things right. If he can just give back what he stole from the Raven, no harm no foul, right? His accomplices, the Murder Brothers, will help him out…right? Wrong, dog. Very wrong.
$3.99 3/18/2026
END OF LIFE #3
(W) Kyle Starks (A) Steve Pugh (CA) Guillem March
EDDIE STALLION IS NO CHICKEN! Eddie has a Big C**k problem: The chicken-headed Menagerie assassin has found his way to Pluto. Who could've given up Eddie's secret? Or is Big C**k here for another purpose? Whatever the answer is, it's obviously all Eddie's fault, and now the whole town is in danger. Oh, and it gets worse. Deep within the confines of the abandoned Wrongdog Park, Richard Smiley is working on a plan to take Eddie down and tighten his criminal grip on the town…
$4.99 4/15/2026

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!