Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Oni Press | Tagged: Ben H Winters, ec comics, tracker

Tracker Creator Ben H Winters Joins EC Comics' Cruel Universe

Today Oni announces their creative stable for the 40-page Cruel Universe #1 – the science fiction companion title to Epitaphs from the Abyss.

the line-up for EC's first horror launch on July 24th with Epitaphs from the Abyss #1 that includes writers Brian Azzarello, Chris Condon, J. Holtham, and Stephanie Phillips alongside artists Jorge Fornes, Phil Hester, Peter Krause, and Vlad Legostaev … as well as securing the cover of this month's Previews catalog and promising retailers wide-ranging returnability alongside "first wave" of in-store promo materials beginning with posters and some explicitly "tasteful" pre-order postcards featuring head-hammering art by Adam Pollina.

With Marvel making a mint off of their line of EC homage covers for the Blood Hunt event, Boom! Studios offering their own EC homage in the form of the Hello Darkness anthology, it seems safe to say that EC Comics is primed to dominate the coming summer … An unexpected twist indeed for the company seemingly felled decades ago by the emergence of the Comics Code Authority.

Today comes word that Oni is doubling down on all things EC with the first word on its creative stable for the 40-page Cruel Universe #1 – the science fiction companion title to Epitaphs from the Abyss beginning in August:

"Compelled to OBLIVION, driven to ENTROPY, all life in our cosmos can only end in one place: COMPLETE ANNIHILATION! Spilling forth from the aftermath of EC Comics' hugely anticipated resurrection this July in the pages of EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1 from Oni Press, the limitless fury of the most infamous and influential comics imprint of all time rages onward to wrench bizarre tales of time and space into our dimensional plane on August 7th in CRUEL UNIVERSE #1 – featuring 40, all-new pages of destructive wonder with cosmic implications!

"Who are our guides across this double-sized, 40-page introduction to a cosmic maelstrom of strange extraterrestrial entities, malevolent scientists, and terrifying technological catastrophes? Learn to fear the void with the irradiated imaginations of Hugo Award nominee Corinna Bechko (Invisible Republic, The Space Between), rising star Chris Condon (That Texas Blood), Eisner Award nominee Matt Kindt (BRZRKR, Mind MGMT), and Edgar Award winner Ben H. Winters (CBS' Tracker, The Last Policeman) as they collide with the wondrously destructive visions of artists Jonathan Case (Green River Killer), Kano (Immortal Iron Fist), Artyom Topilin (I Hate This Place), and Caitlin Yarsky (Black Hammer: Reborn)!"

Cruel Universe #1 will notably feature the comic book writing debut of Ben H. Winters, who familiar to fans of science fiction as the Edgar Award-winning and Philip K. Dick Award-nominated novelist, including The Last Policeman and Underground Airlines. Notably, Winters has written for television on Noah Hawley's Legion and most recently created the series Tracker for CBS, which currently ranks as the most-watched prime-time series on American television. As Winters told Forbes of his love of all things EC:

"The cool thing about "going back" to the classic EC style is that it doesn't really feel like going back. These guys were thinking and drawing so far ahead of their time, aesthetically and thematically, it's as if we're still trying to catch up with them, now. So my tale for CRUEL UNIVERSE—about a hard-luck loser who ekes out a living selling memories to the rich—has a touch of Philip K. Dick, a touch of Black Mirror, maybe a smidge of Blade Runner…but all of these touchstones owe a debt back to EC. Being part of this lineage is an honor, and a total blast."

Added writer Matt Kindt, making a rare appearance outside his Fluxhouse imprint at Dark Horse to join the EC stable:

"EC stories are in my DNA. I've always been writing them, or my version of them, with one difference: My stories usually end with a sense of optimism, or at least a melancholy hope that things will get better. Spoiler: These stories don't do that. They are hard cautionary tales and observations of the darkest part of the human spirit. And hopefully they put up a sign: do not go there. Don't do this. Don't be like this. They are cautionary tales with the optimism that you the reader can be a better person."

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Like Epitaphs from the Abyss #1 before it, Cruel Universe #1 will feature what Oni is calling a "consistent" line-up covers across all issues that will include primary covers by Eisner Award winner Greg Smallwood, rotating Cover B variants beginning J.H. Williams, 1:10 variants homaging the most iconic EC covers past by Jay Stephens, 1:20 "Artist Edition" variants manufactured to look like faux original art, and 1:50 Archive Variants printed on cardstock with UV spotless enhancements for that authentic "file copy" feel by designer Rian Hughes.

Cruel Universe #1 will also feature a special "Spa Fon" 1:100 variant by artist Tom Fowler to be revealed before FOC that pays homage to one of EC's greatest visual sight gags. Oni's EC revival begins with Epitaphs from the Abyss #1 on July 24th and will be followed by Cruel Universe #1 two weeks later on August 7th.

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