RETAILER ADVISORY: THE RETURN OF EC COMICS AT ONI PRESS REANIMATES RETAILERS WITH NO-MINIMUM RETURNABILITY
Oni Arms Retailers with Full A Cover / B Cover Returnability Across First Three Issues of EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS and CRUEL UNIVERSE
EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1 COVER A BY LEE BERMEJO
CRUEL UNIVERSE #1 COVER A BY GREG SMALLWOOD
PORTLAND, OR (April 25, 2024) – In preparation for the no-holds-barred return of the most influential and infamous publisher in comics history – the immortal EC Comics – at Oni Press this summer, Oni is proud to announce a new suite of ongoing returnability incentives for EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS and CRUEL UNIVERSE, the first two all-new series to be released under the EC banner in nearly 70 years.
Beginning with the debut of the 40-page EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1 in July, the FIRST THREE ISSUES of both new EC titles will offer FULL RETURNABILITY across all A and B shelf covers with no minimums or qualifications required. Oni’s latest returnability initiative will continue across the first three issues of all of Oni’s new EC Comics series in 2024:
EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1 | July 2024
CRUEL UNIVERSE #1 | August 2024
EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #2 | August 2024
CRUEL UNIVERSE #2 | September 2024
EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #3 | September 2024
CRUEL UNIVERSE #3 | October 2024
EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1 COVER B BY ANDREA SORRENTINO WITH DAVE STEWART
CRUEL UNIVERSE #1 COVER B BY J.H. WILLIAMS III
“The letters ‘EC’ mean many, many things to fans and retailers: an ice-cold mastery of the comic-book form, an incredibly high level of artistic detail, and, above all, powerful and shocking stories that always, always leave you wanting more,” said Oni Press President & Publisher Hunter Gorinson. “As we prepare for EC’s full-scale return in the pages of EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS and CRUEL UNIVERSE in the weeks and months ahead, Oni is committed to giving retailers the maximum amount of support for this vitally important line of titles with advance pre-order materials, point-of-purchase giveaways, and new tools to cross-sell the already-substantial amount of classic EC material on their shelves. But there is perhaps no more powerful tool than unqualified returnability – and Oni is proud to offer it across the first three issues of both our twin EC horror and science-fiction launch titles, which will allow our retailer partners to accurately gauge their readership for EC’s pull-no-punches return this summer.”
EC’s relentless resurrection begins with an extra-sized, 40-page dose of fear in EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1 – on sale July 24th! Beginning right here, witness shocking tales of torment and tension in the eternal EC tradition—as wrenched from the grave by the vile intentions of acclaimed writers Brian Azzarello (Batman: Damned, 100 Bullets), Chris Condon (That Texas Blood, Night People), J. Holtham (Night Thrasher, Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale), and Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn, Grim) and realized into bloody reality by “all-slaughter” artists Jorge Fornés (Rorschach, Danger Street), Phil Hester (Family Tree), Peter Krause (Irredeemable), and Vlad Legostaev (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).
What the Comics Code Authority couldn’t kill has only made it stronger… EC Comics enters the 21st century with a jugular-pounding horror milestone that not only features four self-contained exercises in adrenaline from Brian Azzarello & Vlad Legostaev, Chris Condon & Peter Krause, J. Holtham & Jorge Fornés, and Stephanie Phillips & Phil Hester, and more — but also the first glimpse of EC’s new cast of horror hosts…and a razor-sharp gallery of covers inspired by the eternal artistry of the EC’s infernal legacy with talents including Lee Bermejo (Batman: Damned, A Vicious Circle), Andrea Sorrentino (Gideon Falls, Batman: The Imposter) with Dave Stewart (Hellboy), Jay Stephens (Dwellings), Rian Hughes (The Multiversity), and Dustin Weaver (Avengers, Paklis).
All EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1 A cover (Lee Bermejo) and B cover (Andrea Sorrentino with Dave Stewart) orders will be completely returnable with no minimum order for retailers to qualify, and all orders will count towards incentive covers.
All CRUEL UNIVERSE #1 A cover (Greg Smallwood) and B cover (J.H. Williams III) orders will be completely returnable with no minimum order for retailers to qualify, and all orders will count towards incentive covers.
Doomsday is close at hand! It all begins July 24th with EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1!
EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1
WRITTEN BY BRIAN AZZARELLO, CHRIS CONDON, J. HOLTHAM & STEPHANIE PHILLIPS
ART BY JORGE FORNES, PHIL HESTER, PETER KRAUSE & VLAD LEGOSTAEV
COVER A BY LEE BERMEJO
COVER B BY ANDREA SORRENTINO WITH DAVE STEWART
EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY JAY STEPHENS
B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:50) BY RIAN HUGHES
HORROR HOST VARIANT (1:100) BY DUSTIN WEAVER
FOIL COVER (GOLD) BY LEE BERMEJO
FOIL COVER (SILVER) BY ANDREA SORRENTINO WITH DAVE STEWART
BLANK COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
ON SALE JULY 24TH | $4.99 (STANDARD) | $7.99 (FOIL) | 40 PGS | FC
IOC: 05/30/2024
FOC: 07/01/2024
CRUEL UNIVERSE #1
WRITTEN BY TO BE REVEALED!
ART BY TO BE REVEALED!
COVER A BY GREG SMALLWOOD
COVER B BY J.H. WILLIAMS III
EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY JAY STEPHENS
B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:50) BY J.H. WILLIAMS III
TOP-SECRET VARIANT (1:100) BY TO BE REVEALED!
FOIL COVER (SILVER) BY GREG SMALLWOOD
FOIL COVER (GOLD) BY J.H. WILLIAMS III
BLANK COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
ON SALE AUGUST 7TH | $4.99 (STANDARD) | $7.99 (FOIL) | 40 PGS | FC
IOC: 06/27/2024
FOC: 07/15/2024
About Oni Press
Founded in 1997, Oni Press has a 25-year history as one of the industry’s most respected and acclaimed publishers of award-winning comic books and graphic novels with titles including Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim, K. O’Neill’s Tea Dragon Society, Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt's The Sixth Gun, Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, Ezra Clayton Daniels' Upgrade Soul, Brenna Thummler’s Sheets trilogy, and many hundreds more. In 2019, Oni Press merged with Lion Forge Comics – the Eisner Award-winning independent comic book publisher founded by Academy Award-winning producer and entrepreneur David Steward II – to create one of the largest, independent libraries of comics content anywhere in media. The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group now exists as a publishing subsidiary of Steward’s diversified global media company, Polarity.
The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group publishes more than 60 original and licensed graphic novels annually, in addition to an extensive list of periodical comics.
About EC Comics
As the birthplace of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, MAD MAGAZINE, WEIRD SCIENCE, and more of the most influential and celebrated comic series ever published, EC Comics has cemented itself as one of the central nerves of American pop culture with a legacy that spans more than seven decades. From 1944 to 1956, EC – established as "Educational Comics" by founder M.C. Gaines and later rebranded "Entertaining Comics" under the leadership of Publisher & Editor William M. Gaines – led a creative renaissance for the comics industry that, for the first time, elevated the once-derided comics medium into the echelons of English literature and high art. Heralded as "one of the great explosions of vox-pop literature" by Time Magazine and "fiercely honest, politically adversarial, [and] visually masterful" by The Comics Journal, EC's line of comics books - which collectively sold more than 10 million copies annually at their peak – entertained and informed in equal measure, using brilliantly crafted tales of horror, science fiction, satire, and battlefield conflict to critique and subvert America's dark impulses toward violence, racism, inequity, environmental destruction, and war.
Forcibly shuttered by the Comics Code Authority – a pro-censorship group specifically tasked with eradicating EC's illuminating influence from the American comic book industry – in 1956, EC's unique brand of subversive storytelling lived on through the continued success of MAD Magazine, which would fuel American counterculture through the death of Publisher William M. Gaines in 1992. EC's titles and stories have been adapted in a number of media – including the long-running HBO's long-running TALES FROM THE CRYPT franchise of television series and feature films – and continue to be celebrated by multiple generations of comic creators, filmmakers, comedians, and musicians as a seminal influence.
Today, EC Comics' canon of classic stories can continuously be found in print through new editions at Dark Horse Comics, TASCHEN, Fantagraphics, and IDW Publishing. In 2024, EC announced a new partnership with multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher Oni Press to produce the first all-new EC Comics titles in nearly 70 years.