EC Comics Makes Comeback At Oni Press

TV & Film

Feb 21

This summer marks the return of a comic not seen since the 1950s. Oni Press in partnership with William M. Gaines Agent, Inc. has agreed to publish a new line of EC Comics. The company produced horror, Western, and science-fiction comics along with the parody comic Mad. However, attitudes in the 50s led to significant backlash for EC Comics. The controversial comics spurred the creation of the Comics Code Authority. Despite the censorship, the comics remained available from fringe publishers and went on to inspire filmmakers John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Guillermo del Toro, and Stephen Spielberg. EC Comics’ most recognizable titles are Tales of the Crypt, Weird Science, and Two-Fisted Tales. Their Mad comic transitioned to a magazine and was eventually adopted by DC Comics.

After seventy years, EC Comics is back with new and just as controversial titles, starting with the horror tale Epitaphs from the Abyss launching in July, and the science-fiction comic Cruel Universe releasing in August. Hunter Garrison, Oni Press Publisher, and President, explained the importance of the comics in American culture, “In ways both artful and shocking, EC confronted the darkness lurking behind the thin facade of American society - a throughline of radically confrontational storytelling that we intend to both uphold and escalate with the first new EC tales in decades.”

Garrison shared his excitement for the project, “It’s both a huge honor and immense responsibility to be entrusted to work alongside the Gaines family in inhabiting EC’s indomitable spirit for a new generation. At a moment when we find ourselves confronting the same reactionary forces – injustice, inequality, and of course, censorship – that EC challenged head-on, we intend to write a new and powerful chapter that honors and expands one of the most important legacies the comic book medium has ever produced.”

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