Oni Press/EC Comics; $4.99

With their bold EC Comics initiative, Oni Press has staked a good bit of their reputation on their ability to revive the celebrated EC Comics imprint after decades of only existing as archival editions of the 1950s material.

If this issue represents the quality of the new material they’re going to produce, their reputation is safe. Cruel Universes #1 is a homerun.

If you think the essence of the fondly remembered and frequently celebrated original EC science fiction titles such as Weird Science is stories told in exactly the same format, you might be disappointed. If, though, you get that the spirit of EC is great creators delivering solid stories with highly compelling twist endings, this one is for you.

In this 40-page first issue, writers Corinna Bechko, Chris Condon, Matt Kindt, and Ben H. Winters, and artists Jonathan Case, Kano, Artyom Topilin, and Caitlin Yarsky have teamed up to deliver stories that honor that spirit.

Kudos to Hunter Gorinson and the team at Oni, and congratulations to the Gaines family for this revival. After this one, I’m on board for the long haul.

By the way, their are some foil variants of this issue that carry a $7.99 cover price in addition to the regular $4.99 cover price.

– J.C. Vaughn