Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press for this arc!

4/5 stars

This was a fantastic collection of short stories. Right from the off we have The Champion, which once I got to the end I needed to reread with the new perspective I had after that ending! This was one of my favourites, along with Peer Review, Paring Knife, Billionaire Trust, and Ink Spot Test, just to name a few. Of course some didn't hit for me, but they can't all be winners and that's fine. I really enjoyed the dark and sometimes gritty subject matter, and how a lot of people got their just desserts 😈 This was my first story collection by EC Comics and it definitely won't be the last, I very much look forward to reading more from this collective! Also the cover variants scattered throughout this and featured at the end are amazing and honestly, I'd love prints of some

I don't know, I think I just might not be cut out for EC comics. This was sooo bleak. The stories all feature some kind of twist towards the end, but this basically meant tacking a downer onto an already depressing story.
I also couldn't help thinking that a lot of the stories were just too SHORT -- they would have worked a lot better if they had been fleshed out a bit, instead of clocking in at, say, four or six pages... I'd rather read two stories featuring an actual narrative and characters than five stumps of a story that are barely more than set-ups for some final punchline.
To me, the best story by far was the first one (that's also featured on the cover), I was literally going, "oh look, there's a dinsosaur, how cool!" Proving that a lot of the time it's really the simple things that work best, at least for my sub-grown up brain. *shrug* And of course this one was sad as hell as well.

The art was great, for the most part; I liked it a lot better than the EC horror collection I got to review a while back. And the covers are FANTASTIC. It's a real shame the stories aren't quite up to the same standard! BTW, I was delighted to see that Ben H. Winters was one of the writers involved; his Last Policeman series is one of my all-time favorites.

I wish EC would do away with their dogged fixation on "twists" and negativity. I get that this kind of thing is something of a legacy with this imprint, but still, it's such a bummer to read, especially with the general state of the world right now. I don't want them to go all Disney or something, but, you know, it would be great if that "Cruel Universe" offered a bit of beauty with the darkness every now and then. As it is, it took me more than five weeks to make it through this handful of stories, because, well, reading these did not make me feel better, nor did I find the constant negativity entertaining. If everything is futile anyway, why even bother?


My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

The name EC Comics is hallowed among genre fans, most notably for “Tales from the Crypt” and two other horror titles they published in the early 1950s. Those titles have lived on in films, television, and many reprints. However, EC was not merely a horror publisher. Over its lifespan, EC also published war stories, Westerns, crime tales, and, most notably, science fiction. Almost seventy years after EC discontinued all its titles except “Mad” magazine, Oni Press purchased the rights to the EC trademarks. It resumed publishing EC Comics with a new horror magazine, “Epitaphs from the Abyss.” Oni now has a second title, “Cruel Universe,” which pays homage to “Weird Science,” EC’s science fiction publication from the 1950s. “EC Comics Cruel Universe Vol. 1” is a compilation of content from the new comic’s first five issues. The artwork is terrific for those who enjoy the macabre, but the storytelling is inconsistent.

“EC Comics Cruel Universe Vol. 1” comprises the 19 stories in the magazine’s first five issues. The publisher credits 28 different writers and artists by name without biographical information on any of them. Therefore, the style varies considerably among the stories, most noticeably in the artwork. Some stories are only two to three pages long, while others are up to 10 pages. Unlike “Epitaphs from the Abyss” or “Tales from the Crypt,” these comics have no colorful host to introduce the stories. However, some have a protagonist narrator to provide background information throughout the story.

I’m not as familiar with “Weird Science” and its sister publication, “Weird Fantasy,” as I am with EC's horror tales, so I don’t know how closely these recent stories hew to EC’s original formula. I do know that most of these stories don’t resemble traditional science fiction from the 1950s or today. They also don’t resemble the action-packed space operas prevalent in the pulp magazines of that era. The science here is rarely explained in detail, and the stories have few words a middle school student wouldn’t understand. Most stories have a twist ending (some of which are very easy to predict, which reduces the tale’s entertainment value considerably). Some feel like scripts from “Twilight Zone” episodes without Rod Serling’s narration. Others feel like EC horror stories slightly reworked to pay lip service to science fiction. For example, in “Brilliant and Deceived” by Ben H. Winters (one of the shorter and better stories in the volume), a doctor’s wife dies in a car crash. He uses his state-of-the-art medical skills to bring her back to life, but the results aren’t what he hoped. Make the protagonist a witch doctor instead of a medical doctor, and the story could have appeared in an EC horror title.

Several stories in the collection explore the ultimate consequences of futuristic inventions that aren’t far removed from modern-day technology. These results are rarely good. In “Automated” by J. Holtham, an industrialist develops a self-driving car that reflects his own personality. The story motors down a predictable path, but the ending is still enjoyable. “Behave” by Cullen Bunn is equally predictable until the last panel, but less enjoyable. A company develops an “Angel” device, an AI globe that hovers over the owner’s shoulder and delivers physical “reminders” if the owner engages in unwise or immoral behavior like drinking too much or skipping church.

The best stories in “Cruel Universe” tend to be the least predictable. In “The Deleted Man,” also by Ben H. Winters, the title character is a con artist who hires a company to erase all traces of his online existence. He’s happy with the results… until his body parts begin disappearing. (Since this is a comic book, he can still walk around without a nose or ears for a while.) This story has the best twist ending in the volume. Winters has another winner in “Priceless.” A man agrees to become an “experiencer” for an aging billionaire. He completes physically dangerous tasks and then has his memories of the event transferred to the billionaire’s brain. However, the experiencer suffers a crisis of conscience when he is ordered to abduct and murder an innocent woman. “Ray Gun” by Christopher Cantwell has another great twist ending. A down-on-his-luck loser discovers a ray gun one night in the middle of some mysterious wreckage. He soon learns the weapon can zap people he doesn’t like, such as his domineering boss, into nothingness.

About two-thirds of the stories in “Cruel Universe” ranged from good to near excellent. Unfortunately, the collection also had a fair share of duds. Part of the problem stems from the exposition needed to explain each story’s events. Plots that could have been good at six pages dragged when expanded to ten. If the ending was predictable, such as in “Solo Shift,” a time-travel tale by Corinna Bechko, the story fizzled for the last few pages. Some writers inserted heavy-handed political themes into their stories, such as “We Drown on Earth” by Zac Thompson. The story begins with a cargo ship’s crew dumping toxic sludge into the ocean and sinks from there en route to a predictable ending. Other stories are just plain confusing, like Matt Kindt’s “Doomsday Particle.” That one has the most pseudoscientific backstory about three subatomic particles that might have enormous power when combined. I’m still unsure what happened when they were combined, except that the result was a peculiar final panel.

Although the collection’s stories varied in quality, the artwork in “EC Cruel Universe, Vol. 1” was a delight. It’s one thing for me to say that a story’s titular ray gun zapped people. It’s another to show the results in a panel that features brightly colored innards and bugging eyes exploding outward from a body. Other death scenes are equally gory. This artwork style will be a turnoff for some, but I really enjoyed the various artists’ creativity. I also appreciated the imagination that went into depicting different aliens. “Peer Review,” an otherwise routine story about alien abduction by Cecil Castellucci, was enlivened by several panels featuring the abductee sharing drinks in an on-board saloon with fellow abductees from other planets. The sequence was obviously inspired by the cantina scene in the original “Star Wars,” but it’s colorfully enjoyable, nonetheless. As a bonus for readers, the publisher includes a dozen zany alternate covers for the individual magazines in the book’s supplemental materials.

As I noted when I reviewed “Epitaphs from the Abyss,” “Cruel Universe” is a work in progress. Some stories are excellent; others bring a magazine’s momentum to a halt. The collection has too many mediocre stories for me to give it a whole-hearted recommendation. Instead, I would rate it at 2 ½ stars if I could. However, the artwork enlivens nearly every story here. I’m giving “Cruel Universe” a three-star rating and mild recommendation. Hopefully, the magazine’s future issues won’t be as cruel to readers.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

AN amazing range of talent assembles to craft stories in the EC tradition. There is a lot to enjoy in this collection, from the writing of Cullen Bunn and Matt Bors to the work of Matt Kindt. Recommended for new and seasoned EC readers.

Compelled to OBLIVION, driven to ENTROPY, all life in our cosmos can only end in one place: COMPLETE ANNIHILATION! For the first time in 70 years, the limitless fury of EC Comics rages back to life to shred the very fabric of the universe itself—and wrench bizarre tales of time and space into our dimensional plane!
Oh this was like returning to my childhood!  I loved EC comics and read all the varieties. I adored the horror versions but the sci-fi issues were such a different type of horror that I adored them as well.
As every story is fascinating, they each have some sort of moral for humans to learn. 
The art is exactly like it was when I read EC in the late 70's, colorful, clear, and so realistic. Each tale was reminiscent of an episode of "The Twilight Zone". And yes, that is a good thing.

Highly recommended  Expected Publishing date; July 1, 2025
Thanks to @netgalley and Oni Press for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Excellent anthology!! If you like Ice Cream Man or Black Mirror, then you won’t want to miss Cruel Universe, Vol. 1.
The universe is a big, scary place.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this graphic novel in exchange for my honest opinion!

I loooooooooooved this graphic novel/comic so much! The stories in this collection are chilling, funny, gross, weird, and so entertaining. The illustrations are amazing and terrifying all at once. There wasn't one story that I didn't enjoy, all of the cringing I did was in a very positive way! Fans of (gross) sci-fi horror, rejoice! Your next favorite read is here.

A fun collection of sci-fi/fantasy tales!

I enjoyed this, though some of the stories were too brief or bland to be memorable. The opener was the big win for me, with its twist making the biggest impact.

Most of these have a nice twisted ending, but after a while you do begin to see some of them coming.

There's a good mix of stories, and an interesting mix of art.

I didn't love all of it - some of the artwork was too muddled for me to make out the story, and some stories had quite plain art designed to let the story shine. So for the most part, the art didn't stand out.

The stories were fun though, and I enjoyed most of them making this a collection I'd recommend for sci-fi fans.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

Cruel Universe is a fantastic collection of science fiction with a hint of horror running throughout. Highlighting the darker side of the world. As with all horror and sci-fi it tends to use the uncanny to highlight issues in our present day. With a wonderful and varied collection of stories, Cruel Universe offers something for everyone and is sure to keep readers coming back. I cannot wait for more in this series and highly recommend to those who enjoy a good horror of sci-fi narrative. As always thank you to Oni Press for the advanced copy to review, my reviews are always honest and freely given.
#CruelUniverse # #Netgalley #OniPress #ARC #ARCReview #BookReview #FreeReview #AdPR #Gifted

I received an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF @ 46%


Many decades after shutting down its comics, Entertaining Comics is back to doing creepy and weird science fiction anthologies. Sadly, the nostalgic art and writing just didn't do it for me.

There was a time when EC was truly lightyears ahead, especially with the 1953 comic, Judgement Day, which saw a representative of a galactic federation advise against welcoming racist robots into the fold with the last panel revealing the astronaut to be Black, much to the chagrin of the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers' Publishers Code, the print sibling of the small-minded, bigoted Hays Code.

Tragically for EC, the world has moved on (despite the recent regression and steady march of fascism), but this new comic hasn't. The stories are largely dudes rock white guys and women are victims of they are anything at all.

The opening story was probably the strongest offering, but the quality was all over the place with well trodden ground and premises that were competently carried out, but carried little weight.

The covers go hard though!

Received as an ARC from Netgalley:

A fun collection of comics told in the classic EC style. Featuring all kinds of twists, monsters, and out there ideas.

Not every story was perfect, but all had their charms.

Will definitely be reading more of these in the future!

Big thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of their second EC relaunch Cruel Universe Vol. 1. I read a version in the NetGalley reader, and was primarily reading them on my iPad, which provided a great viewing experience, since I was able to see larger panels in vibrant color. I am really enjoying these reboots. Although sometimes I feel like these reboots and updated versions lack creativity or imagination, I think the stories in both EC Collections (Epitaphs from the Abyss is the horror themed, Tales from the Crypt version) are unique and present some modern takes on horror and technology, while also maintaining the ironic twists of fate that are a part of the original EC comics. While the Epitaphs from the Abyss was more of a horror themed set of stories, this collection was focused on science fiction and a kind of dystopia. I initially thought this would be strictly sci-fi, but there are stories that are horror themed and also feature the kind of cosmic horror that is in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft. Throughout all the stories, the artwork is great. I noticed in a few stories, there are some common themes in some of the outcomes to individuals in the stories, and I was surprised at the level of gore for a sci-fi collection. However, as the title indicates, these tales are part of a Cruel Universe, where people are subject to violence and brutality, as well as the whims of fate. In really enjoyed the space themed stories and those with aliens. I thought the artwork for these stories was particularly striking and original. Many of the aliens captured the kind of Lovecraftian image of Cthulhu, with tentacles and octopus-like appearances. One of the earliest stories, “Solo Shift”, features an interesting image of a black hole with really great colors. I also liked the kind of socio-economic themes that ran throughout stories like “Priceless” , “Organic”, “And the Profit Said…”, and “Paring Knife”, which all deal with people on the fringes of society or who are subject to a lower social ranking than others. In these stories, there is some kind of ironic twist at the end where we see how those with power maybe are not as powerful as they once seemed or their arrogance brings about a downfall, akin to hamartia in Greek tragedy. Other stories tell of the dark side of technology, and some are particularly relevant today. “Drink Up” was a unique and short tale about a rich man’s quest for immortality, as was “Billionaire Trust”, which had a particularly interesting ending. “Automated” was the story of a tech titan and car designer who brings about the destruction of society with his overreliance on automation (sound familiar?). I also really enjoyed “The Deleted Man”, which shows the lengths that people may go to in order to have their online histories “altered”. Two other favorites were “We Drown on Earth” and “The Ink Spot Test” for their creativity and illustrations. “We Drown on Earth” was especially Lovecraftian, but also focuses on the kinds of risks and problems that corporations exert on their workers. The creatures in the story are particularly creepy and well-drawn. I loved the background art in “The Ink Spot Test”, and the story is somewhat similar to a book I just finished on MKULTRA. I also really enjoyed the covers presented at the back of the book. There were some awesome illustrations there as well.
Overall, this was a great collection. I really enjoyed these stories, and most of them were great with unique and innovative twists and timely stories that are relevant to our current climate, and yet still maintain an element of that classic EC twist of fate. Highly recommended!

Cruel Universe was exactly what I hoped it would be - short tales that reminded me of the old Twilight Zone shows. Some focused on horror or sci fi or just shock factor, and all were well told and illustrated.this is definitely something I would recommend for people like me who sometimes miss the old pulpy sci fi and horror.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cruel Universe is a collection of short stories that blends weird fiction and horror, and I loved it.
It was like a mix of the older Si-Fi shows like the Twilight show or The Outer Limits and something a bit more modern like Black Mirror.

The stories were great, and I really loved the artwork, it matched the stories well.

If you like you’re Sci-Fi with a bit of horror rather than fantasy then you will love these.

This collection of stories was very enjoyable. Most everyone was great. Wasn't sure how shorts would work here, but they worked great. #ECCruelUniverseVol1 #NetGalley

I've read the EC Horror comics before and they are great. And the EC Cruel Universe (Science) is just as good. They are the perfect combination of science fiction and horror. I enjoyed all the stories. It was everything I expected from EC comics. Fans of science fiction/horror comics will like this one. I look forward to reading more from this series.

A really fun reimagining of EC horror comics. Punchy and creepy short stories -- with a science fiction bend -- each with a twist ending. The surprises are of varying degrees of success of course, but that's the thrill of an anthology. If the cover grabs you, you won't be disappointed with what's inside.

from the amazing EC Comics comes 19 mind bending stories of dark, sad, terrifyingly twisted tales of the cruelty of the universe
from aliens to future dystopia's, you never know what the next chapter will bring

Much like Epitaphs From the Abyss, this collection is widespread and mixed in quality. Nothing stood out as terrible, with even the 'worst' story being decent, but nothing stood out as great either.

The very first story (The Champion) actually made me cry and gave me higher hopes for the rest. A few could be middling episodes of Black Mirror (Priceless, for example). Some are concepts done better in other media (ex: Organ1c and Tender is the Flesh). Then there are a few, decently effective, super short stories that are only a page or two... but most were perhaps longer than they actually needed to be.

I still really enjoyed this collection though, and I love things like this and want to encourage it to continue.

E.C. Cruel Universe is a collection of short stories that blends weird fiction and horror into one strange, often unsettling ride, and for the most part, it works!

The opener, featuring a gladiator-style showdown between a man and a dinosaur (yes, a dinosaur), starts things off strong. It’s bizarre in the best way and surprisingly intense with an emotional payoff. Another standout for me was the story involving a man who nearly kills a woman, dark, tense, and it sticks with you. That one in particular really hit the right notes, and the ending landed well.

There’s also a disturbing little piece about an animal/human farm that was both creepy and oddly grounded despite the idea. It’s one of those stories that stays under your skin a bit.

Not every story blew me away. Some were just okay, and a couple felt a bit predictable (like the “dead woman on a spaceship” twist you could see coming a mile away). But even the weaker ones weren’t bad, just more middle-of-the-road compared to the stronger entries.

Overall, it's a solid collection of horror-tinged weirdness. If you like your short stories with a mix of the bizarre, bleak, and creative, this is definitely worth a read.