EC Comics and Oni Press will be making this upcoming "Summer of Fear" a time to dismember for horror fans with Blood Type #1 sinking its teeth into shelves on June 11th and Catacomb of Torment #1 slicing and dicing its way to a July 16th release, and you can get into the sinister summer spirit early with our exclusive reveals of Dustin Weaver's Catacomb of Torment #1 variant cover featuring horror host The Tormentor hard at work and Kyle Hotz's Blood Type #1 variant cover featuring horror host The Grave-Digger lurking behind Ada the vampire!
Below, you can check out our exclusive horror host variant cover reveals for Catacomb of Torment #1 and Blood Type #1, and we also have the official press release with additional details, as well as the other amazing cover art for both of these spine-chilling releases and perilous preview pages from Blood Type #1!
Press Release: PORTLAND, OR (May 8th, 2025) – THESE GHOULS RULE! As EC Comics and Oni Press prepare to rattle the bones of horror fandom with the upcoming SUMMER OF FEAR line of new additions to EC’s legendary library, two terrifying new titles—BLOOD TYPE #1 and CATACOMB OF TORMENT #1—are summoning an extra-special treat for the most dedicated readers and retailers: Horror Host Variants that will be coming for your throat this June and July, respectively!
First: Renowned for his twisted, hyper-expressive linework in The Hood, Carnage, Evil Ernie, and Swamp Thing, artist Kyle Hotz brings the blood-soaked bite of EC’s vampiric new leading lady – Ada, the titular BLOOD TYPE – to undead life in this nightmare-fueled horror host variant for June’s BLOOD TYPE #1 by Hugo Award nominee Corinna Bechko (Green Lantern: Earth One) and Eisner Award winner Andrea Sorrentino (Gideon Falls)! Designed as a lost relic of EC’s golden age, Hotz’s illustration channels the macabre lineage of TALES FROM THE CRYPT and VAULT OF HORROR into a cover so ghastly, it might just climb off the rack and come for your neck.
Then: Fresh from cosmic corners of the Marvel Universe and his own creator-owned series Paklis, superstar artist and EC horror host designer Dustin Weaver (Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., Edge of Spider-Verse) turns his considerable talents toward the grotesque with a power tool-intensive splatter de spectacular featuring our latest host of horror, The Tormentor, having a bloody good time as steps into her very own series with July’s CATACOMB OF TORMENT #1 – EC’s next ongoing series, featuring bone-crunching tales of brutality from John Arcudi (BPRD), Marguerite Bennett (Batwoman), Matt Kindt (BRZRKR), David Lapham (Stray Bullets), Dan McDaid (Shazam!), Patrick Piazzalunga (Those Not Afraid), and more yet to come!
Prepare to helter swelter...because EC Comics and Oni Press are turning up the heat as THE SUMMER OF FEAR gets ready to tear into comic shops nationwide, beginning with BLOOD TYPE #1 this June and continuing across CATACOMB OF TORMENT #1 in July and CRUEL UNIVERSE 2 #1 in August!
EC BLOOD TYPE #1 (of 4)
WRITTEN BY CORINNA BECHKO
ART BY ANDREA SORRENTINO
COVER A BY MIGUEL MERCADO
COVER B BY ANDREA SORRENTINO
FOIL VARIANT ($8.99) BY MIGUEL MERCADO
EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY ALBERT MONTEYS
B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) BY ANDREA SORRENTINO
ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY PATRICIA MARTIN
HORROR HOST VARIANT (1:100) BY KYLE HOTZ
BLANK SKETCH VARIANT AVAILABLEON SALE JUNE 11, 2025 | $4.99 | 32 PAGES | FC
FOC: 5/19/2025EC CATACOMB OF TORMENT #1
WRITTEN BY JOHN ARCUDI, MARGUERITE BENNETT & MATT KINDT
ART BY DAVID LAPHAM, DAN McDAID & PATRICK PIAZZALUNGA
COVER A BY JORGE FORNÉS
COVER B BY TOM FOWLER
FOIL VARIANT ($8.99) BY JORGE FORNÉS
EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY JAY STEPHENS
B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) BY TOM FOWLER
ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY PATRICIA MARTIN
HORROR HOST VARIANT (1:100) BY DUSTIN WEAVER
BLANK SKETCH VARIANT AVAILABLEON SALE JULY 16th, 2025 | $4.99 | 32 PAGES | FC
IOC: 5/22/2025
FOC: 6/23/2025
Catacomb of Torment #1 Horror Host Variant Cover by Dustin Weaver:
Blood Type #1 Horror Host Variant Cover by Kyle Hotz:
COVER A BY MIGUEL MERCADO:
COVER B BY ANDREA SORRENTINO:
EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY ALBERT MONTEYS:
B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) BY ANDREA SORRENTINO:
EC ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY PATRICIA MARTIN:
BLOOD TYPE #1 INTERIOR ART BY ANDREA SORRENTINO:
COVER A BY JORGE FORNÉS:
COVER B BY TOM FOWLER:
GOLD FOIL VARIANT ($8.99) BY JORGE FORNÉS:
BLANK SKETCH COVER:
EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:100) BY JAY STEPHENS:
B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT BY TOM FOWLER WITH RIAN HUGHES:
ARCHIVE EDITION BY PATRICIA MARTIN:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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