Oni Press and EC Comics are continuing their collaboration with a sequel to the horror-fantasy anthology series Cruel Kingdom. The new series, titled Cruel Kingdom 2, is a six-issue limited run that will feature contributions from a variety of writers and artists.
Among the creators announced for Cruel Kingdom 2 are writers Matt Bors, John Arcudi, Sarah Gailey, Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Curt Pires, and David M. Booher, alongside artists Ryan Kelly, Ramón F. Bachs, Sami Kivelä, SOM, David Lapham, and Alison Sampson. One of the featured short stories in the first issue is "Fire in the Sky," by Matt Bors and Ryan Kelly.
Oni Press describes the series as delving into a world where "there is no 'happily ever after,'" and where "the witch hunter becomes the hunted." The publisher poses the question, "Must every wizard’s tower also have an executioner’s dungeon buried down below?" The first issue of Cruel Kingdom 2 is slated for release on September 2 and will be available for preorder at local comic shops.
This follows previous Oni/EC collaborations such as Epitaphs From the Abyss, Shellshock, and Blood Type. The original Cruel Kingdom series was part of Oni Press's initiative to publish new anthology series modeled after classic EC horror and sci-fi books.