Corinna Bechko; Matt Bors; Christopher Cantwell; Cameron Chittock; Chris Condon; Al Ewing; J. Holtham; Steve Niles; Greg Pak; Ben H. Winters. Oni Press, (144p) ISBN: 9798894889009. Graphic Novel, read 08/11/25, eBook ★★★★★

EC Cruel Kingdom

Another fun read from Oni Press.

This is another collection of short stories in a ‘Cruel’ setting, darker than the usual fantasy so horror-tinged or with a dark outcome.

I really enjoyed most of these, so much so that it felt like it was over and done with much too quickly as I shot through them on my morning commute.

A few of my favourites were; “Friendly Visitors” which looked at colonialism and the overconfidence of an ‘advanced’ race (humans) looking smugly at taking over another planet to strip it of its resources but with a really unexpected yet pleasing outcome, “The Demon’s Face” though I think I got the twist early on this was still a fun read playing with the destiny of heroes and gender expectations, “Hammer of Witches” another story of witchcraft and witch trials with a nice twist at the end, “The Feast of King Arthur” hilarious and goes with the current idea of ‘Eat the Rich’, and finally “Ye Shall Be Healed” another story riffing on the Frankenstein theme but with an even darker twist.

All the stories in the collection are good and it did take a bit of time to choose the ones I thought were stand outs so don’t worry about any duds.

A nice broad range of illustrators and colourists really bring all the stories to life, turning the words into worlds that we can lose ourselves in.

Another of the Cruel series to add to the shops inventory!

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.