Stray Bullets creator David Lapham makes his EC Comics debut with a gruesome sci-fi shocker

David Lapham's art from Cruel Universe #2. — (Image credit: Oni Press)

Oni Press's Cruel Universe is the second book out of the gate from the publisher's revived EC Comics brand following Epitaphs from the Abyss. Each issue of the sci-fi horror anthology includes four twisted tales from a variety of star creators – and we've got an exclusive preview of one of them right here from the upcoming second issue.

'Ray Gun' is a Western-themed horror written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Stray Bullets creator David Lapham, who makes his EC Comics debut here. In the story, a washed up cowboy is startled by a UFO encounter, only to find that it leaves behind something very special: a futuristic lazer gun which he uses to... well, check out the preview below. Hint: it's pretty gruesome.

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Preview pages from Cruel Universe #2. — (Image credit: Oni Press)

Of course, with this being Cruel Universe, we have to expect a sting in the tale, but to find out what that is you'll have to pick up the full issue.

The issue comes with a main cover by Greg Smallwood, followed up by variants from Riley Rossmo and Jay Stephens, plus a black and white Rossmo variant, and an Archive Edition cover by Rian Hughes.

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Covers for Cruel Universe #2 — (Image credit: Oni Press)

As well as 'Ray Gun' the new issue also features new stories from Chris Condon and Javier Rodriguez, Stephanie Phillips (who we interviewed yesterday about her brilliant new series with Brian Azzarello LIFE) and Riley Rossmo, and we're also promised "a very special surprise from Ben H. Winters and Leomacs."

In our recent interview with Hunter Gorinson, the Oni Press CEO hinted that a third title would be on the way from the EC Comics imprint in the near future, saying "the third book will not be in a genre that EC specifically did stories in before. They dabbled in it, but they never had a title fully committed to it before." He also suggested that some future EC Comics titles might move away from the traditional anthology format.

Cruel Universe #2 is published by Oni Press on September 4.

EC employed some incredible artists, including some of the names that make up our guide to the best horror comics artists of all time.

Will Salmon is the Streaming Editor for GamesRadar+. He has been writing about film, TV, comics, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he launched the scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for well over a decade. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places too.