Vampire tale Blood Type will be the first serialized comic from Oni Press's EC Comics horror imprint

A group of ghoulish gravediggers reach down to the viewer.

(Image credit: Oni Press)

Next year's Free Comic Book Day is shaping up to be a big one, with publishers already starting to reveal some of the titles they'll have on offer to lure readers into participating comic stores. Now Oni Press has announced EC Comics Presents Blood Type #0 – a special preview edition of the first serialized story to be published by the revived horror imprint.

'Blood Type' was a short story originally published in September's Epitaphs from the Abyss #3. Written by Corinna Bechko and illustrated by Jonathan Case, the tale followed a vampire as she struggled to survive – and evade capture – at sea. The story will be reprinted in the FCBD issue as a prelude to the character (whose actual name is yet to be revealed) returning in a Blood Type solo series in 2025.

Gravediggers reach towards the reader on the cover of Blood Type #0. — (Image credit: Oni Press)

"Very early on in the planning stages of what would become our hugely successful resurgence of the EC Comics line at Oni Press, we challenged ourselves with a series of provocative questions," said Oni Press president and publisher Hunter Gorinsion in a statement about the new series. "What kinds of stories would EC be telling today? What new genres would they have pioneered across the decades? And how would EC's disruptive energy shatter and reshape the conventions of comics storytelling in the modern day? Blood Type is our answer to many of those questions – and a true first for the EC history as a tried-and-true anthology tale from the pages of Epitaphs From the Abyss expands outward in new and unexpected ways. We’re not saying any more until 2025 – some secrets are worth waiting for!"

The issue will also include reprints of several other EC Comics stories published in Epitaphs from the Abyss, Cruel Universe, and the forthcoming Cruel Kingdom, as well as a teaser for some of next year's EC Comics titles.

Blood Type #0 will be available from Oni Press on Free Comic Book Day, May 3. Before that, the first issue of EC's new dark fantasy anthology, Cruel Kingdom, will be published on January 8.

Earlier this year we interviewed Hunter Gorinson about the EC Comics line.

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.