The Goddamn Tragedy is a gruesome horror western with "an atmosphere like The Shining" inspired by the infamous Donner Party

Promo art from The Goddamn Tragedy showing some scared eyes on a red background. — (Image credit: Oni Press)

Ultimate Wolverine writer Chris Condon is returning to his Western roots with The Goddamn Tragedy – "a vicious and vengeful" story inspired by a grisly chapter of Old West history. The 48-page one-shot is drawn by Fishflies artist Shawn Kuruneru, and is the latest in Oni Press's recent series of high-profile one-shots from rising creators.

In The Goddamn Tragedy, Ellen Janson and her parents Irena and Leo are heading west in search of a new life. When Leo splits off from the group, however, the family are forced to fight to survive. According to Condon the story is inspired by the gruesome real life tale of the Donner Party – a group of American pioneers who became snowbound in 1846–1847, with some resorting to cannibalism and murder to survive.

"An idea struck me: there's a story here to tell, one that could capture the psychological tumult a family endures as they are faced with an impossible decision: kill...or be killed," said Condon in a statement about the new book. "We all know how the Donner Party played out, but we don't know how things work out for the Janson family and that's a story that the masterful Shawn Kuruneru and I are all too excited to tell. Thankfully, we've found a great home for this one-shot of survivalist terror at Oni Press who excels at telling gut-wrenching tales from beyond the pale."

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This is not Condon's first western, of course – as the writer of That Texas Blood for Image Comics, as well as the recent miniseries The Enfield Gang Massacre, he's made a name for himself as one of the foremost writers in the genre.

"The Goddamn Tragedy is a gritty thriller with an atmosphere akin to The Shining," said Shawn Kuruneru about the new comic. "For the past two years I’ve been drawing Westerns, starting with my own comics Cave Grave and Poor Moon, then Fishflies #6 for Jeff Lemire. As a fan of Chris's writing on That Texas Blood, I am excited to bring this story to life with ominous color washes, rough line-work, and eerie shadows to slowly reveal the impending doom of the Janson family."

This is the third of five high profile one-shots from Oni Press in early 2025, following Patrick Horvath's Free For All in March and Plague House by Michael W. Conrad and Dave Chisholm in April. The Goddamn Tragedy will follow in May, with two more titles still to be announced.

Check out our interview with Free For All creator Patrick Horvath about horror series Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees.

Will Salmon is the former 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.