EC Tortured Hearts #1 Preview

 

Patrick wanted to find the right woman. But in Amy Roy's introductory story, Patrick tries a little too hard. Who will the other four stories in this special issue introduce us to? And what issues will they grapple with while seeking the perfect person to give their heart to?

Here's all the info from Oni Press: 

 

EC TORTURED HEARTS #1 (ONE-SHOT)

WRITTEN BY JORDIE BELLAIRE, TINI HOWARD & BLAKE HOWARD, ANN NOCENTI, AMY ROY

ART BY SEBASTIÁN CABROL, FABIANA MASCOLO, DAN McDAID, ARJUNA SUSINI

COVER A BY DUSTIN WEAVER 

COVER B BY MIGUEL MERCADO 

COVER C BY TOM FOWLER 

EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY SHAWN McMANUS

B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) BY TOM FOWLER

ARCHIVE EDITION VARIANT (1:50) BY PATRICIA MARTÍN

ON SALE FEBRUARY 11th, 2026 | $8.99 | 56 PAGES | FC

 

LOVE HURTS! Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award–winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, and William M. Gaines Agent, Inc., are wrenching romance comics out of the grave in TORTURED HEARTS #1 – a 56-page tome of terror forged in the unrelenting tradition of EC Comics! In advance of the giant-sized special’s February 11th release date, take a lovelorn first look at "A Pocket Full of Nails" by legendary comic writer and editor Ann Nocenti (Daredevil, The Seeds) and ardent artist Dan McDaid (Dega) with colors from the mighty Michelle Madsen (Buffy The Vampire Slayer).

“Deep down in the EC catacomb, we've been toiling away to bring forth compelling tales of torment and technological terror,” says editor Allyson Gronowitz. "Now, we're excited to present our latest concoction of misery... a one-shot anthology dedicated solely to the particular pains and perils of romance! In this terrifying tale, esteemed writer Ann Nocenti explores the dangers of obsession, and the skin-crawling horror of the dark side of devotion... stunningly brought to life on the page by Dan McDaid and Michelle Madsen!”

“This tale is inspired by a true story about a guy who stalked female comic creators back in the days before stalker laws,” explains Ann Nocenti. “it was up to us to defend ourselves! One visual riff in the story was a scattering of loose nails, and Dan masterfully wove the spiky motif throughout the story to terrifying effect... dare I say he nailed it? Telling EC tales for Oni Press is a blast. My modus operandi is to think about what I'm afraid of, and with so much to fear in the world, the possibilities are endless. It's a pleasure to work with editors Allyson Gronowitz and Jung Hu Lee, who always offer tweaks to make the stories just a bit bloody better.”

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, here's one for all of you lovesick lunatics, rancid romantics, and forlorn fatalities as Oni Press proudly presents a giant-sized Valentine’s bouquet full of soft whispers and death rattles from hot-blooded writers Jordie Bellaire (Redlands), Tini Howard (Excalibur) & Blake Howard (Vampire: The Masquerade), Ann Nocenti (Daredevil), and Amy Roy (EC's Epitaphs from the Abyss), alongside candy-coated artists Sebastián Cabrol (Hulk: Maestro), Fabiana Mascolo (Cyberpunk 2077), Dan McDaid (EC's Outlaw Showdown), Arjuna Susini (Lamentation), and many more!

Plus, as an extra-added bonus: Another newly restored and authentically remastered classic from the EC vaults by legendary fiends William M. Gaines, Al Feldstein, and Reed Crandall!

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

Here are more cover options:

 

 

COVER B BY MIGUEL MERCADO

 

COVER C BY TOM FOWLER

 

 

EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY SHAWN McMANUS

 

B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) BY TOM FOWLER

ARCHIVE EDITION VARIANT (1:50) BY PATRICIA MARTÍN

Eat your heart out – but make sure to save some for the rest of us! This Valentine’s Day, EC Comics is gifting you a box of poison chocolates and cyanide-laced champagne in TORTURED HEARTS #1 – featuring a slate of salacious covers that will make your eyes linger a second too long from Dustin Weaver (Avengers), Miguel Mercado (X-Men), Tom Fowler (Refrigerator Full of Heads), Shawn McManus (Fables), and Patricia Martín (EC’s Blood Type)! Warm your heart to the boiling point – only in comic shops on February 11th! 

 

 

Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan Promotions for sharing this preview with us. 

Bleeding Hearts #1 Preview

 

 

Poke was like them once. But when he became a zombie, Poke left his humanity behind. Now he hunts humans for their flesh. He finds their hearts especially delicious. But he's never quite adjusted to life as a zombie. So how will Poke react when his heart starts beating again? And how will his community treat him when they realize Poke numbers among the living once again?

Here's all the info from DC Connect: 

Bleeding Hearts #1 Preview

Writer: Deniz Camp

Artist: Stipan Morian

Cover Artists: Stipan Morian, Jae Lee, Nick Dragotta & Chris Bachalo

Connecting Variant Cover Artist: Álvaro Martínez Bueno

Foil Variant Cover Artist: Stipan Morian

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $3.99/$4.99 Card Stock

Issue Length: 40 Pages

Release Date: February 11, 2026

 

The red-hot writer of Absolute Martian Manhunter, Deniz Camp, re-teams with breakout artist Stipan Morian to unleash Vertigo’s first new #1!

 

The zombies won—and ten years after the fall of humanity, they’re the dominant form of life (or not-life) on Earth. They’ve developed their own cultural practices, their own language, their own society.

 

Mouse-Pokes-Golf-Ball-Through-Hole-In-Head (“Poke” for short) is a beloved member of his community, and with his brother-in-arm Mush, he’s happy to shamble along through the only world he can remember…until the day his heart mysteriously starts beating again. And in a blink, the first humans he sees have stopped looking like food and started looking like…friends…?

 

The team behind 20^th Century Men, the bold mission statement that launched writer Deniz Camp and artist Stipan Morian to the next level of the comics industry, has reunited to bring you a world ruled by ruthless kill-or-be-killed logic, pitted against the demands of a single beating, bleeding, emotional heart!

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

The Whisper War #1 Review

 

Writer: Marc Guggenheim

Artist: Sedat Oezgen

Colorist: Carlos Cabrera

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Cover Artists: Sedat Oezgen & Carlos Cabrera

Designer: Travis Escarfullery

Publisher: Comixology

Price: $2.99

Release Date: February 10, 2026

 

Once, Alex Jindari was a police officer. He helped uphold law and order on Imprimata. But something prompted him to abandon his career and his world. Why did Alex exile himself from society to mine asteroids? And how does he enjoy working for the Lexan Mining Corporation? Let's put on our spacesuits, leap into The Whisper War #1, and see!

 

Story

Alex lives on Orbital Staging Station G11. Each day, as Alex straps on his spacesuit, drops down to an asteroid on a tether, and begins drilling, the unreality of his situation hits him. He used to be a cop. Alex guesses his work was important. He supposes that he left the police force before one of the criminals he tried to apprehend shot him. But when Alex looks in a mirror, he sees a scar he doesn’t remember receiving.

 

In The Whisper War #1, Alex inhabits a world ruled by Artificial Intelligence. When a Carabinieri Inspector requests his help, Alex has no option but to comply. The Algo identified him as the person most likely to solve a murder. So, reluctantly, Alex returns to his homeworld with Inspector Seeva Dessin.

 

After introducing the sweeping events that shaped Alex’s section of the galaxy, Marc Guggenheim's mystery follows Alex's investigation through his eyes. As Seeva ushers Alex into the Carabinieri headquarters, Alex yearns to impress her. The Inspector has a strange way of compelling him to tell her things he wouldn't ordinarily share with strangers. While Alex finds Seeva amenable to his requests, the medical examiner maintains a professional distance from the outsider. After all, Alex is no longer a cop. And he was never a member of the prestigious Carabinieri.

 

As Alex investigates a mysterious death on Imprimata, he throws himself into danger. The former cop who prides himself on getting out before a criminal shot him risks his life to determine if the person who fell from a building 500 stories high was pushed or leapt. But his bravery isn’t the only reason the Algo selected him, as the robot medical examiner discovers in The Whisper War #1.

 

Art

As warships cruise between planets, assault craft soar over cities. Soldiers die amid explosions or kill each other with knives and swords. Then Sedat Oezgen rockets to the present day, where Alex dons a spacesuit that evokes plate armor. Harnessed to the space station by a tether, he descends to an asteroid pitted with craters. Then, Alex uses his jackhammer-like drill to dig for gemstones.

 

Like the mother-of-pearl nugget Alex unearths, nearby planets glow with violet, turquoise, lavender. While light infuses the orbital station’s corridors, yellow and orange dominate The Whisper War #1. They color the air in the cabin of Seeva’s ship as it hurtles through Imprimata’s atmosphere. Elevated highways wind between skyscrapers gleaming with yellow and orange windows as the craft descends. But as the interior lights of Carabinieri HQ illuminate the vast lobby and crowded examination room, they recall a battlefield where an explosion ripped soldiers apart. And as Alex and Seeva interact with Jasper, their faces stare back at them from the medical examiner's orange visor.

 

Dave Sharpe places black uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons, and Alex's thoughts in green-and-white narrative boxes. The dialogue grows bold for intonation, enlarges for intense emotion, and never shrinks. Sound effects enhance the action as Alex follows up a lead and makes a discovery. But the medical examiner's dialogue boxes with lightning bolt arrows seem destined to prevent the robot from trusting the cop who abandoned his brothers in blue. Thanks to Comixology and Superfan Promotions for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

After surviving an event that could destroy civilization, the people of Imprimata get on with their lives. People like Alex Jindari pursue different professions and wonder why they left their former occupations behind. But when a society chooses to forget a traumatic event, remembering what happened and how society recovered leads to murder in The Whisper War #1.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For more on this series and the creators, see my spotlight on The Whisper War #1. 

Absolute Wonder Woman Annual 2026 #1 Preview

 

Like all the best heroes, Diana's thoughts are always for others. Yet helping others has painted a target on her back. While people hunt for ways to use her to hurt or subjugate others, Diana seeks to help and protect them. Where will Diana's compassion lead her next? And how much danger will she brave to free someone from others' control and oppression?

Here's all the info from DC Connect:

 

Absolute Wonder Woman Annual 2026 #1 Preview

Writer: Kelly Thompson

Artist: Mattia De Iulis

Cover Artists: Mattia De Iulis, Hayden Sherman, Haining & Denys Cowan

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $5.99/$6.99 Card Stock

Issue Length: 40 Pages

Release Date: February 11, 2026

 

The first Absolute Wonder Woman Annual is here!

 

The experience of briefly becoming Medusa in order to save Gateway City changed Diana. It haunts her, and she has never stopped seeking an answer from the gods. Her pleas to Athena have gone unanswered…until now. If she wants justice, the mission is deadly and uncertain. Is it worth the risk just to set right one injustice?

 

Breakout artist Mattia de Iulis returns to the series for a visually spectacular epic of mythological crimes and personal redemption!

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

Action Comics #1095 Preview

 

Superboy protects Smallville's farmers from corrupt bankers. He volunteers at his local library. Superboy even helps American soldiers overseas. But no one realizes that Clark Kent is Superboy. Who can Clark trust to protect his comfortable life in Smallville? And how would you react, if you learned your best friend was a superhero?

Here's all the info from DC Connect: 

Action Comics #1095 Preview

Writer: Mark Waid

Artist: Patricio Delpeche

Cover Artists: Ryan Sook, Chris Sprouse & Juni Ba

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $4.99/$5.99 Card Stock

Issue Length: 32 Pages

Release Date: February 11, 2026

 

Super secrets!

 

Pete Ross knows everything about Clark Kent…or does he? After stumbling across a distressing truth about his best friend’s superhero exploits, Pete is at a crossroads. Will he be a powerful ally to the Boy of Steel or the one person capable of orchestrating his demise?

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table #6 Preview

 

Connor lost his parents. The President of the United States holds his grandmother in custody. The last thing he wants to do is risk his friends' lives to rescue Marnie. But being a knight of the Round Table means fighting as a team. Otherwise, they risk destroying their unity, as Mordred did with his father's knights. Can Fel, Connor, and their friends lead a successful raid on the White House? And why can't Merlin penetrate the President's magical defenses?

Here's all the info from DC Connect: 

C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table #6 Preview

Writer: Tom Taylor

Artist: Daniele Di Nicuolo

Cover Artists: Daniele Di Nicuolo & Tirso

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $3.99

Issue Length: 32 Pages

Release Date: February 11, 2026

 

The power of Mordred!

 

They have trained. They have bonded. They have overcome challenges and learned great skills. Now, to rescue a loved one, the Children of the Round Table must face a powerful enemy head-on. Can they stop the power of Mordred? Or are they too young, too unprepared? Is it their destiny to fail? Also, will Kevin’s stick actually do anything?

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

Bloodborne Vol 1: The Death of Sleep Deluxe Edition Review

 

Writer: Aleš Kot

Artist: Piotr Kowalski

Colorists: Brad Simpson & Kevin Enhart

Letterer: Aditya Bidikar

Publisher: Titan Comics

Hardcover Price: $24.99

Kindle: $18.99

Release Date: September 2, 2025

 

Their name is unimportant. Perhaps they never had one. Either that, or the fog of battle has stripped it from them. Now, all the Hunter has is the hunt. While they yearn for rest, Yharnam needs them. So, as they slay the beasts in the burning city, they head toward the cathedral. Can the Hunter help those trapped inside? And can they find a way to escape the endless hunt? Let's grab a weapon, leap into Bloodborne Vol 1: The Death of Sleep Deluxe Edition, and see!

 

Story

When they arrive to rescue those trapped inside the cathedral, the occupants usher the Hunter inside. Despite all the beasts they have slain, a man leads them through the ancient building. He claims that the laity of the Healing Church are the true beasts. The priests have trapped this world in an endless cycle where people become infected and transform into beasts. Instead of fleeing, the man shows the Hunter a child. His pale skin and milk-like blood recall a prophecy. The man proffers the Hunter the boy as a potential means of escaping the never-ending hunt.

 

As we follow their journey, Aleš Kot shares the Hunter's thoughts with us in Bloodborne Vol 1: The Death of Sleep Deluxe Edition. The Hunter muses about their world and the nature of existence. They wonder how the world defines and limits them. The Healing Church has sacrificed its future and threatened everyone’s Humanity to preserve the present. Someone chose them to be a Hunter to cull the beasts. Despite their childhood memories, perhaps someone created them: neither man nor woman, but all Hunter. And a Hunter must hunt.

 

As the Hunter takes the pale blood child across the world, they wonder if a richer life awaits them. Protecting the child from danger is a new experience, but also an honor that the Hunter embraces. Along the way, the Hunter seeks counsel from others on how to escape the endless cycle of violence that traps them all. As in life, escaping the tyranny of long-held beliefs and patterns of behavior seems an impossible dream in Bloodborne Vol 1: The Death of Sleep Deluxe Edition.

 

Art

The Hunter carries a rifle and a collapsible serrated axe as they stride through the monster-filled streets. A bandana obscures their features, while a hat evokes the supercilium of a predatory bird. They extend the axe into a toothy scythe, cleaving bodies and severing heads with their right hand, while firing the rifle with their left. As a dog sinks its fangs into their vambraces, zombies, werewolves, and mummies leap from the flames. Yet the Hunter plows undaunted through the melee, approaching a carved wooden door in the towering expanse of brick.

 

Brad Simpson and Kevin Enhart lavish a nuanced palette on Bloodborne Vol 1: The Death of Sleep Deluxe Edition. Their colors brighten this dark world, in which a square centimeter rarely escapes Piotr Kowalski’s detailed penciling. Within Yharnam Cathedral, the fires outside fill the Gothic windows with a peach glow, while statues guard those within from alcoves lining the blue stone walls. The Hunter walks past an excavation pit, where brown coffins rest among boards and bricks in the dirt. Like the wooden floor and coffins, the pale child wears brown clothes and strips of cloth. Like the mottled skin on his bare head, gray sandals cover his pale feet.

 

Aditya Bidikar places the Hunter’s thoughts in yellow scraps of parchment with black lowercase words. Black uppercase words inhabit white balloons as the Hunter seeks aid and relief from life’s unending cycle. Sound effects heighten battles that, while fulfilling the Hunter’s purpose, can never bring them peace. Extras include the script for the first issue, illustrated with pencil sketches and inked art. The volume also boasts insights into creating the cover art and interviews with the writer and artist. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Perhaps once, the Hunter enjoyed hunting. But that was long ago. To recapture the meaning of their existence, the Hunter protects a pale child. While guiding it in the ways of the world, all the Hunter knows is that opinions can be the greatest danger of them all in Bloodborne Vol 1: The Death of Sleep Deluxe Edition.

 

Raing 9.2/10

 

For more info and order information, see my announcement for Bloodborne Vol 1: The Deathof Sleep Deluxe Edition.