Benjamin HC Spotlight

 

 

What happens when we die? Is it the end? Or is death a doorway to a new beginning? 

When Benjamin awakens in a motel room, he cannot remember how he got there. The manager attaches little cosmic significance to someone slipping into a room like a stowaway on the ship of life. But when the clerk sees the man raving about people speaking into Psy-Tac Intercommunicators, his thoughts drift back to his father's favorite author. 

Marcus is an easygoing guy. He's sufficient intrigued to take the stranger under his wing. But did the man write all the science fiction novels his father collected? And if so, how did Benjamin J Carp return from dead?

Here's all the info from Oni Press:

 

BENJAMIN HC

WRITTEN BY BEN H. WINTERS ART BY LEOMACS COVER BY CHRISTIAN WARD IN ONE L.A. MOTEL ROOM, A COSMIC QUEST IS ABOUT TO BEGIN . . . More than just a writer, more than just a science-fiction icon, Benjamin J. Carp was a cultural revolutionary. Over the course of 44 novels and hundreds of short stories—including the counterculture classic The Man They Couldn’t Erase—Carp pushed the boundaries of literary respectability for the sci-fi genre and his readers’ perception of reality itself . . . until decades of amphetamine abuse and Southern California excess finally ended a mind-bending career that always just escaped mainstream success. He died in 1982. Until 2025 . . . when Benjamin J. Carp awakens, alive, in a burned-out motel on the fringes of Los Angeles. He remembers dying. He knows he shouldn’t exist. Is he a dream? A robot? A ghost? A clone? A simulation? In his own time, Carp pondered all of these scenarios through his fiction—and now, as he treks from Studio City to Venice Beach and onward into the paranoid sprawl of 21st-century Los Angeles, he will be called to investigate his greatest mystery yet: himself. From Edgar Award nominee and Philip K. Dick Award winner Ben H. Winters (EC’s Cruel Universe, The Last Policeman trilogy) and rising star Leomacs (EC’s Epitaphs from the Abyss, Ghostlore) comes a uniquely fascinating and hilariously deranged excursion into the metatextual nexus, where existence and oblivion, past and future, genius and madness, and glitter and grim reality all meet just beyond Hollywood Boulevard. $24.99 | 104 PGS. | FULL COLOR | ON SALE MARCH 11, 2026

 

Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan Promotions for providing a review copy.

 

For additional insights on Benjamin HC from the author, see my Benjamin HC Solicit. 

 

Shiver Suspenstories 2 #1 Cover Preview

 

 

The holidays can be tough, especially when you don't feel like you belong. Noah feels isolated and alone at his new school. While his classmates celebrate the Christmas season, he belongs to the Jewish faith. He endures bullying each day because he is an outsider. How can Noah stand up for himself and make friends, or at least put a stop to the bullying? And who else will we meet in the five stories included in this holiday issue?

Here's all the info from Oni Press:

 

SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES 2 #1 (ONE-SHOT)

WRITTEN BY DAVID M. BOOHER, MELISSA FLORES, GEORGE NORTHY & BEN H. WINTERS ART BY SAMI KIVELÄ, DAN McDAID, & MORE COVER A BY DUSTIN WEAVER COVER B BY ADAM HUGHES EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY SHAWN McMANUS B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT BY DUSTIN WEAVER ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY RIAN HUGHES AS IF THE HOLIDAYS WEREN’T HORRORIFIC ENOUGH?! EC Comics and Oni Press are BACK to stab your stocking for the second year running with all-new, all-terrifying tales of holiday horror and Christmastime catastrophe as SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES slays again!  In this year’s giant-sized, 56-page tome of gruesomely gift-wrapped delights: We’re tying perpetual naughty-listers David M. Booher (Canto), Melissa Flores (Biker Mice from Mars), George Northy (Yuletide), and Ben H. Winters (Benjamin) to the dried-out Christmas tree in the family parlor . . . and gathering ‘round as artistic Tormentors-in-training Sami Kivelä (Abbott), Dan McDaid (Shazam!), and more surprise guests throw a few lit matches their way to get this old-fashioned solstice sacrifice started in style!   Yes, we know: It smells like dinner might be getting a little overdone! Never fear, because EC’s newest annual tradition also comes complete with an extra-added EC Comics classic—newly restored back to its authentic original coloring! As you sift through the charred remains, just remember: SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES is here to bring the horror back to the holidays . . . and we wouldn’t want it any other way! ON SALE DECEMBER 10, 2025 | $8.99 | 56 PGS. | FC     Here are other cover options:     COVER B BY ADAM HUGHES       EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY SHAWN McMANUS   B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT BY DUSTIN WEAVER   ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY RIAN HUGHES

 

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

 

Shiver Suspenstories 2 #1 Cover Preview

 

Oni Press and EC Comics brings us entertainment with a razor-sharp edge. This month's special, Outlaw Showdown #1, collected tales of life in 19th Century America. Monthly title Catacomb Of Torment probes the darker aspects of life on Earth. The Cruel Universe series ponders the terrors awaiting us when we trade out homeworld for the life among the stars. What dark tidings will they bring us this December? 

Here's all the info from Oni Press and EC Comics:

 

 

AH! Superstar Adam Hughes Covers EC Comics’ Shiver SuspenStories 2 #1 – And It’s A(H)bsolutely A(H)mazing!

Oni Press is Stabbing Your Stocking in December with 56 Pages of Razor-Sharp Surprise from the Immortal EC Comics, Featuring a Host of Creatives You’ll Die for!

The guest list for this fearful affair features the creative talents of David M. Booher, Melissa Flores, George Northy, Ben H. Winters, Lukas Ketner, Sami Kivelä, Leomacs, and Dan McDaid, as SHIVER SUSPENSESTORIES 2 #1 releases on December 10th!

 

SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES 2 #1 (ONE-SHOT)

WRITTEN BY BEN H. WINTERS, MELISSA FLORES, GEORGE NORTHY, & DAVID M. BOOHER

ART BY LEOMACS, LUKAS KETNER, DAN McDAID & SAMI KIVELÄ

COVER A BY DUSTIN WEAVER

COVER B BY ADAM HUGHES

EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY SHAWN McMANUS

B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) BY DUSTIN WEAVER

ARCHIVE EDITION VARIANT (1:50) BY RIAN HUGHES

ON SALE DECEMBER 10, 2025 | $8.99 | 56 PGS. | FC

IOC: 10/25/2025

FOC: 11/17/2025

 

YOU’LL NEVER LOOK AT MISTLETOE THE SAME WAY AGAIN! Oni Press, the multiple Eisner- and Harvey Award–winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, and William M. Gaines Agent, Inc. is gulping back its excitement to reveal superstar artist Adam Hughes’ (Wonder Woman, Betty & Veronica) gorgeously gangrenous cover  for EC Comics’ SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES 2 #1 – coming to comic shops everywhere December 10th! For the second year running, Oni Press and EC Comics are proud to welcome the Eisner Award-winning comics legend to cover duties on our newest annual tradition – a 56-page pyre of perversities so stuffed with holiday horrors that it could only be called…SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES! 

In this year’s giant-sized tome of gruesomely gift-wrapped delights: We’re tying perpetual naughty-listers David M. Booher (Canto), Melissa Flores (Biker Mice from Mars), George Northy (Yuletide), and Ben H. Winters (Benjamin) to the dried-out Christmas tree in the family parlor . . . and gathering ‘round as artistic Tormentors-in-training Lukas Ketner (Count Crowley), Sami Kivelä (Abbott), Leomacs (Benjamin), and Dan McDaid (Shazam!) throw a few lit matches their way to get this old-fashioned solstice sacrifice started in style!

Yes, we know: It smells like dinner might be getting a little overdone! Never fear, because EC’s latest installment of this time-honored holiday tradition also comes complete with an extra-added EC Comics classic—newly restored back to its authentic original coloring! As you sift through the charred remains, just remember: Shiver SuspenStories is here to bring the horror back to the holidays . . . and we wouldn’t want it any other way!

 

 

Here are more cover options:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Featuring frightful, yet frosty covers by Dustin Weaver (Epitaphs from the Abyss), Adam Hughes (Catwoman), Shawn McManus (Fables), and Rian Hughes (The Multiversity), EC Comics is proud to deliver this winter’s deepest chill yet on December 10th – only in Shiver SuspenStories 2 #1!

For more updates on Oni Press, visit them on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.

 

 

Thanks to Oni Press for sharing this cover preview with us. 

 

Benjamin #3 Cover Preview

 

COVER A BY CHRISTIAN WARD

Is this the real life? Or, as Freddie Mercury mused, "Is this just fantasy?" If you haven't read the previous issues, don't worry! Benjamin #3 starts off with the revived science fiction writer recounting what he learned since he awakened. Ben H Winters makes it easy to dive in an follow this story. As I read, I felt drawn to Marcus's plight. He reminded me a lot of Dr James Wilson on House. Like Gregory House, Marcus gets pulled into Benjamin's orbit, and talked into doing things he would never contemplate otherwise. 

Leomac's detailed art and Luca Bertelè's vibrant coloring keep you turning the pages. There's a trippy psychedelic quality that seems to enhance Benjamin's assertions. Becca Carey contributes easy-to-read uppercase lettering in white dialogue balloons that grow bold and swell when Benjamin starts to go too far, and the sound effects enhance the charming whimsy of this story.

Here's all the info: 

BENJAMIN #3 (OF 3)

WRITTEN BY BEN H. WINTERS ART BY LEOMACS COVER A BY CHRISTIAN WARD COVER B BY MALACHI WARD FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY CHRISTIAN WARD “I’m saying all of that was never real in the first place. It is not that you will cease to exist, Marcus, it is that you never really existed in the first place. That life was always an illusion. Your dreams were always temporary. Your memories were always an invention. But you know, let’s be honest, that’s how it is for most people, when you get right down to it. You think you have this future. You think you have this past. But everything is always going away. Everything is always in the process of coming to nothing. But what I’m telling you, Marcus, is that I am different. For some cosmic reasons impossible to understand, I matter. I have a chance to save the universe . . . and you have a chance to save me. That is more—so much more—than most people ever get.” —Benjamin J. Carp, novelist (Deceased. Robot? Ghost? Alien?) From Philip K. Award–winning writer Ben H. Winters (EC’s Cruel Universe) and extraordinary artist Leomacs (Basketful of Heads), the prestige-format examination of a dead science-fiction icon’s unexpected return to Earth concludes with a mind-bending meditation of existence itself. ON SALE AUGUST 27th, 2025 | $5.99 | 32 PGS. | NO ADS | FC

Here are two more cover options:

COVER B BY MALACHI WARD

 

FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY CHRISTIAN WARD

Thanks to Oni Press for sharing this cover preview with us.

Benjamin HC Solicit

 

At San Diego Comic-Con, president Hunter Gorinson and editor-in-chief Sierra Hahn hailed Ben H Winter's story as one of the strongest pitches they had ever heard. Ben described his character, Benjamin J Carp, as a curmudgeonly, obnoxious man. As he seeks answers to his strange rebirth, what he discovers prompt more questions about his existence. You may not like Benjamin J Carp. Yet he has an odd ability to charm people. And as he grapples with his situation, Ben H Winters assured readers that we would root for him.

Here's all the info on this upcoming hardcover edition from Oni Press: 

BENJAMIN HC ADVANCE SOLICIT

WRITTEN BY BEN H. WINTERS ART BY LEOMACS COVER BY CHRISTIAN WARD IN ONE L.A. MOTEL ROOM, A COSMIC QUEST IS ABOUT TO BEGIN . . . More than just a writer, more than just a science-fiction icon, Benjamin J. Carp was a cultural revolutionary. Over the course of 44 novels and hundreds of short stories—including the counterculture classic The Man They Couldn’t Erase—Carp pushed the boundaries of literary respectability for the sci-fi genre and his readers’ perception of reality itself . . . until decades of amphetamine abuse and Southern California excess finally ended a mind-bending career that always just escaped mainstream success. He died in 1982. Until 2025 . . . when Benjamin J. Carp awakens, alive, in a burned-out motel on the fringes of Los Angeles. He remembers dying. He knows he shouldn’t exist. Is he a dream? A robot? A ghost? A clone? A simulation? In his own time, Carp pondered all of these scenarios through his fiction—and now, as he treks from Studio City to Venice Beach and onward into the paranoid sprawl of 21st-century Los Angeles, he will be called to investigate his greatest mystery yet: himself.     (Left to right) Hunter Gorinson, Sierra Hahn & Ben H Winters     From Edgar Award nominee and Philip K. Dick Award winner Ben H. Winters (EC’s Cruel Universe, The Last Policeman trilogy) and rising star Leomacs (EC’s Epitaphs from the Abyss, Ghostlore) comes a uniquely fascinating and hilariously deranged excursion into the metatextual nexus, where existence and oblivion, past and future, genius and madness, and glitter and grim reality all meet just beyond Hollywood Boulevard. ON SALE MARCH 11th, 2026 | $24.99 | 104 PGS. | FC IOD: 9/27/2025 FOC: 2/16/2026           Thanks to Oni Press for sharing this advance solicit with us.