Justice League: Dream Girls—a DC Pride Event #1 Preview

 

When Star Sapphire tapped Galaxy to accompany her to Naltor, she didn't invite the young hero to bring along a plus-one. But Galaxy wanted to rehabilitate that "war criminal" Dreamer. And even if Star Sapphire didn't want to admit it, she needed Dreamer to complete her mission. As Dreamer's resistance to joining any superhero teams begins to thaw, what's next for the two friends? And how will their Galaxy and Dreamer's new adventure strengthen or stress their renewed friendship?

Here's all the info from DC Connect:

Justice League: Dream Girls—a DC Pride Event #1

Writers: Jadzia Axelrod, Nicole Maines & Greg Rucka

Artists: Nicola Scott, J. bone, Brandt&stein & Claire Roe

Cover Artist: Brandt&stein

Variant Cover Artist: Claire Roe

Connecting Variant Cover Artist: Phil Jimenez

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $3.99 US/$4.99 US (Card Stock)

Issue Length: 32 Pages

Release Date: June 3, 2026

 

DC’s award-winning Pride Celebration

A brand-new weekly miniseries from DC Pride and DCU Superstars!

 

Fresh off the events of Justice League Intergalactic Special #1, Dreamer and Galaxy suddenly awaken on the island of Themyscira…living their best lives as princess and champion of the Amazons! But wait—weren’t they just having a blowout friendship fight on the Watchtower, right in front of half the League? And who’s this mysterious man that just washed up on their shores, insisting Dreamer leave paradise with him to save the world? And why does this heroic origin story and its increasingly strange and shifting landscape feel both familiar and wrong all at once? It’s almost like…they’re lost in a dream?

 

Also featuring a BATWOMAN back up story by Greg Rucka and Claire Roe!

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

For Galaxy and Dreamer's last adventure, see my review of Justice League Intergalactic Special #1. 

Catacomb of Torment #6 Cover Preview

 

 

When a mugger assaulted Riel Tran, the police stood by her. They put their best sketch artist on her case. Mitch Sims has a way with faces. He can tease out details from Riel's traumatic memories to compose a sketch of her attacker. But who will help Riel when she starts seeing trouble around every corner? And what other stories lurk in this catacomb of torment?

Here's all the info from Oni Press:

 

CATACOMB OF TORMENT #6

WRITTEN BY DAVE BAKER, MATT BORS & RACHEL WERNER ART BY JUSTIN GREENWOOD, SHAWN McMANUS & CLAIRE ROE COVER A BY JORGE FORNÉS COVER B BY TOM FOWLER EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY JAY STEPHENS B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) TOM FOWLER ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY PATRICIA MARTÍN Feeling a chill up your spine? Nay, friend, that’s no gust of winter air . . . it’s merely the Tormentor’s rusty testing needle probing for a warm vertebrae to call home! So sit back, relax, and scream relentlessly into the void as we welcome you back to our horrific hostess’s Catacomb of Torment—where every new story will leave you in stitches! On this month’s menu: A frantic feast of fatal delights, as prepared with loving care by the toxic talents of writers Dave Baker (Mary Tyler MooreHawk), Matt Bors (The Toxic Avenger), and Rachel Werner (The Glam World Tour), and artists Justin Greenwood (Immortal Thor), Shawn McManus (Fables), and Claire Roe (Batgirl)! Once you’re done, remember to save room for another helping—poison always spoils on the second day, so we need to use it while it’s still good! ON SALE DECEMBER 17, 2025 | $4.99 | 32 PGS. | FC

 

Here are more cover options: 

 

 

COVER B BY TOM FOWLER

 

 

EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY JAY STEPHENS

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

ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY PATRICIA MARTÍN

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

Cruel Universe 2 #4 Preview

 

COVER A BY LEE BERMEJO

 

What goes around comes around. You reap what you sow. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Sure, they're clichés. But that doesn't make them untrue. Can any of the characters in this month's visionary science-fiction anthology disprove Newton's Third Law?

Here's all the info from Oni Press:

 

CRUEL UNIVERSE 2 #4 (of 12)

WRITTEN BY CECIL CASTELLUCCI, RYAN HADDOCK & J. HOLTHAM ART BY BRIAN LEVEL, ANDREA MUTTI & CLAIRE ROE COVER A BY LEE BERMEJO COVER B BY NAOMI FRANQ EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY ALBERT MONTEYS B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) BY NAOMI FRANQ ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY MALACHI WARD Feeling content and at peace with the state of the cosmos? WRONG! Don’t worry, Cruel Universe 2 is here to dispel that tragically optimistic fantasy! We’ve trapped—er, we mean tapped—writers Cecil Castellucci (Girl on Film), Ryan Haddock (EC’s Catacomb of Torment), and J. Holtham (Hulu’s A Handmaid’s Tale) to remind you of your life’s limited span, and to assure you that hubris and gullibility are two sides of the humanity coin. In case you’re not convinced—or can’t read—artists Brian Level (Night People), Andrea Mutti (EC’s Cruel Kingdom), and Claire Roe (The Hollywood Special) are on hand to imprint horrifying visuals into your eyestalks. ON SALE NOVEMBER 5th, 2025 | $4.99 | 32 PGS. | FC

Here are more cover options:

 

COVER B BY NAOMI FRANQ

 

EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY ALBERT MONTEYS

 

B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) BY NAOMI FRANQ

ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY MALACHI WARD

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

Cruel Universe 2 #3 Cover Preview

 

COVER A BY LEE BERMEJO

 

A story that'll evoke a Twilight Zone episode, a tale that'll remind you of not-so-long-ago events, and something to ponder the next time you gaze up at night, and see a streak of white racing toward the heavens. EC Comics delivers fun, thought-provoking sci-fi tales with a cosmic power-punch!

Here's all the info on this upcoming issue:

 

CRUEL UNIVERSE 2 #3 (of 12)

WRITTEN BY CECIL CASTELLUCCI, SARAH GAILEY & RIAN HUGHES ART BY KANO, ANNA READMAN & CLAIRE ROE COVER A BY LEE BERMEJO COVER B BY GREG SMALLWOOD EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY ALBERT MONTEYS B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) BY GREG SMALLWOOD ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY MALACHI WARD Corporate greed, human desperation, technological despair! Such postulations all are but tiny specks swallowed by the unforgiving void of CRUEL UNIVERSE! EC’s Eisner Award–nominated sci-fi horror anthology continues its deep dive into futuristic depravity and darkness with three new tales from writers Cecil Castellucci (Shade the Changing Girl), Sarah Gailey (Eat the Rich, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and, in his EC writing debut, Eisner Award nominee Rian Hughes (Batman: Black and White). Illustrating their dark visions are Kano (EC’s Cruel Universe), UK comics sensation Anna Readman (2000 AD), and Claire Roe (EC’s Epitaphs from the Abyss)! Witness as these stellar creative teams probe deep into the dark void of space—and the human soul—in what’s sure to be another stark installment of the Eisner-nominated series! ON SALE OCTOBER 1st, 2025 | $4.99 | 32 PGS. | FC

Here are more cover options: 

 

COVER B BY GREG SMALLWOOD

 

EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY ALBERT MONTEYS

 

B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT (1:20) BY GREG SMALLWOOD

ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY MALACHI WARD

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

EC Cruel Universe #2 Preview

COVER A BY LEE BERMEJO

 

This is a cool comic series. Each issue is filled with short Science Fiction stories. The first issue tackled racism, our relationship to our aquatic friends, and the role of anger in reaching for the stars. Yes, Commander Saru, it's okay to scream! EC Comics is worth screaming about!

Here's all the info on this upcoming issue:

 

EC CRUEL UNIVERSE 2 #2 (of 12)

WRITTEN BY CHRIS CONDON, MELISSA FLORES & DAVE WIELGOSZ

ART BY SAMI KIVELÄ, CLAIRE ROE & RILEY ROSSMO

COVER A BY LEE BERMEJO

COVER B BY TOM FOWLER

EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY ALBERT MONTEYS

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

ARCHIVE EDITION VARIANT (1:50) BY MALACHI WARD

ON SALE SEPTEMBER 3rd, 2025 | $4.99 | 32 PGS. | FC

IOC: 7/26/2025

FOC: 8/11/2025

 

EMBRACE OBVILION AS YOUR PHYSICAL BODY SACRIFICES ITSELF … ALL IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE! 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 proud to reveal a first look at the story “Ham Radio” by Melissa Flores (Power Rangers Prime) and Claire Roe (Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special) from CRUEL UNIVERSE 2 #2 (of 12) – the next installment of the Eisner Award-nominated science-fiction anthology series featuring a stellar group of creators forcing readers beyond the brink of reality itself! 

For millennia, mankind has earned to explore the stars. Foolish humans—that was your first mistake! Like a stray space capsule that’s unexpectedly escaped our solar system and is now cursed to rocket forward at ever-escalating velocities that will slowly reduce its crew to a slick film of goo, EC Comics proudly presents a new roster of callously cosmic tales positively oozing with pain, paranoia, and the pent-up regret of human ambition! To copilot this doomed survey of the stars, join writers Chris Condon (Ultimate Wolverine), Melissa Flores (Power Rangers Prime), and Dave Wielgosz (Batman: The Brave and the Bold) as they execute the logarithmic calculations that could save our explorers . . . only for the danger-defying artists Sami Kivelä (Abbott), Claire Roe (Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special), and Riley Rossmo (Harley Quinn) to bear witness to inescapable galactic calamity of their all-too-human hubris. Whoops!

Yes, human, it has been foretold in our data tablets: You will gaze in slackjawed wonder as CRUEL UNIVERSE 2 #2 (of 12) crosses the vacuum of space to deliver new allotments of optical ingenuity in the form of comic book covers by Lee Bermejo (Joker), Tom Fowler (Epitaphs from the Abyss), Albert Monteys (Slaughterhouse-Five), and Malachi Ward (Black Hammer: The End) to begin a eons-long rein of EC Comics-inspired cosmic terror! You wanted to live life as a sentient being … Now pay the price in CRUEL UNIVERSE 2 #2 (of 12) – on sale September 3rd!

Plus: Also on sale in September from Oni Press and EC Comics – There’s no rest for the wicked as CATACOMB OF TORMENT #3 presents three tales of fear and frightful persecution fresher than the bludgeoned corpses in your quiet neighbor’s basement! Join our brutally beloved host, the Tormentor, to visit violently vivid vivisections upon our artfully agonizing creators Valeria Burzo (EC’s Epitaphs from the Abyss), Ryan Haddock (The Brothers Flick), J. Holtham (Hulu’s A Handmaid’s Tale), Sami Kivelä (Abbott), Christopher Mitten (Hellboy & The B.P.R.D.) and Joanne Starer (Fire & Ice) as EC’s brand-new and all-out brutal horror anthology continues its experiments in human anatomy! 

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

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

Here are more cover options:

ARCHIVE EDITION VARIANT (1:50) BY MALACHI WARD

 

COVER B BY TOM FOWLER

 

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

EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY ALBERT MONTEYS

Thanks to Oni Press for sharing this preview with us.

Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special #4 Review

 

Writer: Jeremy Lambert

Artist: Claire Roe

Colorist: Jordie Bellaire

Letterer: Becca Carey

Cover Artists: Claire Roe & Jordie Bellaire; Dani & Tamra Bonvillain; Jacob Edgar; Gabriel Walta

Publisher: IDW

Price: $3.99

Release Date: December 6, 2023

 

Vivian Drake is safe on the train, but her young fan Molly is missing. Molly’s father pleads with Vivian, begging the actress to return to the mine and rescue his daughter. Can a faded Hollywood starlet promoting WWII war bonds accomplish more than the experienced workers of Minerstown, Pennsylvania? Let’s leap into Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special #4 and find out!

 

Story

After Vivian’s encounter with the Mismatch Man, she woke up in the rubble near the entrance to the mine. Yet Molly remained behind. The young girl walks through tunnels with the nightmarish creature. It follows as she skirts the underground lake and enters Viv's Diner. Inside, Molly meets Vivian, or rather her favorite heroine: Sally Steel.

 

The star of The Adventures of Sally Steel believes she’s a visitor to the diner. Vivian might have owned it once, but now it belongs to Molly. The girl's strength falters when she glimpses a familiar shadow. She runs away. But can Molly escape the Mismatch Man?

 

 

 

Vivian regrets some of her choices in Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special #4. Alcohol dampened the pain, but the damage she suffered remained untreated. Her misery drew the Mismatch Man to her. It feasted on her pain. Vivian's neuroses made the creature stronger than ever before.

 

No one invited Vivian Drake and Lou Gaines to help rescue people from the mine. A local discouraged her from visiting the bar where Sally’s father worked. Yet Vivian insisted upon becoming involved. With her career on the wane, did Vivian yearn to be the heroine that inspired Molly? 

 

 

 

Art

Assembled from a collection of body parts, the Mismatch Man adopts the head of its latest victim and wears it upside down. In Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special #4, we see through its eyes. The underground lake mirrors the action, helping us watch Molly enter the diner. As the Mismatch Man pursues the brave girl, the creature views Vivian’s past. Events seem to take place in Hell amid the Lake Of Fire.

 

A beautifully composed page leads readers from rescuers entering the mine to the monster standing outside the diner beside the underground lake. Claire Roe shows Molly's father pleading for Vivian to intervene. Images resembling photographic negatives surround Vivian and the handbill Molly asked her to sign: a mini poster advertising The Adventures Of Sally Steel. 

 

 

 

Jordie Bellaire changes palettes by scene and location in Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special #4. Molly and the Mismatch Man evoke yellowed photographs, while bright, wild colors heighten lakeside scenes. The diner’s harsh overhead light makes Sally Steel glow while graying all else. Vivian’s painful memories burn in orange and red. Yet Bellaire's most haunting contribution remains the beige and blue-gray scenes in which Vivian gazes out the window as rain pummels the sitting train.

 

Prone to shrink when voices lower, uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons are big, black, and beautiful. Smaller lowercase letters reveal reviewers' remarks regarding the actors' recent performances. While no sound effects heighten the horrific events, Becca Carey helps us read newspaper titles and magazine covers. Her artistry makes the poster for The Adventures Of Sally Steel more enticing.

 

Thanks to IDW for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

While cherishing relationships that influence us in countless ways, we believe we are masters of our fates. A work of ineffable beauty, Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special #4 invites us to examine those relationships and how they impact our mental health.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.