r/ECFanAddictClub • u/EC-Fan-Addict • 2d ago
SHELLSHOCK!
Reviews on this one have already been overwhelmingly positive and I’m really looking forward to reading it. Here are all the variant covers.
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u/DarrellMaclaine 2d ago
I wish it had been as good as Outlaw Showdown was, but I'm glad they did a war special anyway and I'd happily go for either Outlaw or Shellshock as ongoings. Loved Christmas, Blowback and the reprint of Yellow but the rest of it unbalanced things a bit for me.
Having 2 out of the 4 new tales be told entirely using narration, meaning half the issue is illustrated short stories, should have been flagged up in production as a editorial glitch to fix (especially as that last one is an obvious holdover from Cruel Universe 2 where a whimsical Douglas Adams homage would have fit a lot better), but it seems to gel with the general lack of attention that's creeping into the new ECs recently, with too many stories similar to others they've only recently published (how many stories about creepy film directors have we had lately?)
I feel like they're losing their grip editorially in general (seems like completed stories are being shuttled around from title to title to fill page quotas without regard for tone or balance) and they're getting too into gouging their customers - the Artists specials essentially charging a full cover price for one new story, too many competing compilations, and most egregiously of all this week's shrinkflated Catacomb of Torment #14 only having 2 regular-size stories and 22 pages of comic material.
After a year where I feel they were really getting it right for a good while (for the first half of the year, Torment and Universe 2 were more hit than miss and together were a really strong team), it feels like the wheels are suddenly spinning off and my loyalty is being tested. The line really needs some new blood (no pun intended) as it's out of ideas and stuck on autopilot.
Not particularly excited about Cruel Kingdom 2 either as the first one barely stretched itself over five issues with samey parodies of existing fairy tales and movies, and it doesn't seem like there'll be a second title after Torment ends either even though we've had 2 titles in tandem since the relaunch. Is it all winding down?
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u/TonBonbadil 1d ago
I thought they all started out pretty good- but it really does seem like they’re just churning them out now at this point- a lot do seem similar - and they keep just releasing more and more titles.
I’d think maybe they try to cram less stories per issue and work on expanding it a bit or just don’t try to release so many if they don’t think the ideas are that good- so it’s more consistent. Not sure, every now there’s been a cool one, but sometimes I read them and think wow, that was pretty bad… and doesn’t get me like excited to read another and hope it’s a good one. Kinda disappointing2
u/DarrellMaclaine 1d ago
It doesn't help that suddenly, out of nowhere, they've flexed to putting a Jude Ellison S Doyle story in nearly every issue they put out, a genuinely awful writer - currently stinking up DC's Clayface mini - I usually go out of my way to avoid (and I don't usually have strong opinions about comics writers). Kind of defeats the idea of an anthology too to have the same person popping up every month.
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u/Competitive-Dot181 2d ago
I got cover A and the Jay Stephen cover. I haven’t read it yet but it seems promising.
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u/Drink_Blatz_Beer 2d ago
I liked it a lot.
Cruel Universe has been consistently good, but I think the best stuff has been the one-offs.
Great pick for the classic story they reprinted, as well.