Munhall comic book creator Ed Piskor launching horror title ‘Red Room’
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Munhall’s Ed Piskor knows his new comic book series “Red Room” isn’t for everybody. The gore-soaked, sci-fi/horror monthly series launches in May.
Here’s the synopsis of “Red Room”:
“In Red Room, criminals livestream murders on the dark web for fun and profit. The series will be told through a series of interconnected, stand alone stories, focusing on unsavory characters that lurk in the most grotesque corners of cyberspace. The murders are a mystery, the victims unknown. Aided by the anonymous dark web and nearly untraceable crypto-currency, business is booming and the viewership is ever-growing.”
Piskor has been posting a few pages a week to his Patreon account, with more than two issues worth of content already available digitally for $3 per month.
“‘Red Room’ is a cyberpunk, outlaw, splatterpunk comic that you can’t unsee once you feast your eyes on the mayhem,” Piskor said in a statement. “Think of ‘Red Room’ as modern day E.C. Comics, infused with the dream of ‘Black Mirror.’ These are subversive, stand alone stories that are all part of a larger, twisted narrative.”
Other influences cited include 1980s horror movies, “Famous Monsters” magazine and 1980s black-and-white comics like James O’Barr’s “The Crow.”
For more behind-the-scenes looks at “Red Room,” check out the Cartoonist Kayfabe YouTube channel, hosted by Piskor and fellow comic creator Jim Rugg of Pittsburgh.
The comic is currently available for pre-orders at Fantagraphic Books’ online store, but it should be available at local comic book stores in May. The first issue clocks in at 64 pages.
“‘Red Room’ peels back the curtain on a shadowy side of humanity,” said Fantagraphics associate publisher Eric Reynolds. “The series is chock full of graphically horrific imagery, punctuated by Ed’s sharp sense of humor, gorgeous cartooning, and dynamic storytelling.”
Piskor received the 2015 Eisner Award for Best Reality Based Work for “Hip Hop Family Tree,” a series chronicling the history of rap music. He also condensed more than 40 years worth of Marvel’s mutant stories into six oversized issues of “X-Men: Grand Design.”