Contains a preview of Cemetery Kids Don’t Die #1!Screen Rant is excited to share an exclusive preview for Cemetery Kids Don’t Die #1 from Oni Press. This upcoming comic title will help kick off the publisher’s offerings for 2024 as part of its creator-owned titles. It blends video game worlds with horror to bring about a modern technological nightmare.
Cemetery Kids Don’t Die has the creative team of Zac Thompson and Daniel Irizarri. The series is part of five announced series from Oni Press that will be creator-owned. Thompson’s previous work includes Hunt for the Skinwalker and The Dregs, while Irizarri has previously worked on Judge Dredd and XINO.
The other creator-owned comic titles from Oni include Invasive, Jill and the Killers, Night People, and Akogun: Brutalizer of Gods. Cemetery Kids Don’t Die debuts in February and will be the second series to be released, after January’s debut of Jill and the Killers.
Oni Press Horror Series Blends RPGs & Teen Drama
Incorporating a video game world with teens in school is a recipe for adventure and big tensions. Cemetery Kids Don’t Die will feature a group of four friends who all play a console known as the “Dreamwave.” It is activated when a player sleeps, allowing a night of gaming without losing sleep. The preview above shows a glimpse of the Cemetery Kids’ world, in which they battle in what appears to be an RPG-style game and then resume their daily lives at school after waking up. There seems to be a bit of tension between the group, particularly after one member finds a scar across his neck one morning after a night of Dreamwave playing where he was decapitated in a fantasy battle. Check out the synopsis here:
The 21st century sucks hard, but it’s been made somewhat tolerable by the latest and greatest media innovation to finally unseat the iPhone. Enter the Dreamwave: the first gaming console played entirely while you sleep.
Now the obsession of millions around the globe, it’s also the one point of solace for four friends whose lives have been marred by trauma and dysfunction. Together, this group of ultra-online “Cemetery Kids” spend their nights roaming the open world of the most immersive and brutal horror game ever created: “Nightmare Cemetery.” Together they seek to dethrone an enigmatic humanoid monster known only as “The King of Sleep.”
Which was fun — until one of them doesn’t wake up…and finds their consciousness locked inside a horror game that is anything but imaginary. Now, the three remaining Cemetery Kids must navigate the game’s forbidden landscape to rescue their friend…and pray that the secret lurking at its center doesn’t follow them home.
Cemetery Kids Don’t Die Features Strong Visual Contrast & Shonen Influence
Series writer Zac Thompson says:
Daniel’s pages are really stunning and completely elevate both worlds that the story straddles. The strong action-horror elements of the game world are emphasized by heavy black gutters and these really wonderful digital details. While the ‘real world’ is more clean and balanced with stark white gutters and more rigid panelling. It gives the book a distinct visual flavour! But beyond that, Daniel’s character work and storytelling is just out of this world. There’s big, bombastic action balanced with strong emotional acting and it all looks effortless. I can’t wait for people to see the whole issue!
Series artist Daniel Irizarri adds:
Zac stuffed this script to the gills with action as well as deep emotions and I’m hoping that when people see the pages, they’ll feel those hits and slashes and cutting words that I felt from the script when I read it. I think people aren’t ready for some of the stuff we get upto within these pages. I haven’t had a chance to let loose with big fantasy action in a long time and I’m letting all my deep-seeded shonen manga influences loose on the page, from BLEACH to Berserk as well as the slice-of-life real world moments.
The influence of shonen manga is very noticeable, with one of the main characters’ weaponry choice mirroring the giant swords seen in several hit manga and anime series. This series is set to bring together the best of Western and Eastern comics into a blend of horror and fantasy. It takes inspiration from dark fantasy series, which is fitting given the premise from this stellar creative team. Cemetery Kids Don’t Die #1 from Oni Press will begin releasing in February 2024.
