James Tynion IV And Michael Walsh Lead On New Image Horror Series ‘Exquisite Corpses’

James Tynion IV (Something is Killing the Children, The Department of Truth) and Michael Walsh (The Silver Coin, Universal Monsters: Frankenstein), masters of horror both, will be heading up a group of creators in the upcoming Exquisite Corpses ongoing series. This new horror comic will launch in May with a 13-issue season from Image Comics/Tiny Onion. Each issue will feature Tynion and Walsh in collaboration—and competition—with a hand-picked group of creators.

Each issue will build upon the last in a true ‘exquisite corpse’-style. In these first, 13 blood-soaked issues the creative crew will determine who wins… and who dies.

Exquisite Corpses will feature the work of comic book collaborators Adam Gorham (Hellhunters), Becca Carey (Absolute Wonder Woman), Che Grayson (Dark Spaces: Good Deeds), Claire Roe (Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special), Gavin Fullerton (The Closet), Jordie Bellaire (Redlands), Marianna Ignazzi (Catwoman), Pornsak Pichetshote (The Good Asian), Tyler Boss (You’ll Do Bad Things), and Valentine De Landro (Bitch Planet).

Exquisite Corpses #1 featurs covers by Alex Eckman-Lawn, Jae Lee & June Chung, James Stokoe, Nimit Malavia, and more.

“Every five years on Halloween, the wealthiest families in America play a game. In Exquisite Corpses, 12 of the deadliest people in the world are dropped into a small town with just one goal: last killer standing wins. For the citizens of Oak Valley, Maine—this year’s unlucky arena—the goal is much simpler. They must survive the night.”

Tynion IV explained the genesis for this particular horror book:

“Sometimes you have an idea, and you know it’s crackling with energy and potential but you have to wait for the right moment to unleash it. When the final pieces were falling into place for the formation of Tiny Onion, the first call I made was to pitch Michael Walsh the story of Exquisite Corpses. Later that week, Michael had sketches of the first dangerous killers, and the ideas have been flowing rapid-fire for almost a year and a half since. We’re trying to bring the kind of energy and excitement that’s usually reserved in the comics space for a superhero comic or licensed property. That’s why we’re calling this a horror comics event. We feel like this has the potential to be something really special and lasting.”

Walsh added:

“James and I have been friends since very early in our respective careers, but we didn’t collaborate until we were both firmly established and shaped by years of working in comics. Our first collaboration was on an issue of The Silver Coin—the issue was an instant critic and fan favorite, and I felt our pacing and storytelling sensibilities were entirely in line. I was already itching to work with James again, but when he approached me with the kernel of the idea that would become Exquisite Corpses, I knew it would be something special. We brought in some of the brightest voices in comics to flesh out the series, which felt thematically and conceptually perfect. From there, things just kept growing until we had a colossal horror event comic on our hands.”

Helping promote the series, Tiny Onion will be embark on a year-long, national signing tour— the Corpse Tour ’25— with stops to coincide with each Exquisite Corpses issue release. Each event will feature Tynion in conversation with local Exquisite Corpses creators, with a Q&A and signing to follow. Corpse Tour ‘25 will kick off with a release party in May.

Speaking about the tour and working wit the guys is Jazzlyn Stone, Director of Communications for Tiny Onion:

“During the Exquisite Corpses writers summit in Buffalo last year, I was struck by how charming the creators were with one another, and how much knowledge they had to share, Constructing this series has felt like a celebration at every step—we would like to invite more people to this Exquisite Party. Corpse Tour ‘25 is designed to share some of that writers room magic with the fans and retailers, to bring the party to their door.”

Exquisite Corpses #1 will be a double-length issue, featuring 60 pages of story content for $4.99, and out on Wednesday, May 14