Dynamite To Reprint The Original ‘Evil Ernie’ #1
by Erik Amaya
December brings the chance to see Evil Ernie #1 again.
Dynamite and Coffin Comics announced Thursday that it will create a facsimile edition of the character’s first appearance. Although he is better known for his adventures in the pages of Chaos! Comics publications, the original first issue was released by Eternity Comics — known around the Comicon.com virtual office for its Robotech II: The Sentinels comics — in 1991. Brian Pulido and artist Steven Hughes devised the tale of Ernest Fairchild, a “disaffected and abused teen being held captive in the Clearview Mental Institution under the eye of Dr. Leonard Price.” The use of experimental treatments like dream therapy allows Ernest to meet Lady Death, but fail to curb the teenager’s “destructive and homicidal urges.” And when a radical treatment fails to cure the lad, he is “fully unleashed as the maniacal Evil Ernie!”
“Evil Ernie #1 is my love letter to everything I love in horror: splatter punk ultra-violence, zombies, moody atmospheres, and a horror queen unrivaled to this day,” Pulido said in a statement.
The facsimile recreates Puildo’s original ideas and the late Hughes’s first realization of what would become the Chaos! Comics universe. It also reprints all the original advertisements from the Eternity Comics release, so maybe a Sentinels ad will also live again. And, of course, the Eric Mache cover will be replicated. Additionally, collectors can choose alternate editions, including a “glow in the dark variant and metal premium cover.” Pulido will also sign and remarque a selected number of copies. Blank Authentix covers will also be available, allowing artists to make their own custom image of the title character.
Evil Ernie #1 arrives in shops this December.
