EC Catacomb of Torment #2

by Matt Bors, Kano (Artist), Lukas Ketner (Artist)

EC’S BLOODY NEW ONGOING SERIES TWISTS THE KNIFE AS THE SUMMER OF FEAR CONTINUES! Welcome back to the Tormentor’s lair . . . where each crank of the rack tightens your shackled limbs and brings even more taut tales of mayhem and murder spilling forth like so much viscera! This Full-blooded writers Matt Bors (Toxic Avenger), Evan Dorkin (Beasts of Burden), and Jeremy Lambert (Doom Patrol) join steel-nerved artists Kano (Action Comics), Lukas Ketner (Count Crowley), and Fabiana Mascolo (Catwoman) to navigate the catacombs by torchlight. . . . We hope they can find their way back out, hehehe!

Genres: Comics

Kindle Edition

Published August 20, 2025

About the author

Matt Bors is a cartoonist, writer, editor, and the founder of The Nib. He was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for his political cartoons in 2012 and 2020 and is the co-writer of the dystopian satire Justice Warriors with Ben Clarkson.

His cartoons have appeared in The Nation, The Guardian, CNN, The Intercept, and were collected in the book We Should Improve Society Somewhat. He also drew the graphic novel War Is Boring written by David Axe.

Reviews

[William Dalphin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm gonna write one review for all four editions and just post it four times because these things aren't worth writing four individual reviews for. Catacomb of Torment #1-4 are NOT in the spirit of Tales From the Crypt, Vault of Horror, or Haunt of Fear. The stories are incredibly juvenile, not as in they relay low-brow humor, but as in they reflect a very simple mindset. Every character in these stories is a ridiculous caricature. There is no humanity to anyone. They're cartoonish dumb, evil, bigoted, self-centered... just the absolute minimal effort put into giving us tales that make us think. I correct myself-- NO effort is made to give us tales that make us think. The artwork doesn't even showcase the talent of the artist(s), they just try to make it look like the work of the old, quality EC tales, but look more like something out of a Mad Magazine. Half the stories just HAPPEN... as in, there are events, and people die, and in most cases they are people you are convinced DESERVE to die because they are so buffoonishly reviling, but the hows and whys of their demises are borderline nonsensical. This person is killed by plants and becomes a plant monster. Why? Because. That's why. Don't ask. Look at the gory way her friends die next and don't waste a moment wondering what the moral of this story is. These white supremacists die when their new flag suddenly peels apart and strangles them. Why? Because. That's why. Don't ask questions. Get off my lawn. Can't you see they were bigots? That's all that matters. You want to see them die, so they died.

You're better off going and re-reading the old EC stuff.

[Alex Fyffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

The first story of the batch, "Red Blend," feels like classic EC. Lukas Ketner's art and Evan Dorkin's script work together to capture the best elements of this kind of short story anthology series -- they tell a concise story where everything clicks perfectly into place thanks to sharp dialogue and caricatured faces. I especially appreciate the use of the Tormentor as the narrator, popping in and out of the story in increasing states of drunkenness. Everything about this first story is exactly the kind of thing you would want from EC.

The other two entries aren't bad, but they certainly don't live up to the work done by Ketner and Dorkin. I like the visual style of Fabiana Mascolo in "The Dressmaker," and the story Jeremy Lambert is going for isn't a bad one, but it feels overly rushed in the last couple of pages. I liked the pace of the storytelling in the first several pages, but that only highlights how rushed the ending feels, draining it of any real impact. This could have used a few more pages to ramp up the tension. And Matt Bors's "Hostile Architecture" has a great idea focused on real world cruelty on a large scale, but I didn't love the artwork by Kano, and the ending went a little too full-on Clive Barker.

"Red Blend" 4.5/5
"The Dressmaker" 2.5/5
"Hostile Architecture" 3.5/5

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe my favorite issue of New EC so far… so on the ball! The comeuppance in the stories so spot on. The art and mood of each story matched flawlessly. I especially enjoyed the tormentor getting more buzzed as she narrated Red Blend cracked me up. Most ingenious here.. no monsters needed… humans ARE the monsters. Looking forward to Catacombs 3 and I’ve got to finish Blood Type 3. Keep it coming!

[Ben - the Amateur Exegete · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Hostile Architecture" (Matt Bors and Kano) feels like the kind of story that would influence a certain occupant of the White House to implement the kinds of anti-unhoused-persons tactics that seem in line with the cruelty inherent to the American Right. And the demonic entities at the end seem like the kind of company he would keep.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded down.

Weaker than the last issue. RED BLEND is a bit obvious and hamfisted in its execution DRESSMAKER is probably the best of the bunch but could have used more pages to develop the story. ARCHITECTURE is a Hellraiser twist on fascist city planning, not bad but obvious.

Read as a single issue with the Ketner color cover.

[Wm · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 and 3/4 stars, really, b/c Bors might be a masterful cultural and political critic, but his fiction leaves something to be desired.

[✧˚ · meda * ˚ ✦ · Rating 3 out of 5]

still nonsense but much better than the last one