Exquisite Corpses

Exquisite Corpses
Cover art for issue #1
Publication information
Publisher	Image Comics Tiny Onion
Schedule	Monthly
Genre	Action, horror
Publication date	May 14, 2025 – present
No. of issues	13
Creative team
Created by	James Tynion IV Michael Walsh
Written by	James Tynion IV Michael Walsh
Artist	Michael Walsh
Colorist	Jordie Bellaire

Exquisite Corpses is an American action-horror comic book limited series created by James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh, and published by Image Comics and Tiny Onion on May 14, 2025.

Premise

Every five years on Halloween, the wealthiest families in the United States play a game in which twelve of the deadliest people in the world must compete to be the last killer standing. In this series, the game is set in the fictional town of Oak Valley, Maine, where the citizens must survive the killers throughout the night.

List of characters

• The Thirteen Families - representatives of the most powerful families in the world from their respective states, each of whom hires a killer to compete in their game every five years. During the game in Oak Valley, Pennsylvania are the hosts and therefore, don't have a stake or a killer in the game.
• Xavi - a high school student working at a local haunted house
• Laura - an EMT who receives a strange letter from her uncle, the town's sheriff, warning her to leave town before nightfall and not look back
• Jason - a young boy who Craig unwittingly agrees to babysit on Halloween
• Audrey - Jason's mother, who works at a car dealership
• Craig - a high school student and Xavi's boyfriend
• Ian - Laura's fellow EMT
• Mike - a gas station cashier and drug-dealer
• Bruce - Audrey's boss

Publication history

The debut issue of Exquisite Corpses was published on May 14, 2025, having first been announced in October 2024 as Project Exquisite. The crew of artists included Adam Gorham, Becca Carey, Che Grayson, Claire Roe, Gavin Fullerton, Jordie Bellaire, Marianna Ignazzi, Pornsak Pichetshote, Tyler Boss, and Valentine De Landro.

Sequel & Spin-offs

In October 2025, Tynion revealed Exquisite Corpses had sold more than 400,000 copies in its first six months. He added that, although the series itself is a 13-issue maxi, there are locked in plans for a wider five-year run. This larger franchise is partially as a response to Skybound/Hasbro's Energon Universe.

In February 2026 at Tiny Onions ComicsPRO event, Tynion announced three spin-off mini-series Exquisite Corpses: Rascal Randy, Fox Mask Killer and Lone Gunman each focussing on killers from the first series with Rascal Randy debuting in July 2026. Also announced was the one-shot anthology Exquisite Corpses: Book of the Dead focussing on the other killers.

Tynion also confirmed that a second series of Exquisite Corpses would debut in 2027 set in a brand new town with brand new killers and civilians, with Michael Walsh returning to design the new killers.

A film adapation based on the comics was announced on January 15, 2026 to be in the works by Lyrical Media and Tiny Onion along side adaptating another comic series Room Service as a film as part of their partnership.

Reception

The comic book received mostly positive reviews from critics.

Collected Editions

See also

• The Bone Orchard Mythos

References