EC Epitaphs from the Abyss Vol. 3

by Brian Azzarello, Christopher Cantwell, Michael W. Conrad

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror

136 pages, Paperback

Published February 10, 2026

About the author

Brian Azzarello (born in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo. He and Argentine artist Eduardo Risso, with whom Azzarello first worked on Jonny Double, won the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story for 100 Bullets #15–18: "Hang Up on the Hang Low".

Azzarello has written for Batman ("Broken City", art by Risso; "Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire", art by Lee Bermejo, Tim Bradstreet, & Mick Gray) and Superman ("For Tomorrow", art by Jim Lee).

In 2005, Azzarello began a new creator-owned series, the western Loveless, with artist Marcelo Frusin.

As of 2007, Azzarello is married to fellow comic-book writer and illustrator Jill Thompson.

information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Az...

Reviews

[Machiavelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really strong volume in this series. As with any anthology, some stories land harder than others, but Vol. 3: Epitaphs from the Abyss had a lot of really good ones.

My favorites were “Exterminator” by Brian Azzarello, a nasty little EC-style tale about a pest control job that turns into something much darker; “Heaven Is a Rounded Diamond” by Christopher Cantwell, which starts as a baseball story before taking a sharp, dark turn; and “Pruning Lessons” by Greg Pak, about a woman who’s constantly treated terribly while delivering flowers but ultimately finds a way to turn the tables on the people around her.

My favorite of the whole volume, though, was “She Consorted with Devils” by Stephanie Phillips. Set in an earlier time, it follows a woman who rises to become a local governor and genuinely improves life for the town—but the same townspeople she helps eventually turn on her, accusing her of consorting with devils and burning her at the stake. It’s a fantastic, bitterly ironic EC-style story and easily the standout of the book for me.

I also really enjoyed “She Needs Help” by Tyler Crook, a fun and unsettling story about a mother who keeps trying to “help” her daughter, pushing things further and further until it ultimately lands the daughter in a psych ward.

Even beyond those standouts, the rest of the stories were still a lot of fun. Not every story is a knockout, but there are more than enough good ones here to make this another excellent volume in the series. 4.5⭐️

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like the first two volumes. Overall this was a good horror anthology series.

[Matthew McElroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just really enjoyable brain rot. Imagine being 16 and trying to watch TNT or USA, or if you were lucky, the fifth channel in your local market (what probably became the WB or UPN). Remember how after 11PM, those old action or horror movies would come on?
Those movies are distilled into five-seven page illustrated stories here, complete with all the blood and guts you want. There is a fantastic three story selection in the middle-"Pruning Lessons", "Ill Temperance" and "She Consorts with Devils". All three of them are fables in their own way.

Not every story has a lesson. In fact, many of the stories barely make sense. They end the way an eight year old would end a ghost story: "And then the zombies ate everyone!" But, these aren't supposed to be logical narratives. They are ghost stories, where even the good guys are willing to do some pretty terrible things.

Recommend this to anyone you know who has a leg tattoo of an angel and a demon, or drives a classic muscle car.