[Exclusive] “Exquisite Corpses” Two Scorching Killer Reveals: Layla Blaze and Slater
The Action-Horror Battle Royale Comic Event of the Year.
Exquisite Corpses is already gearing up to be the comic book event of the year. Award-winning horror comic book creators James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh are redefining the medium and bringing together some of the greatest voices in the comic book industry for a collaborative project like no other. Exquisite Corpses launches this May from Tiny Onion and Image Comics—with a card game in tandem officially launching next year. Leading up to the premiere of the series, each killer has been revealed one by one—it’s a special honor to be able to exclusively reveal two killers here at The DeMonster. Layla Blaze and Slater, two dangerously explosive personalities, make nine out of the twelve killers revealed as of April 24th.
Exquisite Corpses follows a battle royale between twelve of the deadliest killers in the world.
Every five years on Halloween, the wealthiest families in America play a game. In Exquisite Corpses, twelve 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.
The killers will each represent a family and that family’s state and will have a specific weapon selected to use in the game.
Layla Blaze: a small but deadly Pyromaniac with an Impressive Kill Count.
DELAWARE selects LAYLA BLAZE to wield FIRE.
Kill Count: 335
Height 5’3
They say some people just want to see the world burn, but LAYLA BLAZE will settle for seeing anything go up in flames. It's unclear if the burn marks that criss-cross her body are the results of fires that got out of control... or LAYLA BLAZE running out of any other kindling. All that can be said for sure is that she burns hot in life, love, and the act of killing, and leaves only ashes in her wake.
Slater: a ticking time bomb packing some serious heat.
MARYLAND selects SLATER to wield EXPLOSIVES.
Kill Count: 124
Height: 5' 10"
Tick... tick... BOOM! The hot young thing known as SLATER has never had a problem attracting attention, but his entourages have a habit of blowing up--as does anything else in his vicinity. Under the right circumstances, SLATER might have channeled his fascinations with pyrotechnics into something productive--instead, he's just a walking powderkeg.
Here are the other seven killers already revealed:
The collaborative process is unlike anything you’ve ever heard of.
Co-creators Tynion and Walsh are starting off the series with the first issue and will pass the torch to some of the most brilliant minds in comics. The creative process has been described as a writers room meets D&D campaign where these talented creators played the game to decide who would survive Exquisite Corpses.
Exquisite Corpses will feature the work of comics superstars 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).
Issue #1 has big plans.
Exquisite Corpses #1 will debut on May 14th with an oversized 60-page first issue. All Cover C variants for each issue will include a polybagged Exquisite Corpses playing card for the upcoming TCG Exquisite Corpses: The Game, set to release after the first thirteen issue arc of the series. The gameplay has been designed by the co-creator and artist of the series Michael Walsh who has done artwork for the popular TCG Magic: The Gathering.
Tiny Onion will also embark on a year-long, national signing tour—dubbed 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.
May 14th can’t come fast enough! Who will make it out alive in Exquisite Corpses? My money’s on Fox Mask Killer for no reason other than *vibes*. Find a local comic shop near you and be sure to add this to your pull list! Stay up to date by following Tiny Onion and Image Comics on socials. Check out The Empire of the Tiny Onion Newsletter here on Substack.
YOOOOO awesome you get to reveal some characters!! i wasn't sure i'd be picking this series up but i'm definitely getting issue 1 at least 🙏
SO stoked for this 🔥