Oni Press has announced it will publish Chris Condon and Shawn Kuruneru’s The Goddamn Tragedy. The Western one-shot comic will hit stores in May 2025.

The Goddamn Tragedy is teased as a mix of thriller and survivalist terror and will be a “tense and entirely self-contained 48-page, one-shot graphic novella.” The story sees Condon, whose other works include That Texas Blood and Ultimate Wolverine, return to his Western roots with stunning artwork from rising star Kuruneru. Cover art and the solicit for the one-shot were revealed at BleedingCool. The Goddamn Tragedy will be one of five unique projects released in Spring 2025 from Oni Press, with more details set to be released by the publisher in the months ahead.

The description of the story teases a small family’s struggle for survival in the Wild West. “Ellen Janson is here to set the record straight about the highly publicized, oft-sensationalized journey her family undertook in 1846. Ellen sets out with her mother, Irena, and her father, Leo, on the treacherous road west in search of a better life. But when her father chooses to split off from the party, taking an untested shortcut through the mountains, can their small family survive the elements, the wildlife—and each other? Or will their journey become nothing more than another goddamn tragedy?”

THE GODDAMN TRAGEDY #1

• Written by CHRIS CONDON
• Art and Cover by SHAWN KURUNERU
• On Sale May 2025

New Western Thriller Draws Inspiration from American Cannibals

In the press release announcing the series, Condon teased that he found inspiration from the Donner Party, a group of American pioneers who cannibalized their own family members when exploring the west. “I had been reading about the tragic Donner Party of 1846 and an idea struck me: there’s a story here to tell, one that could capture the psychological tumult a family endures as they are faced with an impossible decision: kill…or be killed,” Condon revealed. “We all know how the Donner Party played out, but we don’t know how things work out for the Janson family and that’s a story that the masterful Shawn Kuruneru and I are all too excited to tell. Thankfully, we’ve found a great home for this one-shot of survivalist terror at Oni Press who excels at telling gut-wrenching tales from beyond the pale.”

The one-shot’s artist, Shawn Kuruneru, also likened the story to an iconic Stephen King horror story. “The Goddamn Tragedy is a gritty thriller with an atmosphere akin to The Shining,” Kuruneru said. “For the past two years I’ve been drawing Westerns, starting with my own comics Cave Grave and Poor Moon, then Fishflies #6 for Jeff Lemire. As a fan of Chris’s writing on That Texas Blood, I am excited to bring this story to life with ominous color washes, rough line-work, and eerie shadows to slowly reveal the impending doom of the Janson family.”

The Goddamn Tragedy #1 will release in May 2025 from Oni Press.

Source: BleedingCool