BOO!
Oni Press Presents an Electrifying Look at SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS #1,
the Most Eerie Hero in Comics from Nick Cagnetti & Daniel Ziegler
This January, the Hyper-Talented Cartoonist Behind Indie Smash PINK LEMONADE
Returns to Send Readers on a High-Stakes Mission in an Eye-Popping Underworld!
OUTRAGEOUSLY OTHERWORLDLY AND BACK FROM THE GRAVE WITH A SCORE TO SETTLE! Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, invites readers into a spectacularly terrifying new vision of the underworld in this extended excerpt from SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS #1, the arresting new limited series from the phantasmagorical minds of breakout cartoonist Nick Cagnetti (Pink Lemonade, XINO) and Daniel Ziegler (Elodie). Arriving in comic shops on January 28th, SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS #1 features the first full-length artwork by Nick Cagnetti since his extraordinary debut with 2022’s PINK LEMONADE.
“I guarantee you’re not going to find another comic on the stands right now quite like this one—from the story to the art, my friend Daniel and I really tried to create something cohesive and evocative in the way that only this medium can provide,” said co-writer and cartoonist Nick Cagnetti. “To achieve that, I put a lot of care into differentiating styles and techniques for each of the settings the story goes to make them each feel distinct. You’re swept up in this dreamlike haze alongside the main character, and you go through all the emotions and revelations alongside him. The end result should really make for a rewarding experience you can reread and look at completely differently the next time, but I’m envious for readers to experience that ride for the first time here soon!”
“Introducing an entirely new world can be one of the most daunting tasks as a writer, so what better way to immerse the reader than to immediately place them in the shoes of the protagonist?” said co-writer Daniel Ziegler. “As Erik pieces together the forgotten fragments of his life, readers will also embark on that same journey of discovery and revelation, and may find themselves facing more than one moral quandary in the process. This extended preview gives you a taste of the various worlds and varying styles that Nick and I use throughout the series to tell this wholly unique parallel narrative of love, loss, and revenge that we couldn’t be more proud of.”
SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS #1 (of 5)
Written by Nick Cagnetti & Daniel Ziegler
Art by Nick Cagnetti
Covers & Cover Artists:
Cover A by Nick Cagnetti
Cover B by David Lafuente
Cover C by Karl Kerschl
Cover D by Matt Lesniewski
Cover E – Full Art Variant (1:10) by Nick Cagnetti
Cover F – B&W Variant (1:20) by Matt Lesniewski
Cover G – Full Art Variant (1:50) by Karl Kerschl
SRP: $4.99 | 32 PGS | Full-Color
Final Order Cutoff: 1/5/26
On Sale January 28, 2026
Once, Erik Leroux was a mortal musician, selflessly devoted to his music and his true love, Katrina . . . until his sudden death plunged his soul into the carnival-like torments of the Spirit World beyond our own. Now, reborn as a phantom with fleeting memories of his life among the living, and forever cursed to bear the arcane costume his corpse wore to the grave, Erik will claw his way back from the infernal planes to uncover the mysteries of his own life . . . and avenge the dark sins that transformed him into the SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS!
The artistically dazzling and emotionally gut-wrenching new addition to the canon of creator-owned superheroes rises into comic shops everywhere on January 28th, 2026, featuring covers by Nick Cagnetti (Pink Lemonade), David Lafuente (Ultimate Spider-Man), Karl Kerschl (Gotham Academy), and Matt Lesniewski (Faceless & The Family). Don’t miss this day-glo hybrid of Jack Kirby’s THE DEMON, Mike Allred’s MADMAN, and Todd McFarlane’s SPAWN — with an eye-catching style and gripping narrative hook that’ll keep you searching the endless underworld for the next page of the story…
About the Creators:
Nick Cagnetti is a cartoonist based in Arizona and a graduate of Arizona State University with experience doing storyboards and commercial art but he’s been drawing forever thanks to a life-long love for comic books. He’s been making his own regularly since 2012 with books like Infinite Wonders and The Spirit of The Shadows but he’s best known for his work on Pink Lemonade.
Daniel Ziegler is a writer and filmmaker with a lifelong passion for storytelling. While still in high school, he founded Black Box Films as an outlet to bring his writing to life on the screen. He went on to study Film and Creative Writing at Hofstra University in New York where he began developing “Spirit of the Shadows” over a decade prior to its publication as a comic.
About Oni Press:
Founded in 1997, Oni Press has a 25-year history as one of the industry’s most respected and acclaimed publishers of award-winning comic books and graphic novels with titles including Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim, K. O’Neill’s Tea Dragon Society, Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt’s The Sixth Gun, Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, Ezra Claytan Daniels’ Upgrade Soul, Brenna Thummler’s Sheets trilogy, and many hundreds more.
In 2019, Oni Press merged with Lion Forge Comics – the Eisner Award-winning independent comic book publisher founded by Academy Award-winning producer and entrepreneur David Steward II – to create one of the largest, independent libraries of comics content anywhere in media. The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group now exists as a publishing subsidiary of Steward’s diversified global media company, Polarity.
The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group publishes more than 60 original and licensed graphic novels annually, in addition to an extensive list of periodical comics.