#horror – #PressRelease – #horrorcomics – #Crownsville – @OniPress –
This November, the Superstar Co-Creator of KILLADELPHIA Presents a Shocking Tale of Generational Horror…
Inspired by the Maryland’s Infamous Jim Crow-Era Psychiatric Hospital
From The Press Release:
PORTLAND, OR (August 12, 2025) – Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, is proud to unveil CROWNSVILLE #1 – the double-sized, 48-page first issue of a grim and gripping supernatural thriller from superstar writer Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia) and rising star Elia Bonetti (Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy) inspired by the real-life horrors of the notorious Maryland psychiatric hospital that preyed upon the Black communities of Jim Crow-era Annapolis for decades.
With this chilling, five-part series exploring a terrifying modern-day mystery rooted in the hospital’s tragic past, Barnes — the Eisner Award-nominated writer of Killadelphia and Blackula and Peabody award-winning writer of The Boondocks and Wu-Tang: An American Saga — is collaborating with acclaimed artist Bonetti (Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy) to craft a ghost story set in the ruins of the tragedy-laden site once called the “Hospital for the Negro Insane of Maryland,” which finally closed in 2004 decades of controversy and disrepair.
AUTHOR RODNEY BARNES IN FRONT OF CROWNSVILLE HOSPITAL
The 48-page CROWNSVILLE #1 will arrive in stores November 5th, 2025, with covers by Barnes’ Killadelphia co-creator Jason Shawn Alexander (Spawn), interior artist Elia Bonetti (Darth Vader), Syzmon Kudranski (The Punisher), and Andrea Sorrentino (Gideon Falls, EC’s Blood Type).
“Oni Press is known for publishing hair-raising horror comics and provocative stories with a strong, personal, and political point of view,” said Oni Press Editor-in-Chief Sierra Hahn. “CROWNSVILLE is a remarkable piece of storytelling that sits alongside our award-winning books. Rodney’s words and Elia’s haunting art combine to tell an unrelenting and riveting story, one that is as important and it is horrifying.”
Founded at the turn of the 20th century outside of Annapolis, Maryland, the Crownsville Hospital was a notoriously segregated, all-Black psychiatric institute. After decades of overcrowding and neglect— alongside darker, more-persistent rumors of patient abuse and illegal medical experiments—it was finally closed. Today, it stands condemned—a crumbling testament to a legacy of all-too-real terror inflicted on a marginalized and vulnerable community. But even as a ruin of its former self, Crownsville still casts a long shadow. . . . When an unexplained death inside the abandoned hospital is ruled a suicide, Annapolis police detective Mike Simms and journalist Paul Blairare are compelled to dig deeper, only to discover the reality of the horrors that once took place there . . . and the powerful connection they share to the anguished spirits of the dead that are still locked within its walls.
CROWNSVILLE #1 INTERIOR ART BY ELIA BONETTI
“CROWNSVILLE is the supernatural mystery tale I’ve been dying to tell,” said writer Rodney Barnes. “From a childhood haunt born in a place of pain, it’s my cathartic effort I’m thankful to share with the world. I can’t wait for folks to get a look at it.”
“The best kinds of horror stories challenge us to not only confront ghosts or monsters, but also grapple with the pain and terror we inflict on each other. Sometimes that torment lasts only moments, or, as is the case of CROWNSVILLE, it can span decades,” said Oni President & Publisher Hunter Gorinson. “Together, Rodney and Elia have zeroed in on a masterfully, deeply rendered story that can both induce spiraling, white-knuckle terror and confront the tortured past underpinning a shocking and all-too-true chapter of modern American history.”
For more updates on Oni Press, visit them on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
Crownsville #1 (of 5)
Written by Rodney Barnes
Art By Elia Bonetti
Cover a By Jason Shawn Alexander
Cover B By Elia Bonetti
Cover C By Szymon Kudrański
Full Art Variant (1:10) By Jason Shawn Alexander
Variant Cover (1:20) By Andrea Sorrentino
On Sale November 12, 2025 | $4.99| 48 Pages | FC
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 Clayton 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.
About the Creators
Rodney Barnes is an award-winning writer, producer, and comic book creator whose vibrant, emphatic voice has established him as a Hollywood mainstay.
Barnes was most recently an executive producer and writer for HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, chronicling the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Showtime Lakers.
His publishing imprint, Zombie Love Studios, is dedicated to storytelling through unique BIPOC perspectives, including Killadelphia—nominated for an Eisner Award, Blacula: Return of the King—an adaptation of the cult horror classic, Monarch—an apocalyptic sci-fi adventure series following a group of Compton school kids in the midst of an alien invasion, and Florence & Normandie—a collaboration with artist/entertainer Xzibit.
Additionally, Barnes hosted the Winning Time Podcast, and is host & co-creator of the Run, Fool! Podcast—a collaboration between MrBallen, At Will Media, and Campside Media with 800K downloads a month and ranked 38th in true crime fiction podcasts.
Elia Bonetti was born in 1983 in Parma, currently lives and works in Italy. After graduating from the Art School he moved to Florence to study in the “International School of Comics” where he is currently a teacher at the headquarters of Reggio Emilia. He began his professional career as illustrator and storyboarder. For Italy he collaborated with Astorina (Diabolik), Star Comics and Rizzoli. For America he has worked for Marvel and DC comics: Captain America, Spider-verse, Death of Wolverine, Agents of Atlas. Fear Itself Home Front, and Catwoman. Since 2010, his work has appeared in France for Éditions Soleil: (L’ordre des dragons and the trilogy of Dogma) and for Glénat: (La Nuit de Morts Vivants). He worked for several clients such as Pinko, Ferrari and Ducati. In parallel with the work of illustrator, he works on personal projects concerning painting.