COMICS WARLOCKS

Pretty Hate Machine immediately caught our eye, let’s talk about the reasons why.

Pretty Hate Machine #1
Publisher: Mad Cave Comics
Writers: Tim Seeley, Ryan O’Nan
Artist: Paolo Armitano
Colorist: Roman Stevens
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover Artist: Todor Hristov
Release date: April 8, 2026

The series is co written by Ryan O’Nan and Tim Seeley, with art by Paolo Armitano. Tim Seeley alone is a huge reason for our excitement. We loved his work on Nightwing, Revival, and more recently Rogue: The Savage Land, so seeing him attached to a horror mystery at Mad Cave Studios already felt like a very safe bet for us.

Pretty Hate Machine is set in a decaying rural town and centers on Thomas, a teenager struggling to process the sudden death of his father. As his grief deepens and his family dynamics begin to shift, Thomas is visited by a strange and terrifying boy named Luther. With knives for hands and a mouth full of teeth, Luther claims that Thomas’s father was murdered and that the adults in his life are lying to him. From there, reality starts to fracture as Thomas is pulled into a spiral of conspiracies, violence, and revenge.

The character of Luther is what really hooked us. He sounds equal parts horrifying and fascinating, the kind of figure who could either be a manifestation of grief or something far more dangerous. That ambiguity mixed with a coming of age story and brutal horror is exactly our kind of setup.

Mad Cave Studios has been delivering consistently strong horror lately, and Pretty Hate Machine feels right at home in that lineup. The main cover by Todor Hristov is also perfectly creepy and honestly already sold us on the mood of the series. It looks unsettling in a way that promises things are going to get very dark (hopefully).

Pretty Hate Machine is set to release on April 8, 2026, and between the creative team, the mystery, and that knife handed nightmare, this is one horror series we are seriously looking forward to.