PORTLAND, Ore. 02/24/2025 — The #1 New York Times bestselling author Charles Soule (Eight Billion Genies, The Lucky Devils, Star Wars, Daredevil) re-teams with dynamo artist Will Sliney (The Rise of Kylo Ren, Spider-Man) for the upcoming action/horror series The Cold Witch. This five-issue miniseries will join Hell to Pay and The Bloody Dozen in the ‘Shrouded College’ shared universe of titles and launch this May from Image Comics.
As with each ‘Shrouded College’ series so far, The Cold Witch #1 Cover C will include a special, individually numbered collector’s “Hell Coin.”
« Seeing the Shrouded College universe grow with each new story has been one of the great joys of my writing career. Building this horror-adventure saga from scratch alongside Will Sliney, finding ways for each new chapter to be amazing on its own but part of the larger whole… and seeing fans start to understand what we’re doing and come on board… it’s the best, » said Soule. « The Cold Witch is our third chapter after Hell to Pay and The Bloody Dozen, and this is where the pieces really start to come together for the larger story. It’s a revenge piece set on the frozen steppes with cool folklore horror elements, and I think it’s our best yet. Lean, mean, and paced like lightning, it’s both a great starting point if this is your first Shrouded College story and a fantastic return to the universe if you’re already a fan. »
The Cold Witch promises fans an icy horror tale of revenge and dark sorcery set in frozen Siberia and is perhaps best described as John Wick—but with zombies! It follows the tale of a woman wronged who goes to truly desperate lengths to avenge her murdered love.
Sliney added: « Charles is really pushing me on this one with his scripts. While this book still delivers the high-stakes action and supernatural spy escapades we’ve come to expect from the Shrouded College, this time, our collaboration plunges even deeper into the shadows. The Cold Witch doesn’t just flirt with horror—it embraces it fully, dragging us into something far more chilling and unrelenting. Violet’s journey is one of pure, ice-cold revenge, and every step she takes is more ruthless than the last. There’s no turning back for her, and as I bring her story to life on the page, I find myself drawing things that send shivers down my spine. What she’s doing… and what I have to illustrate to capture it… is some of the most unsettling, eerie, and downright terrifying work I’ve ever tackled. This book isn’t just dark—it’s pitch black, and I can’t wait for readers to step into the cold with us. »
Soule and Sliney’s ‘The Shrouded College’ is an interconnected set of seven adventure/horror stories that will be published in comic and graphic novel formats over the next several years. Taken together, they tell the stories of various characters enlisted to become secret agents fighting a supernatural cold war on the side of the Shrouded College, a down-and-out organization on the edge of destruction. An exclusive scoop via DEADLINE announced that “The Shrouded College is in the works as a TV series after Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door and UCP secured the rights. The project is in active development at the Peacock streaming network…[Soule and Sliney] will exec produce the project alongside MacFarlane, Erica Huggins and Rachel Hargreaves-Heald for Fuzzy Door.”
The Cold Witch #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, May 14
Cold Witch A Tale Of The Shrouded College #2 (of 5)
Arriving: June 18, 2025
Lunar Code: 0425IM319Buy
Cover price: $3.99
The latest chapter of the SHROUDED COLLEGE continues! Hell-bent on obtaining her revenge against the secret mystical society that killed her great love, Valentina travels to the coldest city on the face of the earth: Urkutsk, Siberia. She seeks clues to the location of the power she seeks—an ancient, mysterious being with power over death itself, the Cold Witch. But the Witch’s power does not come without cost, and if you cannot pay her price…you will regret it.
The Cold Witch A Tale Of The Shrouded College #3 (of 5)
Arriving: July 16, 2025
Lunar Code: 0525IM331
Page Count: 32Buy
Cover price: $3.99
The icy fingers of vengeance draw ever closer to the Shrouded College. A mourning woman comes to understand the nature of the power she seeks—the immortal, all-powerful mistress of death and desire, the Cold Witch. A highly trained assassin faces a sorcerous kill squad with nothing but her steel and her will. This one has it all.
The Cold Witch A Tale Of The Shrouded College #4 (of 5)
Arriving: August 20, 2025
Lunar Code: 0625IM284
Page Count: 32Buy
Cover price: $3.99
The Cold Witch has been found, and her power knows no bounds. Violetta has made a bargain with the spirit of icy death itself to obtain her revenge. She has the Shrouded College in her sights, but first she must defeat the death squad sent to destroy her and re-take the witch. Adventure and horror abound!
Arriving: September 17, 2025
Lunar Code: 0725IM311
Page Count: 32
Cover price: $3.99MINISERIES FINALE
You want a supernaturally fueled bloodbath of revenge…you’ve got one! The final installment of the latest story from the Shrouded College universe closes this chapter as the Cold Witch takes her due but opens the scope of the larger story with huge reveals and a special preview of the next tale in the cycle. Not to be missed!Writer
Charles Soule
Artist
Will Sliney, Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover
Will Sliney
