Patrick Horvath Unleashes Free For All

Comic creator Patrick Horvath exploded on the scene last year with Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. A dark disturbing tale combining Busytown with Dexter, fans quickly snapped it up. Though he told me last year he had more to tell in that world, he’s taking a leave from IDW Entertainment to create something new at Oni Press.

Free For All looks like a reverse Squid Game, but that’s glib. It does involve fights to the death, but the people aren’t winning money; they’re trying to protect the godawful wealth they already have. They could just donate half of their fortunes to actually help their fellow humans, but that would somehow be admitting defeat?

It’s got me interested. Sure, it may just be a cathartic fantasy, but it’s fun.

From Oni Press:

IN THIS FUTURE, MONEY ISN’T EVERYTHING – IT’S THE ONLY THING. Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, is proud to unveil FREE FOR ALL #1 by Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Patrick Horvath (Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees) – a gory and gripping 56-page one-shot graphic novella coming to comic shops everywhere in March 2025! The first work by one of the industry’s fastest rising new talents since the sold-out debut of BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES – which earned a 2024 Eisner Award nomination for “Best New Series” – Horvath’s FREE FOR ALL #1 introduces a brave new world where greed and glory have become inextricably linked in a spectacularly brutal game that has enraptured millions around the globe…

In the future, the World Finance League exists to benefit all, randomly choosing those from among the billionaires and trillionaires of the world and presenting them with a choice: either donate half of their assets to the common good — or defend them in ritual combat.

Reigning champion and real estate magnate Ted Brooks has 22 victories under his belt — defending the wealth he schemed and stabbed to get — when he is forced to face his ex-wife, Luella Dominguez, in a fight to the death. Luella has been training, waiting for this moment. But will she have what it takes to defeat the man who would do anything — absolutely anything — to keep his fortune?

“I’m thrilled that FREE FOR ALL has found a home with Oni Press,” said Horvath. “The idea for it came from an immense frustration with the state of society almost a decade ago, and with the issues of the world as they stand now, it’s only become more relevant. I’m so glad this book has a chance now to reach a wide audience.”

“With BENEATH THE TREES, Patrick Horvath has proven himself to be the rare breed of creator who can show up entirely fully formed with their debut work, while simultaneously presenting an entirely new point of view – in this case, one that that is enthralling and entertaining as it is disturbing and confrontational. FREE FOR ALL has all of those same qualities in spades – including Horvath’s signature vivisection-rich violence and correspondingly pernicious sense of humor – with a dystopian science-fiction edge that one-part cultural commentary, one-part battle royale,” said Oni Press President & Publisher Hunter Gorinson. “It’s an honor for Oni to publish the next work in the growing library of titles from such an immense talent, and there’s little doubt that readers will be dueling to get their hands on it this March.”

It’s every shareholder for themselves when death and bankruptcy collide in FREE FOR ALL #1 – a giant-sized spectacle of capitalism and carnage coming this March from Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Patrick Horvath!