Comics
Love And Magic Are In The Air With Image’s ‘Valentine’
Image Comics is collecting Alex de Campi’s acclaimed digital comic, Valentine, in print form. The first volume is a massive 352-page trade paperback that collects the first 10 chapters of the story. “Valentine” mixes together pretty much every genre you could imagine for an epic adventure story from the early 19th century. The series combines magic, love, chaos, creatures, supernatural thrills, and sci-fi goodness for a wildly delicious concoction that really does have something for everyone. Check out more details below along with the cover art, which features a Shai-Hulud descendant.
Official press release:
Berkeley, CA – August 8, 2012 — In September, Image Comics will bring the first volume of VALENTINE, Alex de Campi’s acclaimed digital comic, to print as a 352-page trade paperback.
The year is 1812, and Valentine is one of the few soldiers left of Napoleon’s once-mighty army felled by the Russian winter. Given a mysterious package by a dying general with orders to see it safely back to France, Valentine finds himself pursued through the snow by blood-eyed monsters who intent on stopping him.
In an epic tale of war, love, and unexpected journeys, an unlikely hero discovers that fairy tales are true. Humans share the earth with other beings, trapped here while the world is drained of the magic that sustains them. They want only one thing: to return home. And their only way back is through Valentine.
“It’s been an unbelievable amount of fun to write a cliffhangerrific supernatural thriller, with twist upon twist to keep readers on the edge of their seat,” said the Eisner-nominated de Campi (Smoke). “I grew up reading fantasy and sci-fi novels, and suddenly finding myself elbow-deep in the fantasy toybox has been a delight. I’ve really enjoyed grabbing the beloved tropes and expectations of the genre and both respecting them and twisting/subverting them at the same time. If you think this is a historical thriller, for example, you are so, so wrong. The book is a wild ride.”
VALENTINE was originally distributed digitally through comiXology, RobotComics, and Amazon’s Kindle. With more than 350,000 downloads worldwide, the series is a pioneering work in the ever-growing digital comics market.
Of the book’s success in the digital realm, de Campi commented, “In download form, this is a series which — despite being a very shonen-style male fight/action book — has had a huge appeal to women readers and to teens around the world.”
Collecting the first ten chapters of the work, with full-color art by Christine Larsen and Tim Durning, a 42-page exclusive bonus story with art by Cassandra James, and a painted cover by Steven Belledin, VALENTINE, VOL. 1: THE ICE DEATH (JUL120391) will be in stores on September 5 and is available for order now.
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
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