Comics
Review: ‘Locke & Key: Omega’ #1
Locke & Key: Omega #1 builds up on the oddly touching family drama, while capturing the sinister elements of the story. The suspenseful pacing is one of the comic’s best strengths as readers become fully invested with the flawed and relatable Locke family. It’s hard to read without wanting to go through the fantastic doors of the Keyhouse mansion.
WRITTEN BY: Joe Hill
ART BY: Gabriel Rodriguez
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: November 14th, 2012
A powerful demon named Dodge hopes to unlock the mysteries of the Black Door. If the Black Door is opened, Dodge will discover a hidden passageway to another dimension. Lurking in the shadows, monsters of hate and madness want to cross over from their dimension to ours. With the Omega Key in the hands of Dodge, nothing can stop this creature from bringing forth her demonic kind. Debts and spirits must be settled as the final battle for Keyhouse is about to begin.
With the chapter titled, “Our Regrets,” Joe Hill focuses on the theme to seek out an emotional truth. After everything that has happened to you, what would you do if you could go back in time? What would you tell your younger self? This is the perfect question to ask members of the Locke family, who are suffering from survivor’s guilt. Though time has passed, Tyler and Kinsey are still in mourning from their father’s death. This is a dysfunctional family dealing with the pain and sorrow of having to rebuild their life together. At certain times, Tyler appears to be on a self-destructive path as he takes in all the blame for what happened to his father.
Hill examines how people reveal their thoughts and feelings in front of a camera. This isn’t an homage to the found-footage genre, but more of a reference to reality TV shows. In a creative use of soliloquies and monologues, Kinsey and Tyler pour their hearts out as they describe how the rest of their family is falling apart. Characters pretend to be someone else in public, but in private, this is the opportunity to be themselves.
Gabriel Rodriquez does an incredible job of representing the whirlwind of emotions that flow within the monologues. By using the camera’s viewfinder, Rodriguez makes great use of close- ups during Tyler’s heartfelt monologue. Tyler has a pained expression on his face, as if carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders is too much to bear. When Kinsey introduces herself to the camera, she is vibrantly cheerful and seemingly oblivious to the people around her. As she reveals her true self, Kinsey slowly becomes wrapped up in her own emotions, letting out the tears.
With the added benefit of Jay Fotos’ colors, there is such a creepy vibe in the hidden caves under the lighthouse. In the filth-infested tunnels, notice how the rat’s long tail curls around as if they are trying to strangle someone. Away from the caves, Rodriquez illustrates these terrific backgrounds with steel gates and a blossoming garden. If you notice in the opening pages, there’s a Stephen King-looking character as a paramedic.
“Locke & Key: Omega” #1 promises lots of trouble and doom for the Locke family. With this installment geared for newcomers, it becomes clear that Hill and Rodriquez want to bring in as many readers for their final chapter. Because these are the last seven issues in the “Locke & Key” series, you shouldn’t miss out on any of them. Having been a fan since the beginning, I can’t wait to see how it all ends.
4/5 skulls
Reviewed by Jorge Solis
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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