Comics
Review: ‘Locke & Key: Omega’ #2
Difficult to put down, Locke & Key: Omega #2 continues to be a remarkable and touching family drama. If you didn’t think it were possible to feel more for he flawed Locke family, you will by the end of this issue. Hill and Rodriguez are making it hard to come to terms with the fact that these are the last issues of the “Locke & Key”.
WRITTEN BY: Joe Hill
ART BY: Gabriel Rodriguez
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: December 19th, 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. While many lives have been lost and so much blood has been spilled, a mentally handicapped teenager stands alone to confront Dodge.
Writer Joe Hill focuses on the problems and mental state of Rufus Whedon to bring out an emotional truth. Because he is mentally challenged, Rufus has a difficult time expressing himself, especially his emotions. After dealing with such a personal tragedy, Rufus has to create his own fantasy world, where giant robots and walking dinosaurs exist. Because he is lost in the real world, Rufus is right at home in his imagination. Through creative uses of flashbacks and a comic-within-a-comic, readers understand Rufus wants to be the hero he always dreamt of.
Through such clear and concise dialogue, Hill conveys an honest portrayal of people in pain. Tyler and his mother are trying to deal with their own personal demons. Both have fallen on hard times as they feel the burden of their survivor’s guilt. In a picturesque scenario, mother and son communicate their failures as waves are crashing in the background. Tyler is opposite from Rufus because he can communicate his own personal loss. Tyler and his mother know how much they have screwed up, but they don’t blame each other.
Even after so many issues, Gabriel Rodriquez can still impress readers with his visual layout of the Keyhouse mansion. When Rufus enters the building, the first thing he does is look up at the ceiling, which has a magnificent stained-glass window. Rodriquez illustrates the stained glass with religious and medieval symbols, such as an angel and knight. There is immense detail to the architectural design of the ceiling. With just one sight and you will surely be in awe of Rodriguez’s incredible talent.
The best part of the issue is Rufus’ thrilling escape from unreality to reality. With the help of Jay Fotos’ colors, readers are able to distinguish both sides of reality and unreality. Fotos enhances the sci-fi feel with grayish tones, while focusing on harsh colors to represent reality. Notice the similarities and differences as Rodriquez recreates the same poses in these side-by-side panels. Though characters are doing the same thing, Rodriguez is able to depict how Rufus wants to see himself and how he really is.
“Locke & Key: Omega” #2 keeps readers on the edge of their seat. As the “Locke and Key” series heads towards its final chapter, steaks are higher than ever. Having been a fan since the beginning, I’m anxious to find out 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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.