Comics
[BEST & WORST ’12] Jorge Solis’ List of the Best Comics 2012!
It’s usually difficult to buy comic book issues every month. Most likely, I’ll wait till the issues are collected and buy the trade paperback. It’s easier for me to see how the story arc comes full circle. But often, the best comics are the ones I buy in single issues and still get the trade paperback as well. Here is my list of the best trade paperbacks to come out of 2012.
JORGE SOLIS’S TOP 10 COMICS OF 2012
10. Green Wake Vol. 2: Lost Children (Image Comics)
Though the series ended too soon, Kurtis J. Wiebe delivers a satisfying finale to the mysterious town and inhabitants of Green Wake. Wiebe provides explanations on the history of Green Wake and his final thoughts on the series. Riley Rossmo offers unused covers and sketches of a few panels.
9. Witchblade: Rebirth, Vol. 1: Unbalanced Pieces (Top Cow Productions)
During Top Cow’s Rebirth, Tim Seeley starts off with a fresh take, relocating Sara Pezzini, wielder of the Witchblade artifact, to the mean streets of Chicago. Artist Diego Bernard captures the snowy and icy weather, which represents Sara’s moody personality. Bernard includes a cover gallery in the bonus content.
8. Hoax Hunters Vol. 1: Murder, Death, and The Devil (Image Comics)
Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley play around with the reality TV concept, where paranormal investigators disprove actual supernatural events to the public. Artist Axel Medellin focuses on the atmosphere and character dynamics in his moody illustrations. This collection also features Issue #0, the back-up tales originally found in “Hack/Slash.”
7. Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Raise Them Bones (DC Comics)
Scott Snyder delivers a suspenseful origin tale as Dr. Alec Holland is called upon once again to become Swamp Thing. Artist Yanick Paquette delivers the gruesome imagery of The Rot and its zombie army. Paquette also offers sketches and early concepts of the cover layouts.
6. Rebel Blood (Image Comics)
Alex Link and Riley Rossmo craft an action-packed thriller about a young man, Chuck Neville, discovering the animals in the woods have turned into zombies. With no dialogue in the panels, Rossmo illustrates eerie and frightening sequences where Chuck is being chased by the infected animals. Rossmo provides early covers and concept art of the zombie animals.
5. Crawl To Me: Evil Edgar Edition (IDW Publishing)
Writer/artist Alan Robert delivers an intense psychological thriller about a married couple trapped in their house by a menacing evil spirit. The “Evil Edgar Edition” contains an introduction by comics legend Walt Simonson and a painted cover by Menton3.
4. American Vampire Vol. 4 HC (Vertigo Comics)
In “Death Race,” Scott Snyder introduces Travis Kidd, a young hunter with his own style of killing bloodsuckers. With a pair of wooden teeth, Kidd bites back and rips the throat of a vampire. Artist Rafael Albuquerque delivers a breathtaking car chase as Kidd and Skinner Sweet fight on top of his Thunderbird’s hood. Albuquerque provides a sketchbook containing character designs of Kidd and loosely drawn “American Vampire” covers.
3. The Strain Vol. 1 (Dark Horse Comics)
In this adaptation, David Lapham tightens the dialogue, focusing on the police procedural aspect as Ephraim and Nora, the disease detectives, investigate their case. Aimed at shock value, Mike Huddleston depicts the violent aftermath of the vampire attacks, where heads are squashed and brains pop out.. Also included, there is a foreword by ” The Strain” creators, Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan.
2. Monocyte – Black Label Menton3 Edition (IDW Publishing)
Kasra Ghanbari and Menton3 deliver a highly imaginative apocalypse with provocative and fashionable character designs. In Menton3’s artwork, primary colors are washed away, bringing only gray and black tones to the forefront. In this edition, Menton3 offers new end pages and a custom cloth cover.
1. Severed HC (Image Comics)
Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft deliver a heart-wrenching coming-of-age tale about a lost runaway searching for his missing father, while crossing paths with a demonic serial killer known as The Salesman. Attila Futaki recreates the look and feel of America in the 1900s with his beautifully-rendered illustrations. Readers are given an inside look at the artistic process as Futaki provides a cover gallery, character sketches, and photo references.
Honorable Mentions:
“Hellboy Vol. 12: The Storm And The Fury”, “The Darkness: Rebirth” Vol. 1, and “’68 Vol.1: Better Run Through The Jungle”.
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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