Comics
Review: ‘Alabaster: Wolves’ TP
The religious aesthetic of the American South is one of the most prevailing tropes in horror fiction to date; only to be matched by the “The Chosen One” concept dominating the urban fantasy sub-genre—Bonus points if the Chosen One happens to be a reluctant teenaged girl, sworn to fight against the forces of darkness. Dark Horse Comics’ Alabaster: Wolves is an amalgamation of all these common tropes, yet Caitlin R. Kiernan manages to write a series that falls far outside its clichéd foundation.
WRITTEN BY: Caitlin R. Kiernan
ART BY: Steve Lieber
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $19.99
RELEASE: February 13th
Award winning author, Caitlin R. Kiernan teams up with acclaimed artist Steve Lieber (“Whiteout”) to create this ambiguously post-apocalyptic world that’s deeply rooted in the American South. Lieber’s artwork is murky and sets the tone effectively, as it presents a dark, yet ethereal world created through the mythically poetic imagination of both writer, and artist. Opening with a despairing single-panel page, “Alabaster: Wolves” begins with our protagonist entering a deserted South Carolina town which reeks of “slow death”.
The narrative follows sixteen-year-old, Dancy Flammarion, a religious, albino drifter anointed with the calamitous calling of being a grudging slayer of monsters and demons. By the command of an unsympathetic and impassive seraph, Dancy journeys through the Podunk towns of the American South, bringing death upon each and every supernatural target assigned to her. But she’s had enough. Sick and tired of doing her angel’s dirty work, Dancy rebels against her calling, and causes the seraph to abandon her. This sets forth a series of events that lead our protagonist to the greatest evil she’s ever had to face; and ultimately, leaves Dancy in a crisis of faith and disillusionment. Will she choose to carry out her journey on her own, or will she forever be a slave to the “system”?
The Southern Gothic style of “Alabaster: Wolves”, in both script and art, lends itself to a higher level of uniqueness and authenticity most Southern horror fiction fail to achieve. There’s nothing contrived or trite about the series. Even Kiernan’s protagonist veers away from the conventional hero tropes. Dancy Flammarion may very well be ridding the world of “evil”, but she’s a sociopathic hero. She’s an antihero who has a fundamental lack of empathy and a sociopathic disregard for human life. So long as the monsters die, she can accept the death of innocents as a just sacrifice, and there’s something disturbingly refreshing about that.
“Alabaster: Wolves” is like the lovechild of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, Bill Paxton’s “Frailty”, and “Hellboy” (specifically “The Chained Coffin and Others”). If any of these things interest you, then this is a book I’d highly recommend.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – ShadowJayd
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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