Comics
Zomblog – Should A Zombie Story Walk or Run?
It’s one thing to envision a zombie story. It’s another thing to write a story in somebody else’s zombie world. There are certain sets of rules you must adhere to. Once you get those down, you’re free to come into your own and really play freely. But, despite having a handle on the rules, different people have different sensibilities.
An outline is an essential part of storytelling. It gives the writer a skeleton to refer back to, or a road map to show them where they are headed. It’s not meant to be finite, but rather serves as a fluid basis for storytelling.
When I first submitted my outline to Double Take the immediate feedback was that I packed far too much into one issue. We had agreed on the basic backbone of my story before they saw the outline, but I had a few surprises up my sleeve. Maybe too many zombies, but that’s another story.
It took a few days for me to get feedback on my outline. It was definitely packed with a few surprises for the editorial team of Bill Jemas, and Michael Coast. But after a weekend had passed and I hadn’t heard anything I get a call from Bill out of the blue. He’s had some vague ideas about where to take the story – and the one detail which I had anticipated the most struggle – well that was taken without issue.
The feedback I received on my outline was:
Description/photo ref etc.
People don’t look like what they do
Clothes I want to wear, places I want to be, things I want to do.
Remember I said vague? Well these notes were illuminated on a follow up call. The first note is rather easy. Double Take requires photo reference for certain sequences in the book, if not all of them. It was something that they found helpful in giving the artist something to draw. I didn’t have an issue with this, but rather included too few photo references. They were pretty content on having photos for every step of the story.
As for the people don’t look like what they do – I have a character in my story who’s very nature is a little difficult to describe without giving spoilers. What I can say, is that this character’s nature was more than revealed in their appearance in my outline. They wanted a little more subtlety and arguably a more tangible element of reality to this character. We workshopped a couple things on the phone and rested on a powerful combination of Anton Chigurh and Brienne of Tarth… seriously. This character is my absolute favorite of the story.
The third note is a follow up on the others. Double Take wanted me to visually define the character with as much detail as I could. I’m used to working rather closely with artists to refine a look of a character but here – at least so far – I don’t have the fluid communication with the artist. I was instructed to leave as much on the page as possible.
So the outline had some pacing issues for the folks at Double Take. Namely it was moving too fast for what they anticipated. I didn’t spend enough time lingering in the smaller moments. We eventually found a very awesome compromise – one that extended the length of the story and expanded the world, stakes, and character motivations in very real and awesome ways.
To find out just how we did that, you’ll have to wait until Monday where I’ll talk about how we blocked out the opening scene of my book. Which also has a fancy new title: “Race: Brother’s Keeper” #1.
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This Zomblog will run every Monday and Friday until I run out of things to say about zombies. Next time – blocking out action sequences with zombie shuffling.
Until then check out Double Take’s blog – Double Take Universe to keep up to date on the incredible comics that will be coming your way in September. And head over to their Kickstarter to secure yourself the full ten launch issues. Which just went over 10k and has only a few days left to go! So please get out there and support good comics!
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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