Comics
‘The Crow’ Creator Wanted a Female-led Sequel About a Vengeful Bride
James O’Barr gave birth to The Crow in his crudely-drawn comic series of the same name that debuted in 1989 (the character first appeared in “Caliber Presents #1”).
The hero is birthed on a night when Eric Draven and his fiancée, Shelly, are assaulted by a gang after their car breaks down. Eric is shot in the head and is paralyzed, and can only watch as Shelly is savagely beaten, raped, and shot in the head. They are then left for dead on the side of the road. Eric later dies in the hospital operating room while Shelly is DOA. He is then resurrected by a crow and seeks vengeance on the murderers, methodically stalking and killing them. (Wiki)
The story was adapted in 1994 for the big screen in Alex Proyas, with the late Brandon Lee starring as the title character. Three god-awful sequels were released and a remake has been in development hell for years. While it’s already been reported that the next film, The Crow Reborn, will star Jason Momoa (Aquaman) as the vengeful half-ghoul, O’Barr had pitched an idea for a sequel that was may more in line with social commentary in 2017.
Looking back at the three Crow sequels, the biggest issue is not only that the films are too similar, but that the character is as well. In fact, O’Barr wanted to see the next Crow be a woman who dies on the happiest day of her life…
“My intention was to take it to a completely different direction,” O’Barr told Screen Geek at the Los Angeles Comic-Con.
“So I wrote a story that was a based on a little incident that happened in Chicago about a woman who was killed at her wedding.
“I remember reading it in the paper and it was just a horrible tragedy. Some Irish gangsters tried to rob a main parish in Chicago where they held the collections, and they got lost coming down. They ended up in the middle of a wedding and one of the bride’s maid’s boyfriend, in the audience, was a cop and a big shootout started, church burnt down and 13 people were killed.
“That story always stuck with me and that day is supposed to be the happiest day in someone’s life and it couldn’t get more tragic than that.
“So my idea was ‘Okay, what if I take that scenario and call it The Crow: The Bride?’ and she comes back. It was super cool, she’s still wearing her wedding dress with barb wire and nails in her head.”
Here’s the kicker. When O’Barr pitches the story he was told, “Nah, we can’t make this. First of all, no one is going to see an action movie with a female lead.” He responded, ”If you do it right, it doesn’t matter if it’s about gender. It just has to be handled right.”
They declined and so, there’s the script as well as a bunch of illustrations for it over at Miramax since 1995. Interestingly, O’Barr notes his surprise when he saw Miramax’s Kill Bill in theaters years later. “About four or five years later this movie Kill Bill comes out and I’m sitting in the theater like… ‘This looks vaguely familiar!’ ”
For those who wish that Miramax had or would make a female-led The Crow there is a film worth checking out: Raven Banner’s awesome Avenged. Michael S. Ojeda directed the film about a deaf girl (Amanda Adrienne Smith) who is brutalized by a murderous gang who are then hunted by her when the bloodthirsty spirit of an Apache warrior inhabits her lifeless body.
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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