Comics
Review: Adventure Time #1
Cartoon Network’s tv show, Adventure Time with Finn and Jake, has a lot of appeal that stems from its frenetically fast paced A.D.D. mixture of everything awesome. A little of this frantic energy is lost in the new comic book version of Adventure Time, which is bereft of an extremely important part of what makes it so fast paced: the sound. To make up for that, however, is the art work of Shelley Paroline and Braden Lamb. Luckily for Finn and Jake, Paroline and Lamb provide 30 pages worth of great art, the first page of which is dedicated completely to showcasing THE MOST EPIC FIST BUMP OF ALL TIME! Sure it’s not horror per say, but kiss my grits. Read on for the skinny…
ART BY: Shelley Paroline and Braden Lamb
PUBLISHER: KaBOOM
RELEASE: Out now!
The first 9 panels of the comic, in addition to a sweet fist bump, also introduce the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo, the Ice King, Princess Bubblegum and a lot of great parts of Adventure Time. Beware, if you’re not looking extra hard (or read it on a tablet) you will probably miss a lot of hidden gems, like this quote, “There can never be enough fist bumps in any story, fiction or non-fiction.” The artwork is definitely highlighted in this comic, but the dialogue, aka Finn and Jake’s rockin’ battle burns, get thrown out at a fast pace thanks to the writer, Ryan North.
North reintroduces Jake and Finn’s most evil enemy, the Lich. Pendelton Ward, the shows creator, lists George Romero as one of his top influences, and even goes so far to say, “I’m a big post-apocalyptic movie fan and zombie fan. . . and we’re going to make more zombie episodes…” (Newsarama). So it’s great that a character like the Lich is making his big reappearance outside of the TV show, as well as lending me some credibility for reviewing this on bloody-disgusting.
As far as the plot of the comic goes, Jake and Finn don’t easily defeat the Lich, even in Jake Suit form. Instead, they find themselves sucked into a land that resides in an infinite bag of holding. This is a great plot twist that adds a new dimension to the mythos of the show. I feel that this allows both the show and the comic to maintain a consistency that might not have occured had the comic taken place in Ooo itself. It also lets North introduce some new stuff that hasn’t been seen in the show before. But dont worry, Princess Bubblegum is in the bag as well, which rounds out the set up of what will hopefully be a great comic book series.
While comic can convey a great sense of cinema (see Cole Haddon’s The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde), one thing I miss in the comic version of Adventure Time is the sound. Adventure Time has a really great cast of voices that do a lot to bring the show to life. John DiMaggio, Futurama’s Bender, and appearances by actors like Mark Hammil, really add an extra dimension, especially the Lumpy Space Princes who is voiced by Pendelton Ward himself. I think the only remedy for this must be to watch more Adventure Time, because I’m definitely not going to stop reading the comic.
4 out of 5 skulls
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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