Comics
Review: ‘Sunset’ Graphic Novel
Christos Gage’s new graphic novel, “Sunset”, is a difficult one to review. Overall there hints of brilliance contained within the pages, but the book falls just shy of the mark. All the components of a good crime caper are there and more than enough bullets fly to keep action fans satisfied, but if you crave something with a little bit more depth than you might be disappointed.
WRITTEN BY: Christos Gage
ART BY: Jorge Lucas
PUBLISHER: Top Cow/Minotaur Press
RELEASE: July 11
The premise is fairly simple, enforcer Nick Bellamy looks for an exit strategy to leave the mafia and devises a plan to go out with one last big score. He succeeds in extorting millions and sends his former employer to prison for 25 to life in the process. Fast forward 30 years into the future, and Bellamy is living in the house with the white picket fence, when his former employer is freed from jail and sets out to kill Nick and everyone he loves. Now in order to save everyone he cares for, Nick must got on a murderous rampage to ensure his past is gone forever.
At times “Sunset” feels more like it was a screenplay that has been adapted to work as a graphic novel and there is still a few rough edges that could have been sanded down. Gage does a great job of establishing all the major players and gives them the motivation, but fails at making the reader truly care about the characters.
There is a great scene at the beginning of the book where lead protagonist Nick Bellamy’s wife is murdered, but her loss is glossed over in order to continue the break-neck pacing of the story. The action sequences are fantastic, but the overall story could have benefited from more character development. Giving the readers more of a reason to care whether or not the characters live or die would have given the story the knockout punch it needed.
The artwork by Jorge Lucas (“The Darkness”) perfectly captures the grim and gritty feel that a book crime book should have. His use of heavy blacks within the artwork gives the book the crime noir style that it needs, but Lucas’ style is much more modern so it also mixes in some of the hyper detail Top Cow has been known for to give it the best of both worlds. For the backgrounds Lucas mixes in photo-realistic images of the Las Vegas strip, which transplant the reader right into the heart of the City of Sin where the action takes place. The art on this book is very reminiscent of Michael Bendis’ “Jinx”, but with more detailed line work.
“Sunset” achieves what it set out to do; tell a crime noir story. “Sunset” is akin to the blockbuster action flick that hits the spot for a fleeting moment, but fails to deliver the “Oh my God!” factor that leaves readers with their jaws on the floor.
3/5 Skulls
Reviewed By: Big J
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.