Comics
Review: ‘Saga’ #5
Chapter 4 of Brian K. Vaughan and Image Comics, “Saga”, ends with the main character, Marko, drawing his sword and saying, “We fight.” This may seem like a pretty tame line to start off a comic book review, but what follows in chapter 5 of “Saga” is Fiona Staples illustrating Marko’s berserker rage as he slices and dices his way through an entire squadron of “feathered fucks.” Issue #5 is a worthy addition to what is already shaping up to be a masterpiece.
WRITTEN BY: Brian K. Vaughan
ART BY: Fiona Staples
PUBLISHER: Image
RELEASE: July 18th
Heretofore in the series Marko has been a pacifist. As he puts it, “My reluctance to use force isn’t ideological, it’s practical. Violence is stupid. Even as a last resort, it only begets more of the same.” In chapter 5 of “Saga”, Marko definitely begets himself and his family some future violence. While the series hasn’t been lacking in blood and guts (and sex), this issue is definitely the bloodiest as Staples replaces the background of the 5 pages with red to emphasize Marko’s frenzied blood lust. And not to ruin it for anyone, but it really is a romantic scene. After all, Marko is defending his family and the feathered fuckers shot at his wife. Can you really blame him if all he wants to do is, “Cut off their fucking heads”? Luckily for Marko, Alana steps in (with her stun gun) and prevents this from happening, as the guilt of this action would undoubtedly destroy Marko. Luckily for us readers, Staples had already given us more than enough action to have made that scenario gratuitous, had it taken place.
Chapter 5 of Saga is full of plenty of character development. Something major happens to each of the characters. Marko and Fiona have their battle royale, Hazel laughs for the first time (OK maybe not that major?), IV the Robot Prince receives some exciting news from his betrothed, and The Will finds himself mired deeper in the sh*t than imaginable on Sextillion. What I love about each of these incidences is that by only 5 issues into the series Vaughan has given each character such a distinct and likable personality that the impact of these events drives the series onwards. This is especially true for this issue, as Hazel’s narration is noticeably lacking, but the characters and events speak for themselves in this issue, as well as tantalizingly foreshadow things to come…
Marko foreshadows the impending violence which will undoubtedly close in on Alana and his family in the near future. The Robot Prince already has an unstable and violent personality, so how will the news he receives rom his loved one affect him? This issue makes it seem like he will only become more vicious to protect himself and accomplish his goals, but maybe the news will cause him to later on rethink his mission. On a side note, I love how The Robot Prince can’t control what displays on his monitor face. That has to be some form of robot PTSD or something!
And that brings us to my favorite character, The Will. His motives are still unknown, and Hazel refers to him as, “A f*cking monster,” in issue 4. But his predicament in issue 5, which revolves around his attempted rescue of the slave girl, seems to speak differently to his personality. The Will is still a morally ambiguous character at this point in the series. He kills men, women and apparently children. But it also appears that he has done something incredibly foolish to rescue a child from a predicament that is markedly worse than death.
Violence and morality are emphasized in all of the plot lines, and the decisions related to violent actions will have far reaching impact on the character’s futures. Whether violence pushes some characters together, or drives others apart, will be exciting to find out. Either way I’m definitely in on this series for the full ride. I can’t wait to see what Vaughan and Staples have in store for the rest of the issues as every aspect of this comic is spot on. The action, character development, plot and artwork all have an amazing synergy that keeps building.
4.5/5 skulls
Reviewed by TheSandman
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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