Comics
Review: ‘Wonderland’ #2
It was recently reported that the #1 issue of Zenescope Entertainment’s new Wonderland ongoing series has become the best-selling comic to ever be published by the company. Following in the footsteps of the original “Wonderland” trilogy (“Return to Wonderland”, “Beyond Wonderland”, “Escape from Wonderland”), the new “Wonderland” is rightfully continuing its tradition of being Zenescope’s most popular series to date. And after reading the first 2 issues, it’s not difficult to understand why. Writer, Raven Gregory, picks up the story years after Alice Liddle’s daughter, protagonist Calie Liddle, escaped the horrors of Wonderland. It chronicles the nightmarish adventures she, and her now teenaged daughter Violet, face as they’re constantly on the run, trying to evade the Queen of Spades and her evil minions.
WRITTEN BY: Raven Gregory
PENCILLED BY: Sheldon Goh
COLOURED : Felipe Gaona
PUBLISHED BY : Zenescope Entertainment
Finally settling in a small town in hopes of establishing a normal life for themselves, issue #2 focuses on Violet persuading her mother into letting her attend a local high school. The madness of Wonderland clearly still weighing heavily on Calie’s shoulders as a verbally intense confrontation erupts between her and Violet, after the latter comes home late causes her to fear for the worst. Meanwhile, the abused young boy who returned from a carnival with the Mad Hatter’s hat in #1, spreads the hat’s madness onto residents of the town, leading to a cliffhanger that could result in Calie’s worst nightmare. While all of this is happening, over in Wonderland the Queen of Spades continues to build her army.
This is a strong comic from cover to cover that is becoming increasingly morbid in nature. Gregory combines the realistic and common theme of mother/daughter drama with the grim characteristics of a slasher film in effortless fashion. Gregory deserves a lot of praise for being able to spin a tale with a massive scope that comes across so naturally. With each page, he offers more character development and well executed storytelling.
Artist Sheldon Goh pencils this issue, taking over the role from V Ken Marion, and he doesn’t beat around the bush. He seems to understand the concept of ‘less is more’ regarding the graphic killing scenes, by successfully portraying an outrageously horrific moment without resorting to an excessive explicit detail. Goh does not give everything away in his art, leaving much of the horrors to the imagination of the reader.
#3 comes out next month, and there’s no doubt Raven Gregory and team will deliver an even better issue. “Wonderland” is definitely a series to look out for.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – ShadowJayd
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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