Comics
Review: ‘Ghosts’ #1
Ghosts #1 is a highly enjoyable horror anthology that brings in together a creative nine memorable tales. By playing around with themes of the supernatural and the paranormal, readers have a collection of ghost tales that focus on the fear of the dark. This roundup of bone-chilling tales features a space heist on a ghost ship, a ghost-for-hire haunting agency, and a pair of ghost private detectives. Just reading one of these tales will put you right back in the Halloween spirit. The book also includes Joe Kubert’s last story, which alone makes it worth a purchase.
WRITTEN BY: Geoff Johns, Joe Kubert, Gilbert Hernandez, Paul Pope, Cecil Castellucci, Mary H.K.
Choi, Al Ewing, Neil Kleid
ART BY: Rufus Dayglo, Gilbert Hernandez, Phil Jimenez, Joe Kubert, Jeff Lemire, John McCrea,
Amy Reeder Hadley
PUBLISHER: Vertigo Comics
PRICE: $7.99
RELEASE: October 31, 2012
The most entertaining piece in the collection is Toby Litt, Mark Buckingham, and Victor Santos’ “Dead Detectives: Run Ragged (Part One: Isle Of Dogs).” In their clubhouse at the top of a tree, the Rowland and Paine Detective Agency has just been hired to find a missing cat. What makes this cat, Twinkle, a special individual is that she is already dead. As Charles and Edwin search the London streets for a ghost cat, their investigation is suddenly put to a halt by an angry ghost professor, who has been kidnapping innocent children. In a story within a story, “Twinkle’s Tale,” is a naive and violent tale about the missing cat getting into fights with humans and dogs. You will either laugh or squirm when Buckingham and Santos show you how the cat gouges a dog’s eyes out. With minimal lighting, the streets of London are eerily atmospheric as they are cloaked in shadows.
The most visually disturbing short tale in the collection is Neil Kleid/John McCrea’s “A Bowl of Red.” The finest chili in Texas is actually a taste-test into Hell. The special ingredient, the “ghost” pepper surpasses the burning taste of jalapeno and habanero. One taste of this particular pepper caused a food junkie to spontaneously combust. McCrea provides the horrific imagery as a man’s flesh is burnt to a crisp after tasting the perfect chili. Even as his face is melting, the skinless man begs to given another bowl.
David Lapham/Paul Pope’s sci-fi tale, “Treasure Lost,” is an incredibly visually stunning short that you wish the story could continue even longer. A ghost ship, run by space pirates, is off to steal the riches of the Steven Clan. Pope depicts the ghost ship as a giant whale, with a skull on its surface. In the midst of an epic battle, the Steven Clan fly around in their triangular-shaped spaceships, attacking the ghost ship. With all its power depleted, the ghost ship is falling through space, as fiery explosions tear open its insides.
My favorite among the tales is Joe Kubert’s mesmerizing last contribution, “The Boy and The Old Man.” Before passing away this past August, Kubert had almost completed this unforgettable tale about death and salvation. Lost in the forest, a tribal grandfather must save his young grandson from a demonic warrior. Kubert’s illustrations range from loosely pencilled to fully detailed. Even with just a sketch, readers can totally see how Kubert was a true master to his craft.
From a variety of writers and artists, each twisted tale in “Ghosts” #1 gets better and better. Each ghost story encourages the reader to keep going, never giving them a chance to put the comic down. A great step in quality and quantity, there’s lots of great stuff in here.
Rating: 4.5/5 skulls
Reviewed by Jorge Solis
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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