Comics
Review: ‘Storm Dogs’ #1
Alien planet with humans coming in to mine its resources? Check.
Mysterious local wildlife and deadly environment? Check.
Criminal Investigation team brought in to investigate a string of murders? Check.
Readers, welcome to a new space mystery thriller, Storm Dogs #1.
WRITTEN BY: David Hine
ART BY: Doug Braithwaite
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: November 7th, 2012
From the first page, readers are given enough to go on about the new and mysterious setting: a mineral-rich planet called Amaranth, full of alien wildlife and resources to explore and exploit. Mining operations are worked by “questionable” characters, all with something to hide or forget. The mystery part comes into play when seven humans are murdered with no clue as to who or what did the killing. Time to bring in a team of experts including a lonely Commander Cassandra Burroughs, forensic crime and alien anatomy Doctor Jered Hoffman, culture and language expert Masika Zenda and weapons, tactics and muscles Siam Locke.
Writer David Hine’s story is set in the future where some planets are technology-haves and some are technology-have-nots. Amaranth falls into the latter category which means the CI Team will have use less tech than they are used to. Some of the team have more difficulty with this than others. It reminds me of the setup that Firefly employed so smartly to give the creative team more flexibility as to where their stories could go. Throw in the two mysterious intelligent species – the Elohi and the Joppa – and you’ve got the good parts of Avatar thrown into the mix for good measure.
Artist Doug Braithwaite works towards his strengths as the planet and the characters are given the proper amount of grit and roughness in the different landscapes. Some panels look sketchier than what I’ve seen from Braithwaite in the past, so I’m assuming he’s trying out a new approach to his own creations. The coloring by Ulises Arreola is also muted in certain panels to depict the harsh landscapes. I’m curious to see if other parts of this planet will have a more vivid colour palette to show us. The deadly acid rain storms with its red lightning and gigantic rolling black clouds that has humans running for shelter is one area I thought should have more bold colour.
The local lawman tells us what “Storm Dogs” are: “anyone who’s crazy enough to go out in the rain, they’re Storm Dogs.” Like a storm rolling into your town, this first issue has a slow but gradual movement. It’s never easy to set up a new world and premise in one issue but Hine, Braithwaite, and company deliver a decent start. Plus, they included some nice extras to entice and intrigue the reader to come back to Amaranth next month. I think I’ll wait out and see what this storm brings.
Rating: 3/5 Skulls.
Reviewed by: Your Friendly Neighbourhood Brady
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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