Comics
Review: ‘To Hell You Ride’ #1
A great kickoff, the themes and nonlinear storytelling in To Hell You Ride #1 are unified in beautiful sweeping style. Actor Lance Henricksen’s first turn at comic writing will leave a lasting impression with his revenge/western horror hybrid. Lance Henriksen’s comics debut doesn’t disappoint and should not be missed.
WRITTEN BY: Lance Henriksen, Joseph Maddrey
ART BY: Tom Mandrake
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: December 12, 2012
After a sacred burial ground is disturbed, a deadly curse is set into motion in a small town. The townspeople feel the wrath of the angry spirits as their skin begins to burn and flesh melts off their bones. Feeling betrayed by his heritage and his community, Two Dogs ends up on a long and bitter drinking binge. When he sobers up, Two Dogs discovers the horrid truths of the past.
What makes the story interesting is how Henriksen and Maddrey provide their character with a back-story. Because he is well-developed, readers understand why Two Dogs, the outsider and working class stiff, is so angry at the world. Because he is a disappointment to the community, Two Dogs has to think about why he should bother saving the corrupt town. What’s impressive about the storytelling is that the opening pages do not have any dialogue whatsoever, just captions to follow along with Tom Mandrake’s art.
As the narrative jumps in time, the three subplots are interconnected through family lineage. In the past, the tribal warrior sacrifices his life to save his people, but his death brings forth a vengeful spirit. In the present, the sheriff needs Five George to help him solve the case of a missing girl. All the lies and crimes of the past have been building up to Two Dogs’ discovery of the truth. The complex narrative is used to display the clear cause and effect relationship between the timelines, and it makes the story feel that much larger.
The artwork by Tom Mandrake is unbelievably eye-catching. Because Henriksen is known for his movie roles such as Aliens, there is a heavy focus on facial expressions. Mandrake wants readers to see the performance captured within the narration. In Two Dogs’ introduction, Mandrake gives a lot of attention to his posture to show his anger and frustration. The close-ups are incredibly expressive as Two Dogs comes across as angry, spiteful, and indifferent all at the same time.
Mandrake manages to ground the mysticism and spirituality of the story without letting it fly over the top. In the background, notice how the face of the mountain resembles Five George. When the story heads into the direction of the supernatural, the panels are illuminated with bright tones. In a large panel, Mandrake captures the majestic beauty of the desert in the nighttime, with a shooting star in the sky. For readers to understand the nonlinear storytelling, Mandrake does an excellent job distinguishing the different time periods.
An ambitious effort, that hooked me into the Colorado scenery and the Native American culture of “To Hell You Ride” #1. This is an impressive debut. If the writing and artwork continue on this road, “To Hell You Ride” will be a definite hit.
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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