Comics
Review: ‘Witch Doctor: Mal Practice’ #2
Witch Doctor: Mal Practice #2 delivers a highly imaginative mix of comedy and scares. Brandon Seifert’s writing is spot-on when it comes to black humor and Lukas Ketner knocks it out of the park with his creepy imagery. This is a medical drama with a cool supernatural twist.
WRITTEN BY: Brandon Seifert
ART BY: Lukas Ketner
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: December 19th, 2012
Dr. Vincent Morrow is on a mission to protect the earth from supernatural diseases. In order to examine this sick world, he has to treat the illnesses with every tool, whether they be medical or magical. With Penny and Eric Gast by his side, Morrow has a caseload of patients to keep him occupied. But now, it is Dr. Morrow who needs someone else to diagnose him, because he suddenly feels ill and pale. With no memory of what happened or who he was with the night before, Dr. Morrow wonders what kind of deadly virus is living inside of him, invading his internal organs.
After establishing the relationship of his three protagonists and the medical/supernatural world they live in, Seifert continues to focus on the character dynamics between Morrow and his medical team. The best part, Eric hasn’t reverted back to being the punch line of Morrow’s jokes and is still the action hero. Before, Dr. Morrow always focused on the patient and solving the case as a disease detective. Now, readers get to see what Morrow’s life is like when he is outside the office.
Since the infection, Vincent surprisingly makes foolish mistakes, which goes against his smart-aleck personality. Without his sword and medical bag, Vincent is quite unprepared when he confronts a deadly trio of demons. Seifert examines the relationship between Vincent and Eric, as they become more than boss/co-worker. Seifert hints that Vincent is slowly falling apart, and might possibly need Eric to save him. Because she turned out to be a pivotal player in the previous issue, it seems odd that Penny is missing from the issue.
Ketner does impressive character designs with The Surgeons, a trio of demonic practitioners who use medicine as torture devices. Ketner borrows a lot of elements from the Hellraiser movies, especially with the body horror. The leader of the trio has needles for fingers, which is creepier than Edward Scissorhands. The third Surgeon wears a gas mask and he wants his victims to breathe his foul and unnatural air. Though readers just get a glimpse of the trio, this is a great addition to the story arc and I look forward to how Ketner/Seifert use these characters in action.
Ketner knows how to highlight Seifert’s witty humor with his exaggerated facial expressions. Just as the suspense builds, Vincent and Morrow make these cartoonish reactions, bringing out the slapstick comedy. At the Red Market, Vincent and Eric unexpectedly find themselves investigating a dead body. What I really liked is how Ketner plays around with the shadows and just uses the light source from Vincent’s flashlight. At the Red Market, look for Popeye’s decapitated head and see if you can spot Freddy Krueger amongst the crowds.
“Witch Doctor: Mal Practice” #2 is a whole lot of fun.
4/5 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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