Comics
Review: ‘The Darkness’ #109
Readers will not see the twists and turns coming in The Darkness #109. Violent, gripping, and creepy, “The Darkness” series hits all the right marks to make for an entertaining read. Geared mostly for newcomers, readers will be able to jump into this series, without feeling left behind in the mythology.
WRITTEN BY: David Hine
ART BY: Jeremy Haun
PUBLISHER: Top Cow Productions, Inc.
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: January 2nd, 2013
When Jackie Estacado rebuilt the universe, he constructed the world in a way to benefit himself. He now has his childhood sweetheart, Jenny Romano, back from the dead. To keep his world from falling apart, Jackie has to protect Jenny and their daughter, Hope, from rival mob bosses and The Darkness. Jackie’s double, The Doppelganger, is causing all sorts of problems and trouble as he spreads the Darkness like a virus. With everything to lose, Jackie doesn’t know what to do when Hope suddenly manifests her own dark powers.
I really enjoy how David Hine keeps the fast pace flowing in the opening pages. Hine infuses all these genre elements – revenge, crime, and the supernatural – into an entertaining storyline. What’s also interesting is how Hine finds psychological qualities for readers to root for the bad guy. Jackie’s Doppelganger is killing off his enemies one by one, but he doesn’t believe any of his horrific acts are wrong. Like many mobster movies, the antagonist feels justified because he is sacrificing everything to protect his family. What matters most to Jackie is keeping his enemies away from his wife and daughter.
As the death count rises, Jackie must allow his Doppelganger to run loose and defend his self-created universe. Hine provides glimpses that everything Jackie is fighting for might be a lie. Because Jackie is blinded by his own devotion to his small family unit, he doesn’t realize someone close is actually going to betray him. Following the motifs of several mobster movies, Jackie doesn’t realize there is a traitor in the midst.
Readers will be glued to Jeremy Haun’s mind-blowing illustrations. When Jackie’s Doppelganger infects an innocent victim with The Darkness, the eyes start to ooze tears of blood. The victims appear slow and wobble in a trance-like state; similar to a zombie. Haun provides different character designs, in order for readers to distinguish Jackie and his Doppelganger. The Doppelganger appears in a flashy white suit, while Jackie is wearing a worn-out white shirt.
The panels where Hope manifests her newly-found dark powers are just awesome. Her skin looks fractured and splintered, as if to symbolize that Hope is “cracked in the head.” Hope whips out these long tentacles with green eyeballs and fangs. Hope’s dark powers are feeding off her emotional state, which Haun captures in the close-ups.
Readers should definitely be looking out for “The Darkness” #109. With the creative team-up of Hine and Haun, “The Darkness” series is becoming a truly enjoyable reading experience month in and month out.
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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