Comics
Review: ‘Green Arrow’ #18
Last month, writer Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino were tasked with trying to mold Green Arrow into something worth the paper it was printed on. To say that the book has been sub-par since the New 52 re-launch is an understatement, as its been plagued with countless creative changes and was a shining example of a book that wasn’t working.
For their first issue, Lemire and Sorrentino simply swept everything that had come before under the rug and started the book with a clean slate. The first issue showed a lot of promise and gave reader’s hope that something could be done to help bail out the sinking ship that “Green Arrow” had become. Now with issue #18 we’re starting to get ease into the deep end of the run where Lemire and Sorrentino will either sink or swim on the strength of their work.
WRITTEN BY: Jeff Lemire
ART BY: Andrea Sorrentino
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: March 6th, 2013
Lemire is clearly laying groundwork to build something much bigger with this series. This issue reveals that Ollie’s father had a stint living on the island that originally held him captive before hurdling Ollie into an action packed cliffhanger ending. The issue also succeeds at establishing Komodo as a formidable foe in the Green Arrow mythos. Lemire sets a tone for the book that mirrors that of the popular television show, which is a smart move given this book’s past track record. There is enough action in this issue to satisfy those eagerly waiting for Ollie to break out into combat, but there is still a fair amount of character development to help keep things in balance.
Andrea Sorrentino’s work here is top notch and he proves yet again that he is one of the most underrated artists working in mainstream comics today. Sorrentino brings a darker look to the book, which is a refreshing change of pace from the vibrant and often splashy art the book has had in the past. His characters are expressive and he has a great sense of how a story should flow from panel to panel, which compliments Lemire’s writing quite well. One of the only drawbacks to the issue lays in the decision to highlight each of the flashback sequences with stark black and white rather than muted colors. The black and white panels draw readers eye away from the rest of the page and put too much emphasis on the flashback.
In just two issues Lemire and Sorrentino have delivered the best issues of Green Arrow since the New 52 began. Their creative chemistry is firing on all cylinders and they’ve elevated Green Arrow into one something worthy of reader’s hard earned dollars. If the quality of the book can remain this consistent throughout their run, Green Arrow has the potential to become one of the best books DC is putting out.
4/5 Skulls
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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