Comics
Review: ‘Mars Attacks’ #9
With incredibly smart writing and eye-catching illustrations, reader will definitely get a kick out of Mars Attacks #9. With a bit of quirky humor, this is a solid take on the alien invasion of Earth. Readers will become hooked with the “Mars Attacks” series after reading this awesome issue.
WRITTEN BY: John Layman
ART BY: John McCrea
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: April 10, 2013
The Martians came to Earth with the single objective to destroy its inhabitants. With an unstoppable force of spaceships and monsters, the Martians easily outnumbered and defeated the humans. Even after taking so many lives, the Martians were unprepared for a massive resistance attack. Because of his young age and lack of social skills, Tommy Bailey became the unlikeliest of Earth’s heroes. Smarter and cunning than everyone else, Tommy is able to outwit the Martians and survive on his own. But, Tommy is about to learn that there is something far deadlier and more dangerous than the Martians; the rest of the human race.
What I found interesting about John Layman’s writing is how he tells the story through Tommy’s naïve point-of-view. In most sci-fi/horror tales, the running theme is that it’s the children who know more than the adults. Because he was able to make a toaster walk on two mechanical legs, Tommy is an absolute genius. Layman adds a nice twist and portrays Tommy without any social skills. If he wasn’t such a loner, Tommy would have figured out someone was going to steal his Martian translator device. Tommy is too young and inexperienced to understand what human nature is truly capable of.
Avery Hendershoot (I swear that’s his name) is the type of character you need in an alien invasion. With his long trench coat and cowboy hat, Avery looks like he stepped out of a Western movie. Lucky to be alive, Tommy first meets Avery with his guns blazing. Layman then adds to their odd couple dynamic with such witty banter.
The illustrations by artist John McCrea are just amazing to look at. In the opening pages, McCrea depicts flying alien spaceships and man-eating plant monsters taking down cities. Then, McCrea illustrates the war-torn city as a frozen wasteland. The Martians are patrolling the empty streets with a giant spider following them. During Avery’s flashbacks, a giant robot is tearing down buildings with its long mechanical arms.
Avery, the gunfighter, looks like he could have been in a John Wayne movie. In his character design, Avery has long hair, unshaven cheeks, and always hides his eyes behind sunglasses. McCrea even plants Avery in the middle of a western shootout with the Martians. Avery doesn’t hold back from pulling the trigger as he holds a gun in each hand.
The “Mars Attacks” series has a lot of quirky humor and action that readers will enjoy.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
Header art courtesy of Chris Mason.
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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