Comics
Review: ‘Aliens vs Parker’ # 2
The solicits for Aliens vs Parker series have been comparing the story to the likes of Shaun of the Dead and Galaxy Quest. While this claim may seem bold at first, I’m happy to report that it holds up. Paul Scheer & Nicholas Giovannetti continue their story of bumbling space postmen in this excellent genre homage. “Aliens vs Parker” # 2 is packed to the brim with both depth and comedy.
WRITTEN BY: Paul Scheer & Nicholas Giovannetti
ART BY: Manuel Bracchi
PUBLISHER: BOOM Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: April 10th , 2013
Scheer and Giovannetti weave a compelling story that picks up with our protagonist Parker foolishly chasing a girl. He follows her to the surface of an unknown planet, and drags his buddies along for the ride. The writers have created characters who are obsessed with a first person shooter that mirrors the world they have just entered. They obsess over the game, and use familiar shorthand to refer to the world of combat.
Yet, these characters are bumbling fools. Their only strength comes through well-timed dick jokes. Their in game experience leaves them far from prepared when they encounter real danger. I often felt that Scheer and Giovannetti nailed the false confidence of the characters, and found hilarious workarounds for them to haphazardly escape danger.
The dialogue is heavy and lightening quick. With Scheer’s background in comedy, this comes as no surprise. Each character has a unique and exaggerated comic perspective on the very real dangers around them. As with all the best genre homages, Aliens vs Parker’s plot doesn’t fuck around. The stakes are life and death, and the characters are slowly realizing it.
Manuel Bracchi’s art is just fantastic. His comic facial expressions add a tremendous amount of depth to the interactions between the main group surrounding Parker. A couple panels are so well organized that Bracchi’s art uses the perfect sleight of hand to lead the reader’s eye. The visual comedy is as ripe as the dialogue. Everything is very cleanly organized and carries the reader through with relative ease. The colors are rich and vibrant without being too distracting. Plus again, Bracchi’s art give us the perfect misdirection into a utterly fantastic final full page panel that has forced me into picking up the next issue.
It is clear that Paul Scheer and Nicholas Giovannetti are made to write comics. Aliens vs Parker is a fun original property that claims to stand on the shoulders of giants. Yet, as it stands the story is a wildly original and fun take on the reluctant, ill-prepared space heroes.
Everyone wants to be Han Solo right? Everyone guy who grew up watching Star Wars believes in their heart of hearts that they can be that space hero. We’re confident that when shit hits the fan in space, that we can surely answer the call. Well, Scheer and Giovannetti challenge those thoughts, by giving a group of everyday normal dudes that chance. So far, it’s not going so well for em, but it’s a damn fun read.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jimbus_Christ
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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