Comics
Review: ‘Ten Grand’ #2
J. Michael Straczynski and Ben Templesmith produce a series that’s a surprisingly natural amalgamation of the horror, occult, supernatural, and noir genres. Delivering another successful issue of “Ten Grand” for Joe’s Comics, critic speculations about the probability of a superior follow-up prove to be unwarranted.
WRITTEN BY: J. Michael Straczynski
ART BY: Ben Templesmith
PUBLISHER: Joe’s Comics, imprint of Image Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: June 5, 2013
Titled “Angels Never Lie”, the second installment begins with a conveniently thorough rundown of last month’s series opener, featuring Templesmith’s accompanying panels from the previous issue. Just to shed some light on what’s already been established; Joe Fitzgerald is an ex-mob enforcer whose last assignment culminates in the death of his love, Laura. Desperate to see her again, he agrees to serve an obscure higher power that guarantees his resurrection upon righteous death. The catch? In those five minutes between death and resurrection, he’s able to reunite with the love of his life once again.
Now, Joe is a supernatural Private Investigator, taking on special cases ignored by the police force, for the price of ten grand. In this issue, he continues his investigation into the disappearance of Sarah Thomas, who’d lost contact with her sister Debbie after joining a cult named Divine Will. It’s a job which holds great significance for Joe as it involves the man responsible for Laura’s death; a man Joe killed two years prior.
Unlike issue #1, Straczynski moves the narrative along at a much slower pace, but still provides an exceptional amount of suspense and mystery through Joe’s stirring, and enlightening, inner monologues, and through the introduction of intriguing new characters. One of the more interesting additions to the book is a seer named Johnny, and an ally of Joe’s. He’s a man capable of seeing into the spirit world but blinded to everything else. Straczynski gifts readers with a short, yet compelling, look into his origins, and he’s definitely a character worth exploring in future installments.
Joe’s journey through this issue takes him to a demonic club where a grotesquely illustrated fleshist demon, courtesy of Templesmith, makes our protagonist second-guess his work with the angels. By the end of the issue, readers are left wondering whether Joe is working for the angels or for a more sinister bunch, given the interaction between two key characters in the last two pages.
Whether he’s dealing with celestial paragons and archangels, or demon lords and archdevils, that’s something Straczynski isn’t sharing yet. All that’s known is that there’s definitely a bigger story gearing up to be told, and Straczynski is doing a fantastic job setting it up.
Templesmith ups the ante the second time around with his visually emotive storytelling. Using a large colour palette that favours an almost frigid mixture of blues, purples, with hints of green – contrasting with his fiery explosions of reds and yellows – he’s able to draw out an array of emotions through images both grotesque and beautiful. His dusky style of art is made for a story as dark and gritty as Straczynski’s, and to imagine anyone else taking his place would almost be sacrilege.
“Ten Grand” #2 is a pleasure to read, and if there’s one book that needs to be on your pull list this year, it’s this one.
4.5/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – ShadowJayd
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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