Comics
Review: ‘The Crow: Curare’ #2
Deepening its mystery, “The Crow: Curare” #2 follows up with another gripping installment. At its emotional core, the narrative is in tune to its combination of police procedural and horror. Driven in sadness and revenge, “The Crow” series continues to say so much about the perils of grief and redemption.
WRITTEN BY: James O’ Barr
ART BY: Antoine Dode
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: July 24, 2013
Since the ’70s, Detective Joe Salk has dedicated himself into solving the murder of a little girl. With his badge and gun, Salk prowled the gritty and crime-infested streets of Detroit for a vicious child-killer. But when the clues led to dead-ends, Salk became too obsessed with this case. In the present day, Salk spends every waking hour tormenting himself on his failure. But now, the crow, the spirit guide, has given him a second chance at the investigation. Salk has one more chance to make things right for the dead little girl.
James O’ Barr divides the revenge-driven narrative into two sections. In the first part, readers are given a hard-edged crime tale where Detective Salk is morally tested. Because this is about an innocent little girl, who was violated before her death, does this give Salk the right to cross the line between good and bad cop? At first, you’re rooting for Salk to beat up the child molester in the dark corner. But when readers discover this is the wrong suspect, you really see how self-destructive Salk has become.
In the second part, O’ Barr takes the “Crow” premise into a different direction. This isn’t a gun-toting dark avenger coming back from the dead. Trapped in the body of a little girl, Carrie is an echo of her true self. Though years have passed, Carrie still speaks to Salk like a little girl because she hasn’t grown up. She’s not there to haunt Salk as a ghost, but rather to serve as a second chance at hope.
In his sketchy artwork, Antoine Dode delivers cringe-worthy illustrations that never stray from reality. At a slow pace, Salk becomes more and more violent as he continues to abuse his power of authority. Dode builds an unsettling atmosphere as he visually portrays how children are easily kidnapped in real-life scenarios. Readers will react strongly to the scenes where the child-killer actually gets away with the crime.
Dode makes great use of colors throughout the narrative. In the flashbacks, Dode uses blue, gray, and white tones to highlight the police procedural aspects. A drop of red is all it takes to heighten the mishmash of colors. Salk’s home-life is drenched with an orange glow, with a dash of yellow.
“The Crow: Curare” #2 is a compelling read that will definitely hook readers. If you’re a huge fan of police/crime thrillers such as “The Killing” and “Zodiac,” this title is definitely geared to your tastes.
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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