Comics
Review: ‘Uncanny’ #3
Dynamite Entertainment’s crime launch has been flying under most comic reader’s radar. Garth Ennis’ Red Team has been superb so far, but it failed to light the sales charts on fire. Now, writer Andy Diggle is the next to take the plunge in the seedy streets of Dynamite’s crime line with “Uncanny”. With just three issues of under his belt, Diggle already has readers locked and loaded for this caper.
WRITTEN BY: Andy Diggle
ART BY: Aaron Campbell
PUBLISHER: Dynamite Entertainment
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: August 28, 2013
The premise for the book is very familiar, but Diggle and Campbell do their best to put a unique spin on things to keep it from being predictable. The book introduces us to Weaver, a man born with an ‘uncanny’ ability to absorb people’s skill sets and memories for a brief period of time. Rather than use his powers for the betterment of mankind, Weaver uses them to lie, cheat and steal as a thief-for-hire. After a job at a casino goes horribly wrong, Weaver gets bailed out by a mysterious assassin employed by Deacon Styles. After pulling Weaver’s butt out of the fire, Styles offers him a half million dollars to put a stop to shady think-tank organization that aims to build an army of soldiers with latent abilities like Weaver’s. Weaver is stuck in the middle between two massive corporations vying for the ability to activate humans with super powers.
‘Uncanny’ plays to all of Andy Diggle’s strengths as a writer. The book has already established the perfect balance between character development and action in just three issues. The pacing of this book is fantastic, as Diggle peels back the layers of this book slowly, to keep readers engaged at every turn of the page. There is a feeling here that Diggle building something grandiose for Weaver as he navigates through the choppy waters of this complex mystery.
The mood of the story and characters is perfectly captured by the artwork by Aaron Campbell. His style is a cross between Sean Phillips (Fatale) and Michael Lark (Lazarus, Gotham Central), but his simplistic approach is enhanced by Campbell’s expert use of contrast within each panel. Campbell is the perfect partner in crime for Diggle as his artwork truly brings the story to life.
If you are a fan of Criminal or Gotham Central than this book is the perfect addition to your pull list, as ‘Uncanny’ delivers all the key components of a good crime book. Readers should take note and pick up ‘Uncanny’, as it continues to rise to the top of ‘must read’ pile every month.
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.