Comics
Review: The Star Wars # 2
“The Star Wars” is nothing if not ambitious. Through this ambition there must be some context. Sadly the story doesn’t provide us with enough on the various institutions and people at war. The result is an undercooked narrative that borrows familiar elements but feels disjointed. Luckily the fantastic art helps to save the muddled story.
WRITTEN BY: J. W. Rinzler
ART BY: Mike Mayhew
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: October 02, 2013
The task of reimaging an original draft of a screenplay is daunting. Often first drafts are filled with plot holes, superfluous characters, and overly long scenes. There are elements to this second issue that appear to stem from these problems. The entire narrative feels slightly disjointed. The characters are new, as are the dynamics of the universe, along with the motivations for the conflict. Instead of being slowly introduced to a galaxy at war, Rinzler decides to throw us into the middle.
The result is a rather dizzying issue that never lets up. The stakes are high but the emotional investment is low. The characters we’ve just met are fighting tooth and nail for their beliefs, but we’re never really given context on their oppression. Instead war itself is supposed to be exciting enough to keep us turning the pages.
The familiar elements will keep invested readers interested. The biggest draw of this series is to see the little tweaks given to the Star Wars universe. Leia is present here, and her first interaction with Annikin is a little more interesting than that of Luke and Leia in A New Hope. The assault on the Death Star occurs much earlier in this story, and while it isn’t called the Death Star here, the familiar shape and powers imply everything we need to know. Suffice to say the familiar is the only thing to hold onto here, because the new stuff doesn’t take time to introduce itself, it’s just there.
Mike Mayhew’s work continues to be stellar. His depiction of the characters is spot on. Luke’s facial range is spectacular, and the devastation when he is thwarted at the end of the issue is all Mayhew. The subtle differences Mayhew adds to the familiar elements help to stylize this version of the world in a unique way. He ensures that X-Wings look similar but different, and his depiction of the Death Star is fantastic and menacing in its own way.
In the end, the book still feels like an unproduced screenplay. The elements of a story are there, but they are too sporadic and unfocused to take us along for the ride. Sadly this reflects onto J.W. Rinzler’s ability, however, we must remember that he was given the impossible task of bringing this screenplay to life. There are fantastic things within this book that deserve praise. The sheer fact that it exists is something to celebrate, and hopefully with a few more issues the story will find its footing.
Rating: 2/5 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.
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