Comics
Review: ‘The Strain: The Fall’ #4
Kicking things to high gear, “The Strain: The Fall” #4 continues to be an awesome thrill-ride that refuses to slow down. After the “Twilight” franchise sucked all the fun out of being a vampire, “The Fall” reminds everyone why nobody should go anywhere near those bloodsuckers. Without a doubt, this is a terrific adaptation of the best-selling trilogy of novels by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan.
WRITTEN BY: David Lapham
ART BY: Mike Huddleston
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: Oct. 16, 2012
It’s time for humanity to fight back against the vampire plague that has taken over the city. But the heroes who are going to stand up aren’t the people you would normally expect. These are inner-city gang members who want to make money off of killing vampires. While the gangs of Jersey are slaying the bloodsuckers, Ephraim and his exhausted team have a plan that will definitely hit the Master where it hurts. Ephraim can stop the vampire plague from spreading if he can destroy the subway tunnels. With the clock ticking, will Ephraim and his teammates buy time for the human race to live another day?
What I continue to really enjoy about writer David Lapham’s adaptation is how he uses Del Toro’s social commentary about racism, minorities, and ethnic barriers. Gus and his teammates have added a new member to their crew, a retired Mexican wrestler named Angel. They have been pushed around because of the color of their skin. Now when their oppressors are screaming for help, it’s the unwanted class showing up for a fight.
What I liked about this issue is the return of Zachary, Ephraim’s son. Having lost his mother, Zach is looking for a parental figure to guide him. Never saying anything but always watching, Zach is slowly losing his father as he succumbs to alcoholism. It’s an interesting scene as Zach looks up to the professor, Abraham, for guidance. Because Abraham speaks to Zach as an adult, they can have a personal discussion about prayer and God.
In his artwork, Mike Huddleston sure knows how to add shock value to his vampire attacks. In a wide shot, the vampires have a victim surrounded as they kick him down onto the pavement. The violence isn’t aimed to be pretty as a bunch of naked freaks are plunging their long, forked tongues into a guy’s chest. Because the face is shaped to look like a skull, Huddleston’s character design of The Master resembles closely to the Grim Reaper.
My favorite part of Huddleston’s illustrations is when Gus and his crew start shooting in the streets of Spanish Harlem. Gus and his gang are firing bullets everywhere, always aiming for the heads of the vampires. All in a single panel, Huddleston has Gus, Angel, and another gang member all doing something as they take on the bloodsuckers Heightening the shock value, Angle rips the head off of a vampire with his bare hands.
Readers will definitely have tremendous fun with “The Strain: The Fall” #4. This is how you make vampires scary again.
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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