Comics
Advance Review: “Five Ghosts” # 6
Frank Barbiere’s “Five Ghosts” returns this month as an ongoing series. After an incredible first run, Fabian returns in an isolated story that sees him searching for the fabled sword “masamune.” The result is an excellently paced pulp adventure that serves as the perfect jumping on point for the series. Garry Brown’s art will carry you through Fabian’s misadventures with a dropped jaw. There is nothing quite like this out there, it’s easily become one of the best books of the year.
WRITTEN BY: Frank J Barbiere
ART BY: Garry Brown
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: October 30, 2013
If you love Indiana Jones, but we’re pained to see his latest misadventures on screen “Five Ghosts” is the remedy. This is pure adrenaline pumping pulp adventure at its finest. Fabian is an irresistibly charming protagonist who is incredibly skilled at almost everything without ever feeling too unrelatable. It’s no easy task.
For the uninitiated Fabian Gray is a globe trotting treasure hunter who after an encounter with a mysterious artifact known as the dream stone has the ghosts of five literary characters trapped within him. The opening page will tell you everything, but it won’t give you the goods of all of his powers. (For that I suggest picking up the first trade)
Fabian finds himself in Japan. Like any good pulp hero he kicks ass almost immediately only to be reunited with a past lover. The opening fight scene is handled with incredible care by Brown’s art. The movements of the swordfighting feel dynamic and invoke an insane sense of action. The paneling here makes sure to pay special attention to the blades, which serves as an excellent motif that pushes toward the conclusion of the chapter.
Barbiere throws both the reader and Fabian head first into the adventure. It works wonderfully for the character, as it makes no task seem to insurmountable. The issue moves forward with an incredible balancing act of past history and the current pursuit.
You feel incredibly informed as Fabian pushes forward. You know exactly what is at stake, and you feel like Fabian is sure to fail. In the end Brown’s art takes full reign. The climax almost explodes off the page. I found myself in a state of constant awe as the power of the samurai was harnessed and Fabian took on an entire room.
The story feels like a separated one shot outside of the already established world, but in the end it all dovetails beautifully. Barbiere builds a self-referential narrative and in turn the world of Five Ghosts grows exponentially.
The final pages of the book offer an exciting tease about what’s to come in the future. After this issue you’ll be certain that “Five Ghosts” is capable of just about anything. For most books this would be worrisome. However, for this book it’s the most exciting thing possible. I have no idea what part of the world we’ll be traveling to next, but I’m certain it will be a thrilling ride. “Five Ghosts” is back and I couldn’t be happier. This series is a breath of fresh air, a real tour de force that provides adventures unlike any other. Get it on your pull list ASAP.
Rating 4.5/5 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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