Comics
Review: ‘The Memory Collectors’ #2
Menton3’s insightfully dark and visually stunning book “The Memory Collectors” returns this week, presenting a more intimate and philosophically reflective exploration of consciousness and perceived reality. With a continued mix of stylistically distinguished illustrations and enlightened prose, Menton3 delivers another unconventional and captivating installment that rivals the series debut.
WRITTEN BY: Menton3, Ben Murphy
ART BY: Menton3, Ben Templesmith
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: December 11, 2013
“The Memory Collectors” #2 continues with Magdalena, Edith, and Beatrice, as they find themselves battling against relentless attacks from an obscene amount of memory collectors, all of whom are just pieces to a much larger — and more dangerous — demon puzzle. The mystery only deepens as they journey further into confounding chaos to confront an enemy unlike anything they have ever seen or faced before. The choices they make will ultimately set-forth a series of events that will have the hunters questioning everything they have ever known, and everything they have trained to be.
Much like Menton3’s previous works, “The Memory Collectors” calls for intensive effort and attention from the reader, which ultimately allows for a greater, and more engaging experience overall. The narrative’s fascinating discourse on the book’s prominent themes, and the visually subversive presentation style of the creator’s intriguingly original take on the horror genre, not only puts to paper the inner-workings of Menton3’s mind, but demonstrates the level to which he respects and believes in his readers’ intelligence and understanding.
Opening with a compellingly telling anecdote derived from Norse mythology about Odin’s ravens, Huginn and Muninn, Book Two resumes its focus on the significant examination of thought and memory — what each bird represents. More than a symbolically relevant connotation about the characters themselves, birds like ravens and crows seem to be a recurring aspect of Menton3’s creations. They were previously featured in the debut issue of the series and can be stemmed back to Beatrice’s first appearance in “Monocyte” #1. Though it was David Stoupakis’ supplemental story within the book entitled “MONOCYTE: Chronicle of the Messenger” that featured a young Beatrice conversing with an ominous crow. Perhaps I’m reaching, but it’s always a delight to see familiar faces and themes being revisited in a variety of different projects, and this installment sees more of that with the return of a deliciously sinister character from Menton3’s “Monocyte” universe.
The artwork is as visually dynamic as it is remarkably dark and heavy. It’s clearly apparent that every stroke of his brush, and placement of devices, symbols, and diagrams derived from his studies of iconography and alchemy, is so specifically envisioned, and consciously meaningful. Menton3 is consistently reliable and accomplished when it comes to producing stellar pieces of art, and his artistic contributions to the book is a huge factor for its success. He dominates space and creates such powerfully evocative images that will rest in the reader’s memory long after they’ve experienced his work. And that’s something readers can always expect from a project as intimate as this one.
4.5/5 Skulls
Reviewed By – ShadowJayd
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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