Comics
Review: ‘Rat Queens’ #4
Having established itself as one of the best new comics to grace the shelves in 2013, Kurtis J. Wiebe, and Roc Upchurch, sucker-punch the New Year with another expectedly kick-ass, and fantastically absurd, installment of “Rat Queens”. In a time where persistently uninspiring and painfully derivative speculative fiction makes up most of the fantasy genre, it’s incredibly easy to be completely charmed by this unconventional, and gut-bustingly hilarious series.
WRITTEN BY: Kurtis J. Wiebe
ART BY: Roc Upchurch
PUBLISHER: Image Comics / Shadowline Comics
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: January 15, 2014
“Rat Queens” #4 picks up immediately after the events of Issue #3, as Betty accidentally discovers the true culprit behind the adventuring party assassinations. Palisade’s disorderly mercenaries have been under relentless attack thanks to Old Lady Bernadette’s fury regarding the continually destroyed state of their town, and Sawyer’s questionable ethics as Captain of the Guard due to his obvious soft spot for the Rat Queens. From there it’s back to the basics with a high-adrenaline chain of limb-severing violence and quick-witted dialogue, as the battle maidens reassemble to stop a swarm of trolls from carrying out a blood vengeance for their troll slaughtering shenanigans from the second installment.
Wiebe takes the narrative in a fiercely energetic, and often times hilariously absurd, direction. He’s successfully developed a popular hit series that doesn’t lose anything for being less introspective, and more rambunctious. That is to say, he could script issue-after-issue of the Rat Queens’ unruly antics, and the fandom would never tire of it. It’s laid-back, yet lively. Light, yet violent and bloody. There’s a powerfully liberating quality to this series, and an undeniable joy in experiencing characters be as bad and ridiculously uncivilized as they want, and choose, to be. That’s definitely one of the best aspects of the book besides Roc Upchurch’s terrific interior artwork.
The artist’s loose and free-flowing illustrative technique really suits the battle-heavy imagery that takes centre stage in this issue. There are panels upon panels depicting extreme action that appear to glide across the pages with an air of mastered fluidity and style. While the setting may seem a bit too contained with only two locations to play around in, it provides plenty of room for Upchurch to effortlessly showcase his talent in an explosion of blood splatter and visual gags.
Part 4 sees the welcomed return of the wonderfully envisioned Braga, the ruthless orc from Palisade’s Peaches guild, who leads the comical charge into battle against the giant troll and her average-sized cohorts. What ensues is some refreshingly entertaining moments courtesy of Wiebe’s natural comedic timing, and Upchurch’s knack for visual storytelling.
“Rat Queens” is destined for comic book greatness, and knows how to sink its bloodthirsty hooks into the growing fandom without succumbing to the over-exhausted and widely problematic tropes prevalent in most Fantasy fiction and art today. This cannot be stressed enough: “Rat Queens” is fantastic, and you should be reading it.
Note: The creative team is now incorporating a letters column into the books, so kindly direct your love and support to this email address: theratqueens@gmail.com
4/5 Skulls
Review 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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