Comics
Review: “Pretty Deadly” # 4
“Pretty Deadly” hits its stride. After two confusing issues of introductions the characters motivations are clearly in place and the main conflict of the story rears its ugly head. In retrospect Kelly Sue Deconnick and Emma Rios have done an incredible job layering all the reveals throughout previous issues. Which creates an incredibly rewarding reading experience this month. Don’t miss this issue.
WRITTEN BY: Kelly Sue Deconnick
ART BY: Emma Rios
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: January 22, 2014
“Pretty Deadly” remains a difficult book to review. For some the slower pace might dissuade them from reading on. For those with a little more patience, the read will be tremendously fulfilling, there is a deep history to this book that cannot possibly expose itself within one issue.
This is a story of jealously, love, destiny, and most importantly death. All things that are becoming abundantly more clear as the series progresses. The fantasy elements of the plot rise to prominence this month to clearly distinguish the characters reactions to the history we learnt last month. The result is a fast paced issue that dovetails every story beautifully in line for what will amount to be an incredible conclusion.
For all its wild characters, for all the wild stories, and for all the madness it appears there was one clear and distinct through line for everyone: Death. Death looms over everything in this book, and his appearance in this issue manages to deepen the world and provide Emma Rios with an incredible opportunity to strut her stuff.
Her work here is absolutely stunning. Her pencils are light and fleeting. When we first encounter Death. His lair is filled with tiny intricate details. The layering of which seems like it could topple at any moment. The entire book has a sense of being whisked away by the wind. Frail elements in this world truly bring her style to life. A butterfly’s wings are drawn with such fragility that they feel real. You want to reach out and touch them, but won’t for free of destroying its beauty.
“Pretty Deadly” didn’t have me at first. I was skeptical that the story would ever pay off and was worried that the plot was needlessly complicated. Now I see how wrong I was. The payoff in this issue is wonderfully simple in its execution.
Westerns are propelled by death. The death of a town, a lawman, or an innocent usually jump-starts the conflict. This book has made the effort to personify the unsightly creature to great effect. The result is a inescapable tenants of human nature. Even Death itself cannot be free from the power of love.
The supernatural elements concoct this unique stew in the western world that cooks to perfection in this issue. Everything is tightly crafted. Deconnick and Rios always knew where the story was going, they just weren’t afraid to take the time necessary to get there on their own terms. It’s a brave method of storytelling in this ADD – second screen infused world. This book is beautiful, heart wrenching, and action packed in all the right ways.
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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