Comics
Review: ‘Bad Blood’ #4
Jonathan Maberry’s “Bad Blood” is hands down, one of the coolest, freshest vampire stories on the market. Each month this comic gets more intelligent, more unique, and more exciting. With its brand new vampire mythology and hyper-real human elements, it’s a comic that stays with you long after you read it.
WRITTEN BY: Jonathan Maberry
ART BY: Tyler Crook
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: April 2, 2014
When last we saw our heroes, they had found their world-weary vampire hunter, Jonas Vale, via Craigslist and they began their journey in learning how to fight their foe. Issue #4 picks up mid-fight with Vale watching over, guiding, and ultimately stepping in to save Trick and Lolly.
Vale is the Mr. Miyagi of Vampire Hunting. He’s the strong, philosophical-type. He has all the information and skill to back it up. He’s not going to put up with any irresponsible, 21st century bullshit and Trick and Lolly are extremely lucky for it. Without Vale and his wise guidance, they’d be toast. Although the vampires can no longer safely feed on humans, Vale has had to step in several times to kill the vampires mid-fight.
We spend the majority of this issue watching our heroes train and it’s honestly super fun. There’s a certain amount of humor and heart in the training scenes. It’s like a really well done film montage. It swiftly moves us through a natural progression of the characters, taking us from sickly, drug-addicted kids to smart, strengthened adults ready to fight for something important. Maberry excels at character development. He writes the hell out of these characters, making it impossible not to care.
In true form for Maberry, he even excels at making us care about the villain. Not care FOR but care about. Lord Sturge is a fantastic villain. He’s exciting to watch on the page and interesting to get to know. Sturge is getting worse from his initial attack on Trick and the subsequent illness he’s inflicted with. He’s afraid to hunt which, as I’ve mentioned in earlier reviews, is truly the brilliance of this comic. The idea that a vampire’s very drive in life—to drink blood—is the one thing that will kill it is phenomenal.
Toward the end of this issue, we get to the real heart, Trick says, “Becoming strong is scary as hell. Facing vampires is easier.” Out of context, it sounds a bit cliché, I’ll admit. But in the world of Trick and Lolly, it’s heartbreaking and hits a nerve. I can only pray that Maberry explores this sentiment a little more in next month’s issue—the final issue.
The ending of this issue is so strong it makes me want to weep. Not out of sorrow but out of pure excitement. It’s one of those satisfying cliffhangers that makes you want to laugh like a maniac, it’s so good. Though I understand the need for this comic not to drag out forever, the fact that there is only one issue left leaves a little hole in my heart.
4.5/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Bree Ogden
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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