Comics
Review: ‘Juice Squeezers’ #4
Kids squashing bugs is always fun. Growing up near forests and mountains, my summer times always made it a necessity or the horse flies and mosquitoes would eat you alive. Imagine that but these critters are the sizes of dogs, deer, and buses. The Great Bug Elevator comes to a crashing and squishy conclusion in “Juice Squeezers” #4. Everything literally falls apart in spectacular fashion.
WRITTEN BY: David Lapham
ART BY: David Lapham
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: 2 April 2014
These bug-stomping tweens are scrambling from start to finish of this finale issue. Weapons of all shapes and sizes are brought out to stop the worst infestation of all time from spreading topside in the town of Weeville. The new kid Billy is cleverer than his friends gave him credit for and comes prepared for anything. Creator David Lapham has done a tremendous job wrapping up this fun mini-series while leaving enough bread crumbs for fans to come back and find down the road.
The muted color scale by Lee Loughridge is great too. The emphasis of the yellow insides of the various giant insects really highlights how gross this would be but makes it light and not horrific at the same time. Lapham’s artwork isn’t too overly detailed and isn’t too simplistic. It’s just right for the feel of this light-hearted but still kind of a monster movie. I am pleasantly reminded of the classic Monster Squad and other 1980s classics as I read this series.
David Lapham has made a kid-friendly book which seems to be rare nowadays. I’m seriously going to consider using this book to teach English to some of my students in my day job. It’s eye-catching enough to keep them interested. The story isn’t too overwrought so it’s easy to follow. And, like every good storyteller, there’s enough left to explore in the next story. I sincerely hope Juice Squeezers pops back in the not-too-distant future. I think this book can be a great gateway into this wonderful world we all know and love called comic books.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by: Your Friendly Neighborhood Brady
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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