Comics
Advance Review: “Enormous” #1
“Enormous” is a monster movie within the frame work of a television show told through the freedom of the comic pages. Details of their origins are currently unknown but giant monsters from “a vast ecological cataclysm” have attacked us. Think Godzilla, but the size of a large bus and the look of a Frankenstein monster made from the world’s most horrific predators. Basically, they look fucking rad and could spell a gruesome end to our short time on this big rock. If that’s not enough, there is also a mysterious parasitic fungus that is turning humans into nothing more than vessels for an unknown, insidious purpose.
WRITTEN BY: Tim Daniel
ART BY: Mehdi Cheggour
PUBLISHER: 215 Ink
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: July 2, 2014
Reviewed By: Torbin Chimners
This first issue wastes no time building out its world. We’re given a quick blurb before the comic even begins that informs us that Earth is wrapped up in a worldwide crisis for food and fuel, (A fate we could potentially find ourselves in the near future.) Along with this all too real information, we also learn that massive beasts dubbed “The Enormous” have begun to appear. The first quarter of the book bounces us between multiple people in multiple locations, all centred around this new parasitic threat. It’s unclear if any of these people are characters that will matter within the series or if they’re just used for exposition.
Jumping ahead a year in the plot, we’re introduced to our protagonist, Ellen Grace who we spend the rest of the issue with. We’re not explicitly told a lot about her, instead we learn about Ellen through her actions. I’m intrigued and can’t wait to learn more about her. She’s a strong and engaging character. She’s reason enough to come back to “Enormous” with subsequent issues.
Mehdi Cheggour’s art is pretty damn interesting. The first thing it made me think of was A Scanner Darkly withit’s almost rotoscoped feel. It’s like someone took a series of keyframes from a rotoscoped film and arranged them as panels in a comic. Cheggour also makes great use of artificial lens flares that work perfectly in tandem with the already close to life art. My only gripe is that a couple of the faces look too similar. There were a couple moments that I was unsure who was who, but these were few and far between.
“Enormous” has hooked me. The way it’s presented as a television show, with the issues even being renamed as episodes, feels fresh and engaging. Compounded with the absolutely grotesque monster designs and an gripping female protagonist I’d say this is a series worth keeping on your radar.
Torbin Chimners AKA Torin Chambers is a rad dude from the nineties who does film stuff or something. Thomas the Tank Engine is his favorite transformer. Find him on Twitter@Vulgar_Rhombus
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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