Comics
[Comic Book Review] “The Ghost Fleet” #3 Is A Glorious 80’s Tribute
“The Ghost Fleet” is back in the New Year with a vengeance, fully blossoming into the glorious 80’s action movie it is at heart. Now let’s be honest for a moment, if Ghost Fleet was an 80’s action film it’d be one of the fucking best. It’s had multiple set pieces that already fully encompass the definition of rad and it’s got an analog for Snake Plissken as a protagonist. If that’s not enough there’s also a lovable dog companion.
WRITTEN BY: Donny Cates
ART BY: Daniel Warren Johnson
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: January 7, 2015
Reviewed By Torin Chambers
To get serious for a second “The Ghost Fleet” has genuinely likable characters who feel real and make you care while also being badass action stars. All wrapped up by mysteriously intriguing secret society who would normally have no right being a part of something that also has semi’s exploding through the air as the protagonist walks away with his back to it smoking a cigarette. Somehow Donny Cates juggles it all without fumbling.
This month’s issue tells a more centralized and contained story of Trace stealing from the Ghost Fleet. More specifically the precious cargo that “The Silhouette” (secret society) has tasked Roland Cohle with transporting whom in turn tasked Ghost Fleet with. Trace does it all with the skill and style of a genuine cool guy. This consequently puts Robert is hot water with Cohle.
Besides limited interaction with Cohle there isn’t much from that fancy pants secret society introduced last issue, which I think is a great move. I’ve seen it numerous times before where a serialized story drops a few bombs about things bigger than our protagonists then slowly trickles those details out over a long period of time. Those bigger background bombs can often times eclipse what the characters are currently dealing with and make their regular struggles boring and unfulfilling. This is not the case at all with Ghost Fleet, the society is still there upping the stakes but the main action isn’t lessoned for it. If anything it’s been enriched, both play into each other creating a balance that I’m really digging.
Ghost Fleet is a fun and rewarding read, every issue is a satisfying affair that leaves you wanting more. If it was a film Michael Bay would direct it and ruin it, which is why comics are amazing and it’s flourishing under Donny Cates and Daniel Warren Johnson’s capable hands.
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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 @TorinsChambers
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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