Comics
[Pre Order This] Black Mask Studios’ Entire March Lineup
There is something you need to understand about the indie comics you love: they live and die by the preorder system. Usually when I do this article I touch on one or two titles that should earn your cash before they even hit the stands, but this time I’m here to make a broad call for support because each of these titles sound phenomenal.
Black Mask Studios is a new comics publisher that specializes in transgressive storytelling. Each of their titles use the medium to its full effect and offer compelling stories you really can’t find anywhere else in the comic shop. After a wave of releases last year, like the incredible Ballistic, and Godkiller they are coming back in March with a collection of new titles. Find out why you should preorder them right here:
Mayday #1
Diamond code: JAN151091
Writer: Curt Pires
Artist: Chris Peterson
Cover: Chris Peterson
SRP: $3.99
MR, Color, 32 pages, monthly
A washed-up, drug-addicted screenwriter and a transgender bartender stumble onto a Satanic cult’s plan to sacrifice people all across LA (geomapped in the form of a pentagram, of course) and bring on armageddon. As our intrepid, damaged heroes embark on a suicide mission to stop the crazy cultists, even they wonder if this is all really happening or if they’re just plain batshit crazy. Probably both.
The latest project from the mind of white hot scribe Curt Pires (POP) sees him teaming with art sensation Chris Peterson (Grindhouse) for a story that cuts to the very center of Hollywood mythology and depravity itself.
Curt Pires has proved himself a young Grant Morrison-esque storyteller. Something tells me the surreal horrors of this comic will burrow deeply into your psyche.
Space Riders #1
Diamond code: JAN151092
Writer: Fabian Rangel Jr.
Artist: Alexis Ziritt
Cover: Alexis Ziritt
SRP: $3.99
MR, Color, 32 pages, monthly
From the galactic core to the outer quadrants, one name strikes terror in the hearts of evil beings everywhere: THE SPACE RIDERS
Sailing the cosmos in the Skullship Santa Muerte, Capitan Peligro and his fearless crew deal harsh justice to the scum of the galaxy while searching for the forbidden truths of the universe!!
Fabian Rangel Jr (Doc Unknown) and Alexis Ziritt (The Package) bring you a new and exciting space adventure that will DESTROY YOUR BRAIN! (in a good way)
This comic will likely melt everyone’s minds once it hits shelves. I can’t imagine a better person to do it than Fabian Rangel JR, who is a writer that will be on everyone’s pull lists by the end of the year.
We Can Never Go Home #1
Diamond code: JAN151093
Writers: Matthew Rosenberg & Patrick Kindlon
Artist: Josh Hood
Covers: Michael Walsh
SRP: $3.99
MR, Color, 32 pages, monthly
A well worn mixtape, a stolen convertible, a duffel bag full of cash, a fully loaded .45, and super-powers. 17 and on the run is the only way to see America right.
Navigating the halls of high school is never easy. And for teenage outcast Duncan and popular girl Madison things are even harder. They share a secret- they can do things other people can’t. But their abilities and need for secrecy take them down a dangerous path. A blend of crime road stories like True Romance & Badlands, We Can Never Go Home is a new chance to fall in love with the doomed misfits and dreamers who set off to find something bigger.
The debut creator-owned book from writers Matthew Rosenberg & Patrick Kindlon (12 Reasons To Die, Ghostface Killah’s new LP 36 Seasons) and artist Josh Hood (JLA: Scary Monsters, Venom).
Matthew Rosenberg is a tour de force. He’s easily one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met, and he’s tapped into a very emotional and provocative type of storytelling, “We Can Never Go Home” will be his masterpiece.
Godkiller #4
Diamond code: JAN151090
Writer: Matt Pizzolo
Artist: Anna Muckcracker Wieszczyk
Cover: Ben Templesmith
SRP: $3.99
MR, Color, 32 pages, monthly
Godkiller returns for the second half of the beloved ‘Walk Among Us’ arc beginning with issue 4, where Tommy meets notorious bounty hunter Soledad and commences his training in the mysterious arts of quantum-physics-based magic.
Godkiller has grown in notoriety and fandom since issue 1 debuted in October, this is a perfect jumping on point since issue 4 will street alongside the first trade collecting issues 1-3 (100+ pages since two issues were double-sized) also dropping in March.
Don’t sleep on this unique series that earned sleeper hit status when stores demanded reprints of #s 1 & 2 and #3 topped Diamond’s Advanced Reorder Charts.
Godkiller is one of the best comics I’ve ever read, bar none. Don’t miss it.
Ballistic, Volume 1
Diamond code: JAN151088
Writer: Adam Egypt Mortimer
Artist: Darick Robertson
Cover: Darick Robertson
SRP: $14.99
MR, Color, 132 pages
Darick Robertson (Happy, The Boys, Transmetropolitan) and Adam Egypt Mortimer’s madcap, psychedelic, transreal buddy adventure about Butch and his best friend Gun, a drug-addicted, genetically-modified, foul-mouthed firearm, as they attempt to elevate Butch from air conditioner repairman to master criminal in the twisted, post-eco-apocalyptic Repo City State, a reclaimed trash island built entirely from DNA-based, living technology with bad attitudes.
That’s my quote right above Grant Morrison. That should say it all. My favorite comic of the last few years, maybe ever.
Godkiller, Vol 1: Walk Among Us, Part 1
Diamond code: JAN151089
Writer: Matt Pizzolo
Artist: Anna Muckcracker Wieszczyk
Cover: Ben Templesmith
SRP: $9.99
MR, Color, 128 pages
Fallen gods, weaponized orgasms, and quantum physics-wielding technowizards collide in Pizzolo and Wieszczyk’s beloved modern classic about a teenage orphan named Tommy and an escaped slavegirl named Halfpipe who travel through a post-nuke wasteland in search of a new heart for Tommy’s dying sister.
The sleeper hit of 2014, Godkiller’s devoted following has grown larger and more fanatical since its debut in comic shops in October. Collecting issues 1-3 here, this trade streets alongside issue 4 so the two books combined make for a great jumping on point as word spreads of this unique, grimy, beloved tale that is unlike anything else out there and on route to becoming a trilogy of animated feature films.
Now for the easy part. Just take the following form to your LCS and check off the titles you want, make your voice heard and make sure you get the titles you really crave before anyone else. Trust me, these are the comics to look out for in 2015.
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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