Comics
[5 Skull Review] “Intersect” #5 Will Break You
At the end of this issue there is a “previously on” block that you would normally find at the beginning of the issue. I must admit that I’ve been relying on these recaps to figure out what the fuck I read in the previous issue. Here is what this one says:
The story so far: You are reading a monthly comic book called “INTERSECT”. The story seems deliberately obtuse and difficult to decipher, like a cipher. But there’s something about it, and about you, that keeps you reading. You experience it, and you hold on to it. Part of you is hoping that it will come together in the end, that there will be a moment that makes you say, “Ah, it all makes sense now.” Another part of you knows that would only disappoint you. You live in a world that makes no sense whatsoever”
WRITTEN BY: Ray Fawkes
ART BY: Ray Fawkes
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: March 25, 2015
I’m tempted to just leave it at that, but I think this message itself is worth examining. By so accurately defining our experience and expectations as a reader, it becomes so clear how manipulated we are by the book. I don’t say that to be revelatory: after all art is by nature a manipulation, but I’ve questioned for some time where Fawkes is coming from with “INTERSECT”. Is he a mad man letting out his demons? Does all this shit make sense to him? Or is he just fucking with us to see how long we’ll put up with this madness. Well the answer seems to be Fawkes is praying upon our innate desire to make sense of the world, to look for patterns and to reject what we don’t understand. Indeed, the experience of reading “INTERSECT” is one of the themes of the book. We hope it will all make sense in the end, but we also know we’d be disappointed if it did. The book doesn’t make sense. We don’t make sense.
Its lofty to be sure, and it isn’t for everyone. But with the inclusion of a letters column we can finally feel less alone with “INTERSECT”. Its interesting how after every issue I go to find what other people are saying about it because I’m so intensely creeped out every time, I don’t understand what I saw, and I’m looking for someone else that understands what I just went through. Its trauma, reading this book is traumatic and we keep reading it and looking for help and insight and trying to understand, and then doing it again. We don’t make sense.
Do I want to make sense of “INTERSECT”? Do I think there is a puzzle to be solved? I’m not really sure anymore. I’ve started to think that Ali or Jason or both of them did something really horrible to each other and that this is hell. Would I be satisfied to find out that that is what is going on here? Probably not, but I don’t know. I think “INTERSECT” broke me.
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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