Comics
Review: “The Woods” #1
“The Woods” is James Tynion IV’s look at high school culture and man’s fear of the woods. It’s captivating, strangely vulnerable, and a total thrill ride start to finish. This is John Hughes by way of HP Lovecraft creating an ambitious coming of age story through the idea of cosmic horror.
WRITTEN BY: James Tynion IV
ART BY: Michael Dialynas
PUBLISHER: BOOM! Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: May 7, 2014
A whole high school is mysteriously transported to an alien forest. Amidst all kinds of teenage drama they have to decide whether or not to stay put, or if they push into “The Woods.”
James Tynion IV is no stranger to amazing storytelling. Hell, the dude is Scott Snyder’s protégé. So it should come as no surprise that he handles the heavy lifting of this debut issue with relative ease. He balances an insane ensemble cast, a ton of cosmic weirdness, and playfully establishes character conflict without missing a beat.
My main gripe with this first issue is the overabundance of dialogue. Most characters are introduced with a line or two that gives their motivations and character beats without requiring any more clarification. It’s clear to me that Tynion revels in the high school banter at play here. He uses playful quips and situations to ease us into the high school mentality. But, all too often he focuses far too heavily on these things rather than getting to the magic of the premise: the cosmic weirdness.
Michael Dialynas revels in the weirdness of horror and high school. Which I suppose are one in the same. He manages to draw the oblong bodies of the young protagonists with a certain weirdness that rivals the creatures lying in the mysterious forest. I wish I could spoil what designs lie for you in wait on these pages but honestly just go out and see for yourself. I’m blown away by what was accomplished here.
The superb use of color comes to define the creepy tone of the book. Everything is drenched in this thick otherworldly purple. It creates a perfect sense of general uneasiness that will get under your skin and leave you positively intrigued as to what’s going on. Which is the general crux of the series. What the hell is happening here? Where are we? And how did we get here? Although these questions are merely teased they provide a thoroughly fantastic backdrop to the adventure that will leave you really creeped out.
But more than that it’ll empower you. Imagine being a teenager with a fresh set of challenges ahead of you. I’d march in there in a second, probably to build a fort, but maybe to conquer some sort of alien life. Tynion will be sure to show us all sides of the predicament with his vast ensemble cast. This is coming of age with cosmic horror. The wait for issue two is sure to be agony.
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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