Comics
Review: “Shutter” #3
“Shutter” is finally getting to a place where I feel safe to jump on board. The course of each issue has drastically changed from month to month making it hard to feel like, as the reader, I am in trusty hands. What I initially thought would be an adventure comic featuring a strong but flawed female ex-world-explorer now feels very little about that at all. But if the comic stays the course after this week’s issue, I’ll definitely be along for the ride.
WRITTEN BY: Joe Keatinge
ART BY: Leila De Duca
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: June 11, 2014
Review By: Bree Odgen
Like I said, the first issue of “Shutter” was slower and focused on establishing a character profile for our heroine, Kate Kristopher. In a painfully bizarre out-of-the-blue twist, we are thrown into a fight between robots, anthropomorphic rats, and mobster cats. The shift from character building to world building was so insane that all the attributes felt out of place, misused. There was no organic lead into the new storyline so I got lost. Not until this month’s issue do things start to settle in.
The plot of issue #3 seems to appropriately shift focus to the two most interesting story elements thus far: the Mahees Lane Gang and Kate. More importantly, it sets out to start Kate down the rabbit hole of her family history. And it leaves us on a delightful cliffhanger, making us wonder if she’s safe even with the people she grew up trusting. At this point, you wonder if anyone is truly on her side.
Each issue of “Shutter” has a variety of storylines that are set apart via differing illustrations. While I love this type of storytelling in theory, the actual shifts in the story feel so abrupt and different that it pulls me out. I appreciate the boldness in this storytelling, but sometimes the boldness must give way to continuity.
The world-building is another sticking point for me. I’ll admit, I’m getting used to it, it’s starting to work. But overall I feel like there is no continuity in the world-building. Basically anything and everything can be and is anthropomorphized. The giant mobster felines mixed with steampunk robots were hard enough to blend together, but the pumpkinhead nurse was just not gelling with the others. I’m of the school of thought that even fantasy must have a rhyme or reason to it, there must be something relatable, and some element of it must be grounded in reality. Unfortunately I don’t feel that way with much of the “Shutter” world-building.
All-in-all I was excited about the main two storyline in this week’s issue and I think they makes comic worth checking out in the months to come. Given that this comic has drastically improved from even just last month’s issue, I’m excited to see where it brings us in the following issues.
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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