Comics
Review: Clive Barker’s “Next Testament” #10
As the tension mounts and the suspense builds to a crashing halt, “Next Testament” #10 is a thrilling read that will leave you breathless by the end page. So much heart and passion has been put into the characters to make them feel alive. With its mix of shocking scares and twisted black humor, each issue of “Next Testament” continues the can’t miss event.
WRITTEN BY: Clive Barker and Mark Miller
ART BY: Haemi Jang
PUBLISHER: Boom! Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: June 18, 2014
Reviewed by Jorge Solis
The final battle between good and evil will take place inside the Roman Colosseum, a place where gladiators fought to the death. While the rest of the world his falling into Hell, Tristan and fiancée, Elspeth, have finally reached their destination in Providence. Surrounded by ancient books written in different languages, Tristan and Elspeth have to find the right words that can put a stop to Wick’s reign of terror. With the clock ticking, do the lovebirds have any hope left in defeating Wick?
Clive Barker and co-writer, Mark Miller, focus on the themes of love, spirituality, and faith in the character arcs. Because his father abandoned him, Tristan has never had anything to believe in until he met the love of his life. Though he doesn’t believe in a higher power, Tristan has faith in his unconditional love for Elspeth. With doomsday quickly approaching, the lovebirds hold each other’s hands while searching desperately for help against Wick.
Even when the tone is at its bleakest, Barker and Miller throw in some laugh-out-loud comic relief to ease in the suspense. The world is coming to an end and yet there are characters who still have time to deliver the most hilarious one-liners. On their previous road trip, The lovers have met the best and worst in humanity. The way Tristan feels for Elspeth is exactly how a loving mother cares for her young daughter.
Artist Haemi Jang captures Wick recreating the entire universe in these surreal shots. The entire world is spinning around, as if being sucked into the abyss, and the floor below Wick’s feet is shattering into pieces. It’s interesting how the smoke coming off of Wick’s supreme body is shaped to look like a hand. To imitate the camera shaking, Jang uses motion blur to capture that earthquake feeling in the climatic pages.
These those moments of genuine emotion between the characters are irresistable. Jang illustrates the lovelorn looks on Tristan’s face when he stares directly at his fiancée. It’s adorable how Jang drew a little girl coloring the Bible with a crayon. With the story is at its darkest, Jang throws in something visually uplifting.
“Next Testament” #10 ends on a shocking cliff-hanger that will get the reader hyped up for the last two issues. I cannot wait to be there for the exciting conclusion.
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.