Comics
5 Skull Review: “The Wicked + The Divine” #1
A gorgeous book cover to cover, with rich colors, and a wildly imaginative premise that will hold from page one Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s “The Wicked + The Divine” is not to be missed. It defies high expectations and manages to surprise on almost every page.
WRITTEN BY: Kieron Gillen
ART BY: Jamie McKelvie
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: June 18, 2014
The opening pages of this comic will have you captivated. Gillen and McKelvie continue their trend of playing with comic paneling to create a more dynamic pace. There are panels that are left filled with large numbers, or entire pages devoted to a human skull. But everything is done with a masterful sense of purpose.
Quickly the book hooks its simple premise by blending musical culture with Gods. The attribution of deity like status onto musical icons is reality here. They are gods, and they are treated almost the same way. Gillen’s script uses razor sharp dialogue to quickly introduce the expectations of a fan and the tongue in cheek manor in which these beings refer to themselves. We’re easily brought into this world and made to think we know how it works.
McKelvie takes Lucifer and makes the abominable creature into a slick Bowie wannabe with style to spare. His work is marvelous throughout and manages to even make pages of dialogue pop off the page. His character work is absolutely stunning. His thick lines give way to vibrant creations that look incredibly real.
What’s more is that he can cut a page with whatever paneling he likes and manages to make the entire thing radiate. When Lucifer confronts her attackers, the symmetry on the page is a stunning visual orgasm. Holy hell. And the raw displays of Lucifer’s power and exemplified by Matthew Wilson’s phenomenal color, honestly, he may be the best colorist in comics right now. He doesn’t miss a single beat here, his vibrant and neon soaked colors are irresistible.
The issue easily introduces the core premise of the book thanks to an outside being sheparded in and a nonbeliever making an ass of themselves. It even manages to flip the core of its premise by the end of the final page and leave you fearful for the future of the characters. Amidst the incredible stakes weird godly reincarnations lies incredibly sharp dialogue and relatable characters that create the core of the book.
Which is a deconstruction of modern myth laid out for a new century of creatives and layabouts who’d rather worship than create. The very creatures of myth that Gillen and Mckelvie have created on these pages will surely propel the team into a godlike status of their own. This is a first issue pulled off with incredible confidence and mastery, it’s irresistible and all consuming. It’s your new obsession.
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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