Comics
Review: “The Woods” #3
“The Woods” #3 fish-out-of-water cosmic horror story continues to chug along at a decent pace this month. All of the conflicts set up in the first two issues are beginning to take shape now. We’ve got two distinct storylines; Maria and her struggle against the oppressive and clueless school faculty juxtaposed against Adrian’s ragtag adventure group exploring “The Woods” in search of answers.
WRITTEN BY: James Tynion IV
ART BY: Michael Dialynas
PUBLISHER: BOOM! Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: July 2, 2014
Reviewed By: Torbin Chimners
Now incarcerated within her very own school, Marie has her hands full. The principal is just a puppet preaching the gospel of Coach Clay. He’s aiming to rule this school like a totalitarian regime with the jocks as his personal army. His true motivations are still fuzzy at this point; it seems he making this power play now because of a twisted ideal of what’s right or to capture a glory he never could in his past life on Earth. Either way brutality is already creeping its way into the school, which is sure to become a warzone in coming issues.
On the opposite side of the spectrum are the free kids comprising Adrian’s expedition. They’ve got much more immediate, life threatening, concerns. Their story picks up promptly in the middle of the chase that started last issue. The kids are close to being torn limb from limb by the fluorescent green alien bear-dog and if that wasn’t enough Calder’s arm isn’t looking much better.
Both of these groups are heading in such different directions. The school is clearly the stronger plotline right now with Coach Clay in a position to do some real damage. It’s the ultimate high school nightmare of your teacher’s suddenly and forcefully taking real charge of your life. It’s tense and unsettling even more so than the group in the woods. Sure, Adrian’s group in the woods have a fair amount of physical threats but those aren’t as engaging to read about as the sociological and political threats Maria is facing.
The art is at its best with Adrian’s group. Michael Dialynas really gets to let go on this fantastical and florescent other world. The perfect blend of familiar and alien bring the woods to life in a way the school just can’t compare. Not to say the school looks bad, far from it. It’s just by virtue of being a familiar setting that it’s not as spectacular.
The Woods #3 is going through some growing pains but the overall creative concept is still incredibly promising. This is a book that’s either going to blossom or putter out in the next few issues. I’d like to see where it’s going but at this point I’m still not 100% sold.
Torbin Chimners AKA Torin Chambers is a rad dude from the nineties who does film stuff or something. Thomas the Tank Engine is his favorite transformer. Find him on Twitter@Vulgar_Rhombus
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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