Comics
5 Skull Review “Shutter” #4
A childhoods worth of fantastical creatures and inventions grow up in a world that’s morals aren’t black and white, but shades of grey. That’s the amazingly creative world of “Shutter.” This month the story takes shape with the seemingly random events from previous issues coming together, but come with heaping spoonfuls of intrigue and mystery.
WRITTEN BY: Joe Keatinge
ART BY: Leila De Duca
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: July 9, 2014
Reviewed By: Torbin Chimners
Issue four begins with an excellent short story revealing the background of a character introduced last issue. It’s told in a totally different style to the norm, but perfectly fits the story it’s telling. It’s formatted like I imagine comics looked in the 1920’s. Last month’s issue #3 opened in a similar fashion telling the story of issue #2’s cliffhanger, albeit with an absolutely brilliant Busy Town reference. I’m hoping this is a new trend that’ll continue as it’s a marvelous way to open a book.
Shawn and Ekland’s side story stands strong on its own. Ekland brings Shawn to Mikey, a smoking platypus who operates out of an alley with a fax machine. If that’s not something you want to read about, I don’t think we can be friends. In past issues I wasn’t overly interested in their side story. Not that it was bad, I was simply salivating so much for more of Kate’s story that nothing else mattered much. Now I’m equally anticipating both. With the world around Kate being a bit more whimsical and relatively safe for now, I’m genuinely excited to see Shawn and Ekland dig into the exceedingly violent and filthy underbelly of this astonishing world.
Visually you’ve got the whole package and then some here. The sheer amount of detail on each page is staggering. The characters are as expertly rendered as the background. Nothing looks phoned in, it’s a labor of love and you can damn well tell. The more you think about it the more impressive it is. The characters don’t all wear the same tights every issue and most of them are extraordinary creatures but Shutter’s art never suffers.
This is why I read comics. It’s a wondrous story that can only be told through this wonderful medium. If it were a film or television show the cost would be astronomical. That would mean there would be a million fingers in its pie, deluding, twisting and corrupting everything that makes it magical. Do the creativity in your life a favor and read “Shutter.”
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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