Comics
Review: “Red City” #2
Diving head first into the fray after last month’s debut issue, “Red City” #2 wastes little time before adding more complications into it’s heavily Noir influenced tale. More characters, more twists, and more of our hapless ex-cop hero getting beat up and shot at. Readers unfamiliar with the genre may need a flow-chart, but fans will eat up another installment of this tech-noir mystery.
WRITTEN BY: Daniel Corey
ART BY: Mark Dos Santos
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: July 9 2014
Review By: Ooknabah
First things first: If you have not read the first issue of Red City, there is a lot that will go over your head in the second issue. There is no real attempt to catch new readers up to the story thus far and while dialog does reference a few points from previous issues, ever readers of the first issue, myself included, will find themselves a little lost as to how all the pieces are supposed to fit together. Double crosses and various other intrigues are to be expected with this kind of story, and already the kid gloves are off.
This issue picks up directly from the events of the first one and thrusts our protagonist Cal through some well worn genre cliches: Being told off by a stern policeman, having a threatening meeting with one of the leaders of the various factions telling our hero to cease his investigations and even a couple of chases. How all of these things will eventually pay off remains to be seen, although they accomplish the bare bones of what is set out to be done. Sadly, while the noir elements of the story chug along, there is very little use of the Mars setting or futuristic technology in this issue: Sure, people are shooting lasers instead of bullets, but otherwise each of the beats play out pretty rote and one might like to see a few twists given the setting.
Dos Santos’ art remains perfectly serviceable, although the action feels pretty flat, with no real sense of danger or impact. This causes a couple of attempts at humor to fizzle out miserably, and overall makes the chases feel like filler, a feeling made worse by the flashback nature of the story: We know the main characters make it alive to later down the road, so why care when people attack them? In fact, that in medias res opening may prove to be a real liability to Corey’s story, and one hopes that the current storyline will catch up soon to put some real stakes into the action.
If you read the first issue, this one is more of the same with much of the same virtues and faults. So again, it is recommended for the fans of the tech noir, although patience is all ready wearing thin. The mysteries are currently either confusing or boring (The character Angel manages to reveal just enough about herself that I immediately lost interest in her) and while future issues may rectify those issues, there is still work to be done.
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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