Comics
Review: “Dream Thief: Escape” # 2
The flashbacks and killings continue to build up the mythos in “Dream Thief: Escape #2.” No one is ever truly alone, especially in the heads of past and present Thieves. This story really forces you to pay attention in all the good ways. Events shift around in the span of a nap. Sleep is dangerous here. How much? Let’s find out.
WRITTEN BY: Jai Nitz
ART BY: Greg Smallwood
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: 23 July 2014
Reviewed by: Your Friendly Neighborhood Brady
Ghosts can complicate everything in all the wrong ways. John Lincoln, our resident Dream Thief, thinks he’s got it all figured out. He taps into ghosts, gets revenge for their deaths and gains their knowledge at the same time. Explaining how and what Lincoln knows make it sound too boring. Reading and seeing it all in action is a much more fulfilling way to experience how the whole kit and caboodle jives.
This book is really well crafted. Creators Jai Nitz and Greg Smallwood are in sync with every aspect of the story. Each panel shows the right balance of pacing, expression, gruesomeness, and action as it needs to. The writing sounds like it’s from the here and now as well as in 1985 when it flashes back to his daddy’s Dream Thief exploits. As ghostly as the premise of this book is, there is such a big aspect of it all cemented in reality. I’m reminded of the early seasons of the TV show Supernatural in a good way. The reality of making back-up plans in case the prison break doesn’t work is a prime example.
Lincoln’s ghosts knew some shady folks and that comes in handy now and then. I can’t recall the last comic I read where sleep was a major Achilles heel for a hero. It does fondly bring to mind how the first series got me hooked. The Dream Thief always woke up in some serious trouble. Thankfully, Nitz and Smallwood haven’t forgotten how to throw curves into this familiar tale. Whoever wears that mask isn’t in control of their lives anymore and that looks like where some more havoc will come from. I recommend you sit down and enjoy this ride, good readers.
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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