Comics
Review: ‘Enormous’ #2
‘Enormous’ #2 gets down and dirty this month to fuck America up. There’s no stopping the radical monstrosities that are assaulting us. They strike without warning, are near invulnerable and can disappear from view in moments. We’re losing hard and fast to a foe we didn’t know existed.
WRITTEN BY: Tim Daniel
ART BY: Mehdi Cheggour
PUBLISHER: 215 Ink
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: August 6, 2014
Reviewed By: Torbin Chimners
Beginning this month’s issue, we’re treated to a giant spiny lizard with six eyes rampaging through Phoenix, Arizona. The army is out in full force here, this isn’t some small rag tag group. So when the monster steamrolls through them like they’re children with peashooters we really get a sense of the threat the monsters pose.
You can tell Mehdi Cheggour is having a lot of fun with all of the mayhem and destruction during this opening. The splash page and double page spread are jaw dropping and awe inspiring. The level of carnage caused by the monsters is on full display. It’s stupendous.
Following the havoc caused in the opening we are whisked all across the states showing that things are terrible. This montage is framed as though someone is flipping through news channels, all reporting on similar attacks in different cities. It’s got a wide variety of cities, instrumental in making you connect with the story. Seeing and reading about one of the monsters erupting from the sea and crushing a ferry, killing all 1,100 onboard, in Seattle actually hit home and sucked me into the story that much more. I’ve been riding ferries all my life and as a small child I was terrified at the thought of a sea monster attacking us during a voyage, so to see it here was personally great for me. I’m betting that the news clips from other major cities will make these fictitious beasts seem a bit more real to others.
It’s horrifying; the stuff of nightmares, but even with this all-encompassing Armageddon Tim Daniel keeps us grounded with our protagonist, Ellen. She’s still reeling from the sudden and gruesome death of her mother last issue and is determined to not let that happen to her girlfriend Megan. I would’ve liked to have more Ellen in this issue. Now that the threat of the monsters has been thoroughly established, I’m excited for future issues to focus on her more.
‘Enormous’ shows no signs of slowing down or becoming dull anytime soon, if ever. Giant monster books are generally all spectacle and no substance, but ‘Enormous’ breaks that mold with stellar writing in addition to its dazzling spectacle. I can’t recommend it enough.
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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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