Comics
5 Skull Review: “Dark Ages” #1
“Dark Ages” #1 is phenomenal. I loved it, from the wordy start, to its juicy, action-packed center, all the way to its awe-inspiring finale.Don’t keep yourself in the dark ages, buy this book and let it light up your life. Now I’ve gotta write about 350 more words to complete this review, but they’re all about how superb and what an extraordinary treat this book is.
WRITTEN BY: Dan Abnett
ART BY: I.N.J Culbard
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: August 13, 2014
Reviewed By: Torbin Chimners
Dan Abnett, who you should all know of now in a post “Guardians of The Galaxy” world, writes “Dark Ages.” He’s one half of the writing team that brought us the Guardians we know today. Abnett is joined by I. N. J. Culbard who rocks the powerhouse of artist, letterer and cover artist, the two have collaborated in the past on “The New Deadwardians.”
The book picks up near the tail end of the Dark Ages. We follow a group of mercenaries led by the morally questionable Hawkherst. His inner thoughts narrate the opening pages, telling us of his thoughts on God and War. His perspective on the world around him is incredibly engrossing. The manner in which he speaks of war is very cavalier; he sees it as a means to support himself and his men.
War is when his kind prosper, kings and princes always want to wage war and he’s more than happy to take their coin. Him and his men think of God in an interesting and refreshing way. They don’t want to owe him anything, believing that praying for a miracle of God would then put them in his debt.
It has all the makings of a great swords and shields medieval adventure. It could have continued down that road and still been a great time but then something happens. Something extraordinary that has me beyond jazz’d for the future of “Dark Ages.” I dare not spoil it here but just know that this is a fundamentally different book at the end than it is at the start.
“Dark Ages” #1 wasn’t even on my radar when it was plopped on my lap to review. I would have probably passed it by in the comic store and never given it a second thought. That is not what the book deserves. It demands to be read and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to push it on everyone I know.
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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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