Comics
[Comic Book Review] George Perez’s “Sirens” #1 Is Confusing and Confounding
“Sirens” from George Perez with BOOM! Studios, certainly plays to their strengths. The colors are vivid, the character designs appealing, the protagonists mostly complex, strong, and female. However, it also jumps all over the known universe through time and mythology, completely unpredictably. If that sounds like a fun romp, I’m sorry, because while I find the concept delightful, in practice it’s a little confusing and off-putting. Any first issue of a serialized narrative has a lot to contend with, and chief among those is the challenge of introducing a fully fleshed out universe concisely so that the story can move on. In Sirens, this aspect of the storytelling feels rushed, jumbled, and hard to follow.
WRITTEN BY: George Perez
ART BY: George Perez
PUBLISHER: BOOM! Studios
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: September 17, 2014
Reviewed By: Katy Rex
Using a technique common in team comics, the issue starts with each team member in a different time/space, and follows some small slice of her life as she begins to encounter the/a Big Bad. And in many cases, this setup requires the audience to be patient and trust that it will make sense—and it is then the job of the story to reassure the audience that their trust is well-placed. In “Sirens,” every time something starts to make sense, the reality seems to shift just a little, so your assumptions are wrong and any understanding you had is gone. This doesn’t keep the reader on their toes, or introduce a charming lack of predictability, or create an aura of uncertainty in a way that is fun and eerie. It’s just confusing and convoluted.
The narrative starts by following an adventuring woman who is seeking (and who discovers) a dragon, with whom she can communicate. Then they’re in space, and then they’re in the old west, but the characters are different? Like I said, hard to follow.
I’m inclined to give this story more than one issue to make up my mind. I want it to be good. I love stories that are populated, largely, by strong and interesting female characters. I love the fusion of sci-fi and fantasy, I love the things-are-more-than-what-they-seem vibe. It’s a really pretty book with a really interesting premise. I’m hoping, with very little reason to hope, that this is just suffering from first-issue-itis, that next issue they’ll solve all the jumping around because the characters will be together, that next issue there will be enough of the universe established that the constantly establishing reality won’t be quite so jarring.
There’s a pretty good chance that issue #2 of “Sirens” could make issue #1 less confusing, less convoluted, less confounding. The problems I see with this issue aren’t unresolvable. But unless it starts taking those steps, this is not a comic I would recommend. If you’re thinking of picking it up, wait. Issue #2 comes out November 19th, and hopefully that’s when it starts to get good.
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Katy Rex writes comics analysis at endoftheuniversecomics.com, comicsbulletin.com, and bloody-disgusting.com. She also writes scholarly articles for various academic journals. She really likes butt jokes, dinosaurs, and killing psychos and midgets in Borderlands 2. She has a great sense of humor if you’re not an asshole.
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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