Comics
[Review] “The Walking Dead” Episode 513, ‘Forget’
RIP Buttons. “Forget” was a mixed bag for me, as we see Sasha really coming into her own as a distinguished warrior. Michonne feeling a little lost in her new role, Darryl and Aaron bonding over tracking and Rick and Carol going back to being best pals.
There was something strange about seeing Abraham and Rosita arrive to a party. Both characters look stunned to be in front of the camera, and just don’t fit in. The party scenes didn’t really fit either. Reg come into the scene after a weirdly obsessive night watching the tapes of everyone. It didn’t seem like time well spent, or something a normal person would do.
Darryl longing to be at the party was a little bit of a heavy-handed metaphor, but it leading to a faint bonding moment with Aaron was lovely. When we arrived to Alexandria I really wasn’t sure how Darryl would fit in, and it turns out he wont. They need people outside on the front lines taking care of hunting, and making connections with new survivors.
As we continued to return to the party, almost all of the conversations felt horribly on the nose. We’ve had the theme handed to us before “look around, these people are your family now” but it never felt more forced than this awkward mixer. I get the idea of welcoming the newcomers into the city, but tonally these scenes were all over the place, and never really respected any of the characters. Everything felt forced, and well when the purpose is for everyone to mix, not a whole lot of mixing was being done. Or at least not in the forefront.
That being said, a drunk Abraham spouting off philosophical musings would be enough to carry the entire party. I could watch him talk in circles for hours or watching Sasha spin in circles as she starts to lose it. I get her dissonance. It makes the most sense for the situation our survivors have found themselves in. She’s so far removed from it, and in a way she’s in the right. Clinging to parties and the old way of living isn’t a comfort Alexandria can afford just yet.
The scene with Carol and the idiot bowl head kid, Sam, was the standout of the night. She is one sinister woman. The way she creeped into the kid’s psyche and destroyed his options was just stunning. I can’t imagine he’ll tell his mother any time soon, but when he inevitable does this will the rift that tears apart the new utopia.
Michonne hanging up her sword was a symbolic gesture of moving on. I imagine it won’t last for long, but for her this is a big deal. While I didn’t quite get the idea of Carol, Rick, and Darryl taking guns from storage to keep for their own. It was also really jarring to see Rick think about shooting Jessie’s husband. I don’t know if that was the intention but it sure seemed like it.
There’s a really great turn for almost everyone in this episode. Carol and Rick are comfortable with their new roles to play, but Darryl is the one who seems most committed to this new status quo. While the tone of the episode was a little too all over the place for my liking, and the final scene feeling completely devoid of context I was a little lost.
However, I am excited about where things head next. There is a lot of volatility on display here every week, and there is still the case of that etched “W” or was it an “M?” As we get closer to the finale, something tells me the hope instilled by Alexandria will soon be laid to waste.
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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