Comics
[Comic Review] “Invisible Republic” #1 – A Strong And Clever Debut Issue
There were a lot of things I expected when I started reading “Invisible Republic” #1. I kind of felt a Star Wars vibe coming from the cover and title, especially with the creative team’s history with Star Wars: Legacy, which is really its own unique variety of space epic. What I didn’t expect, however, was its strong ties to Camelot.
WRITTEN BY: Gabriel Hardman & Corinna Bechko
ART BY: Gabriel Hardman, Jordan Boyd
DESIGN BY: Dylan Todd
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: March 18, 2015
The story follows the aftermath of the Malory regime (a reference to Thomas Malory, compiler/author of Le Morte D’Arthur) as journalists try to find a story somewhere in the abject poverty the urban spaces have devolved into. As one reporter puts it, “the fall of the Malory Regime is hitting Avalon’s least fortunate the hardest.” But the locals aren’t interested in giving interviews to strangers looking to make a buck off of their misfortune, and even the journalists feel like they’ve “been through this kind of shit before. No need to pester the locals.” One among them, however, stumbles across some portion of the writings of Maia Reveron (Morgan le Fay?), cousin to Arthur McBride, as she relates who he was prior to politicking and how they ended up where they are now.
This book is filled with Arthurian easter eggs, and indicates that the creators have a close relationship with the original legends. It is, however, its own story, distinct and independent from that source material; this is not an Arthurian retelling that you’ve read before (trust me, I’ve read a few). The choice to update a classic and include political propaganda and futuristic spaces is a common technique, but not one I’ve experienced applied to this particular classic, and this book is working to find a good balance between its source material and the new content.
The greatest strength of this update is the art. Gabriel Hardman’s urban spaces combined with Jordan Boyd’s muted colors manage to convey something that is at once unknown and familiar, classic and futuristic, which is necessary for this book to succeed. The palette shift (as well as the lettering shift) that occurs with the flashback is bright and clean, and its contrast to the “modern” scenes point out just how far society has fallen; even when Maia and Arthur are poor, the sky is blue and the water is clear.
Not all of the Arthurian references are clear, especially to people who didn’t spend most of 4th grade avidly consuming every retelling they could get their hands on, and I’m not entirely sure where this story is going, but it’s strong and clever enough that I will absolutely be getting the next issue.
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Katy Rex writes comics analysis at endoftheuniversecomics.com, comicsbulletin.com, and bloody-disgusting.com. 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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