Comics
[Comic Review] “Burning Fields” #3 Builds Tension Like No Other Comic
“Burning Fields” #3 offers a handful of satisfying reveals. I’ve complained about the first two issues dropping us into the middle of conversations and dropping too many names and referencing too many events making it difficult to follow. Patience has rewarded and now I feel like I’ve got a grasp on the whos and whats of this book and I gotta say, I’m 100% invested.
WRITTEN BY: Michael Moreci, Tim Daniel
ART BY: Colin Lorimer
PUBLISHER: BOOM!
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: March 18, 2015
“Burning Fields” is a unique blend of noir, political thriller, and horror. In a way it feels like ideas got pulled out of a hat, but the execution is so on point that it is easy to get swept away and not get hung up on the oddness of it all. This issue stands out to me, as I said, for being the most accessible in the series. These killings are beginning to have a domino effect Kirkuk, Verge, and our protagonists and a new, uneasy alliance is formed between Dana, Aban, and Aban’s former cult associate Ghada. Just as some real progress is about to be made on the case, conflict erupts between Decker’s people and the locals. Emotions are running high on both sides since the murders started happening, and the tension surrounding the oil field is on the verge of erupting.
It is impressive to see how all of these factions and forces with their own motivations are coming together. For a serial killer book, “Burning Fields” is pretty grounded. There have been some not so subtle hints that things are going to take a turn for the supernatural (and I’m not even talking about that freaky-ass cover) and even though at this point I’d prefer it didn’t go that way, I trust these guys to do it in such a way that the book doesn’t lose focus or direction. I feel like my investment in the series has been earned.
It is difficult to find anything to critique here, but I will say that Dana’s Decker speech got a little melodramatic for my taste. In particular the page where we have a close up of her face on the left side of the page and her memories on the right. It was effective, but felt too derivative to me and it followed a high energy scene, making it seems like the issue was slamming on the breaks.
I’ve been praising “Burning Fields” all along and I think #3 is the strongest issue yet. There are a lot of serial killer books ongoing right now, but please don’t overlook this one. It offers something really unique that I think people should see.
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Eric Switzer is an aspiring filmmaker and screenplay writer living in Los Angeles. His work tends to focus on the lighter side of entropy, dystopic futures, and man’s innate struggle with his own mortality. He can be found on twitter @epicswitzer or reached via email at ericswitzerfilm@gmail.com.
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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