Comics
[Comic Review] “Convergence” #0 Fails To Excite
DC Comics’ “Convergence” event begins now and I can’t for the life of me figure out why we needed this zero issue. If you want a weird over-expository justification for why Brainiac (cough-DC-cough) is doing whatever the hell he is doing this is the perfect book for you, but if you know the general gist of the event, then you’ll learn nothing new here.
WRITTEN BY: Jeff King, Dan Jurgens
ART BY: Ethan Van
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $4.99
RELEASE: April 1, 2015
The issue begins with Superman floating in space. He’s quickly greeted by Brainiac as we currently know him in the New 52 universe. The ultra smart AI tells Superman all about his master plan in coy and indirect terms. Superman acts like a melodramatic soap opera star. He keeps pining about his lost city of metropolis.
The most interesting plot point comes from Brainiac’s visual appearance. The villain keeps inexplicably morphing into his past selves as he shows Superman several contained universes. Each hero inside must prove himself or herself worthy in order to escape to the world of the New 52. Thus providing the impetus to rewrite DC continuity as they see fit.
Which was basically the same thing that we had going into the New 52. Just explain to me how Grant Morrison’s Batman Inc and Scott Synder’s Batman existed in the same time line. Please, try it. I dare you. It doesn’t make any sense.
In any event the zero issue is all set up. Really earning the title of a zero issue because next to nothing happens. In fact so little happens that you’d be better off reading the solicit to gain an idea of what’s going to happen next. Because for $4.99 this book doesn’t offer much in the way of value. It doesn’t spin the story in a new way, and it certainly doesn’t reveal some secrets about the event going forward.
I wish I could say Dan Jurgens and Jeff King’s script is a solid introduction to their event, but even that is haphazard. Superman speaks like a bewildered 1920’s debutant who’s been misplaced in time in space. I mean at one point he says “that explains your parlor tricks.”
The art is serviceable thanks to Ethan Van Sciver ability to bend time and space. It’s a solid reason to at least flip through the book. But even some of his panels are rough around the edges. They give the idea that he didn’t have a whole lot of time to finish the book once he got to the latter half and sadly it really shows.
So I guess I can only recommend this if you’re really hungry for Convergence and you really can’t wait until it actually starts next week. As with most other #0 issues not much of worth happens here. But if you want to see Superman deliver lines like “…my powers, wonky” then this is the book for you.
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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