Comics
[Comic Review] “Arcadia” #1 Is Massive And Engaging
“Arcadia” #1 is dense. Not overwhelmingly dense or dense in an intellectually superior kind of way, but there is a lot of world building happening in this first issue. I was immediately impressed by the scope and on my second pass enamored by how quickly skillfully we are introduced to such an unfamiliar Earth and an even more unfamiliar Arcadia. There is an impressive amount of grace and finesse as well as the promise of monumental things in this politically driven, post-apocalyptic scifi. If you aren’t sold on the premise, I encourage you to expose yourself anyway. The narration in this book is poetry, and the world we are introduced to is both thrilling and terrifying. “Arcadia” #1 is the best kind of something else.
WRITTEN BY: Alex Paknadel
ART BY: Eric Scott Pfeiffer
PUBLISHER: BOOM!
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: May 6, 2015
By way of Summary: A virus in the near future wipes out 99% of the world’s population. The survivors resurrect four billion souls in a utopian simulation called “Arcadia” in the hopes that a cure would be discovered. The real world, or “The Meat” is now wasteland where global politics seem to play out on an incredibly small scale. Our protagonist advises the President on her first trip inside “Arcadia” to address the extreme uptick in resources that the simulation has been using lately. We discover what life would be like without physical limitations or consequences and things are not at all what they seem.
Comparisons to “The Matrix” are unavoidable, but this is not a man vs. machine story or even a “what hath technology wrought” story, not yet anyway. This is a horror story, really. A depiction of something far worse than global extinction. “Arcadia” is an exploration into how far mankind might get to save itself, and its something you’ve really got to see for yourself.
Within Arcadia, this first issue starts to tread into psychological horror. Arcadia is hell that looks like heaven. It is the bindings of ultimate freedom. And it is a world where anything is possible yet we still squabble and play politics and resent each other. Arcadia is a kind of fun house mirror that I anticipate will only become more reflective as the series progresses.
Calling “Arcadia” existential would be the understatement of the century. Like the simulation itself, the book is an incredibly dark comment on humanity disguised as a thrilling sci-fi adventure. It is a path I encourage you to go down, but one you should not take lightly. I found “Arcadia” to be deeply disturbing, and I can’t wait to go back in for another taste.
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.