Comics
[Comic Review] “No Mercy” #2 Will Rip You Apart
Reviewed by Taylor Hoffman // @taylorcheckers
It’s the first night without 4G for most in the cast of teens in ‘No Mercy’, but posting to instagram is now lowest priority in terms of staying alive. Now stranded after their bus steers way off course and far from any sign of civilization, they literally can’t even at this point. Alex De Campi, Carla Speed McNeil, and Jenn Manley Lee turn a pre-Princeton service learning excursion to South America into a terrifying survival saga. Everything is amazingly dark in this second installment and things take an even deadlier turn for the worse almost every page. It’s up to Sister Ines to pick up the pieces and help everyone get through the night without anyone getting ripped to shreds.
Story By: Alex De Campi
Art By: Carla Speed McNeil
Colors By: Jenn Manley Lee
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: 5/6/2015
Price: $2.99
Each issue begins with a body count and already their failed party bus is down five members. Only Sister Ines and nine of the teenagers remain and it’s no secret that fewer will return each issue. Unlike the first issue that was almost obnoxiously bright and bubbly, proving how especially annoying privileged American teens often are when only communicating in emoji, this issue is near pitch black. High SAT scores aren’t keeping them very warm and morale is dwindling as the cold sets in.
Everyone has their specific role to play in this Lord of The Flies reboot and De Campi crafted an excellent range of players, though “The Quiet Kid” is still a mystery. With her face splattered with blood, Gina, the sweetest and most naive girl on her first time “trip” outside of Michigan, tries to rally spirits by singing the third worst song from Frozen. The twins, Chad and Charlene, attempt to stash away the secret briefcase full of cocaine and find a severely wounded Kira among the rubble. This is where the hints of gore and horror that De Campi does so well begin to seep out –– Sister Ines needs to reset Kira’s bone and the next few pages delight in this chilling event. It’s only a preview scene of the blood that the territorial coyotes draw, but it’s one damn shuttering scene. Equally troubling is Tiffani’s attempt at taking care of the very unconscious Lily, who’s obviously her best friend. From them we get the true desperation of just wanting to go home, and that this reality is far too real to handle. Even though these were all kids that irritated me so much in the first issue, I feel pretty deep sympathy for the majority of them now that everyone’s in the same life-or-death situation. Those panels of Tiffani weeping helplessly and singing cute Japanese songs to comfort her dying friend hits hard, and McNeil really puts those emotions to work in these close up panels with faces illuminated by a common flame. Of course, it takes one idiot to ruin even that and make everything even worse by basically inviting flesh eating beasts to a buffet. It’s at this point where this comic really digs into the meat of the story. As soon as the light goes out, the devilish coyotes swirl out of nightmarish nowhere and showing… no mercy.
There’s so much to love about No Mercy, especially how much it plays with the classic horror tropes. It’s a pretty common idea to have a bunch of teens get lost in killer woods, but there’s something special about this one that feels more creepy than scary. There’s more waiting out there in the dark, of course. Who will die next, and how? Will there be werewolves? Will there be drug rings on the lookout? Where are the twins? Why does Chad have to be so mean to Charlene?
Even if you’re not a fan of horror or typically scary things, No Mercy is more than worth checking out. It’s surprising how effective good coloring of a mangled bus can be to scare the hell out of someone.
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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