Comics
[Comic Review] “Arcadia” #2 Sweeps You Up In A Grand World
“Arcadia” #2 quickly expands upon the already at critical mass premise of the first issue by introducing a heaping plate of new concepts, conflicts, and characters to both the virtual Arcadia and The Meat. While it occasionally confounds, “Arcadia” sweeps us along in a grand narrative of conspiracy and imagination in a world so completely conceived it warrants consideration for what might come to be in our own future.
WRITTEN BY: Alex Paknadel
ART BY: Eric Scott Pfeiffer
PUBLISHER: BOOM
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: June 3, 2015
Probably the best thing about “Arcadia” is how entirely “fleshed out” it appears to be. Like the greatest dystopian sci/fi stories, “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “Brave New World”, the details of time and place make the world of the story seem so real part of the reason you come back to it is just to live in that world. “Arcadia” is a rare immersive experience because you don’t have to fill in any of the gaps yourself. It has the acceleration of an international thriller, ping-ponging us around as mysteries develop and factions are exposed, and it has a sense of scale that feel like an entire world.
At one point it feels as though there might be too much intrigue stuffed into this issue. At which point we get to Coral and the Homesteader in the park I started to feel little overloaded with new ideas. By my second read through I thought I had a pretty good grasp on everything that was happening, but there is a lot going on and if you have to reread some pages you aren’t alone. I’m torn on whether this is a good or bad thing, as I find it not to be terribly uncommon with some of the high concept books I’ve read lately (“Material”, “Injection”, and “Intersect” come to mind) and whether the author can be faulted for writing at too high of a reading level or including too many new concepts too close together. It may alienate some readers, but then, the author may not be interested in the readers after all. If we assume the goal of every book is to sell as many books as possible, it may it that case be a bad thing. Personally this level of writing only hurts the book in my opinion when it comes across as pretentious or intentionally highbrow, which “Arcadia” does not.
Alice tells Lee that his immunity is a “miracle giftwrapped in barbed wire”. That is a description that applies to this book in many ways. Living comes at the price of inhospitable conditions and agonizing loneliness. You might live in a utopia world of endless possibilities where you can live forever, but the cost is first dying a horrible death. There’s a price for everything Arcadia and two sides to every coin. If this series can continue to walk the line between introducing fresh ideas and overloading us with concepts I imagine it will turn out to be a remarkable story.
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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