Comics
[Comic Review] Let “Material” #1 Was Over You
“Material” #1 is ambitious, it is not a book with a message, it IS a message. In this first issue alone Ales Kot explores a great many themes and social complexities that each could sustain their own graphic meditation (which feels more fitting a description than “comic book” for something as highbrow as “Material”) but together, this is a book about desperation, about fear and control, about communication and when it stops. “Material” inspires dialogue. As a critic my piece is to say “know what you’re getting into”. As an emotionally engaged millennial I urge you to allow “Material” to give you pause, and spread it around.
WRITTEN BY: Ales Kot
ART BY: Will Tempest
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE:$3.50
RELEASE: May 27, 2015
By way of story, “Material” #1 sets up 4 plot lines: a disillusioned professor longing for a time before “hyper-capitalism” and before we became one with our machines is contacted through email by someone claiming to be the first A.I., a drug addicted actress is recruited by a powerful director to make a atypical and mysterious kind of film, a black youth protesting police brutality in Chicago is arrested and, well, brutalized, and a middle-eastern man is having trouble assimilating after being released from Guantanamo Bay where he was held prisoner and tortured.
What connects these stories? They are all distinctly representing current social issues. They are all focused on an individual, a microcosm character that represents a group. They are not objective. Kot is delivering a pretty pointed perspective on these issues. Its hard to imagine where things are going at this point, but it is so uncommon for a comic book to say something that I have to encourage you all to be a part of this. Thankfully, Kot writes incredibly natural dialogue. Mark Waid, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Brian K. Vaughn, Scott Snyder, Ray Fawkes; the master write memorable character and remarkable stories that use universal themes to create emotional attachment to the stories. Kot is using the medium to speak directly to his audience. There are footnotes on almost every page offering connections to theorists and related essays and it seems evident you could spend a lifetime diving into conflicts and contradiction Kot is pointing at.
Fiona Duncan’s essay at the end really opens up one particular thread of this issue and makes it all a lot easier to digest, something I think new readers of Kot’s work will be turned off by; there is a significant intellectual barrier to entry. Kot is not writing for the lowest common denominator by any stretch, and the dialogue will be lost on a group of readers who or frustrated by their lack of understanding and feel that “Material” is deliberately over-academic. If you felt this way about the first issue, please stay with it. You don’t need to understand necessarily every reference to Thoreau or have seen the films of Godard and David Lynch to catch his drift. I say let it wash over you. Take in what you can and then ask someone to read it and talk with you about it. It will be good for you, I promise.
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.