Review – Dark Spaces: Dungeon #2 (IDW Publishing)

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artwork: Hayden Sherman
Colours: Patricio Delpeche
Lettering: AndWorld Design
Release Date: 13th December 2023

The first issue of Scott Snyder and Hayden Sherman’s Dark Spaces: Dungeon laid out a haunting premise with a family making a truly terrifying discovery in the woods near their recently purchased New Hampshire home. Namely, a mysterious underground “dungeon” scrawled with a chilling message: “TELL ANYONE AND YOU AND YOURS ARE NEXT.”

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what retired app designer Tyler chose to do, reporting his discovery to the authorities and drawing the attention of Agent Ali Madoc, a fiercely motivated detective who barely managed to escape from one of these very same dungeons almost 21 years ago, and who has made it his life’s mission to track down the twisted jailer – dubbed “The Keep” – ever since. Unfortunately, The Keep’s warning turned out to be well-founded, with a threat being delivered to Tyler and his family at the end of the opening chapter: “You shouldn’t have done that. I’ll be seeing you soon.”

If you’ve been paying attention to the Big Comic Page over the last year and a half, you’ll have likely seen me singing the praises of IDW’s Dark Spaces, a standalone anthology series curated by Snyder himself that has delivered several finely-tuned, character-focused drama and horror books. And for my money, “Dungeon” deserves a place right near the top of that list despite only having two issues released so far, providing yet another thrilling character drama and a fresh take on several established tropes.

Snyder has a lot of fun playing with the tension levels throughout the course of this issue, gradually building them up before suddenly deflating them, constantly playing with the reader’s emotions as we wait for the inevitable to happen. And when it finally does, it hits like a sledgehammer, with both Snyder and series artist Hayden Sherman ripping the heart out of Tyler’s family in one jaw-dropping splash page cliffhanger.

I mentioned this in my review of the first issue, but it’s genuinely fascinating watching Sherman’s artistic style continue to evolve. Far from the scratchy, chaotic style that I fell in love with on the likes of Cold War, About Snakes and Wasted Space, this is a far more measured and controlled approach, letting the various emotional beats land softly throughout the course of the issue. It’s every bit as effective though, and Sherman’s expressive characters and cinematic layouts really help to bring Snyder’s script to life.

Speaking of which, the character development here from Snyder is fantastic, giving us a little more insight into Agent Madoc’s childhood ad the events that brought him to this point, while simultaneously helping us get to know Tyler a little more as he desperately tries to keep his family safe. As I mentioned before, some of the tropes are still certainly familiar here, but the fresh eyes of both Snyder and Sherman breathe some real life into this chilling tale.

While it perhaps doesn’t have the same shock factor of the first issue, there’s absolutely no doubt that Snyder and Sherman are crafting something truly memorable here, and if you’re a fan of slow-burn ing psychological horror with a sickening hook, I truly can’t recommend this series highly enough.

Rating: 4.5/5.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]