Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: David Dastmalchian, Leah Kilpatrick
Artwork: Soo Lee
Lettering: Frank Cvetkovic
Release Date: 15th July 2026

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It is the year 2036. Two years ago, the world was almost completely overrun by an influx of monsters of every kind – zombies, vampires, killer clowns… you name it. With humanity all but wiped out, the surviving monsters came to an unexpected realisation: they still very much need humans, whether as livestock to feed upon or as workers capable of solving technical and engineering problems they themselves are ill‑equipped to handle.

In the opening half of this new Dark Horse Comics series from writers David Dastmalchian and Leah Kilpatrick, we follow a pair of monster… goblin… demon… things as they arrive in the Northern Territory with a spoiled freight train of human “cargo” that has expired en route due to a lack of ventilation and water. Monsters aren’t conditioned to think of such things, y’see. There’s an intriguing blend of humour and horror in these pages, with the bickering monsters being cruelly dispatched by a legitimately frightening shadow demon(?) named Orpheus Knox, a transport administrator with a zero‑tolerance approach to failure. In her own words: “If even one human lives outside of our control, it is a threat to us all.” High stakes indeed.

he latter half of the book, where we meet just such a human – a young child named Frankie – is almost entirely free of dialogue, immersing us in the tension as Frankie searches for food and clothing while staying one step ahead of the many, many threats to their safety. Bram Stoker Award–winning artist Soo Lee’s artwork does the bulk of the heavy lifting throughout, painting a rich world packed with interesting monsters, each with their own distinct personalities and aesthetics.

The sheer ambition here is what’s really exciting. A world completely overrun by a near‑limitless array of monsters is an incredibly fun sandbox to play in, particularly when you consider the social and political hierarchies that have sprung up between the various “factions” over the past two years. Frankie’s story provides a much‑needed human slant, letting us discover and explore this terrifying world through a pair of eyes not unlike our own. It’s going to be fascinating to see which one of a dozen different directions the creative team chooses to take things.

A post‑apocalyptic horror with a fresh angle and an intriguing blend of humour, drama, and tension, this is a strong offering from Dark Horse that begs for further exploration.

Rating: 4/5.

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[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]

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The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
Article Archive: Ceej Says
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