Tag Archives: john lees

Vampire: The Masquerade comes to Titan Comics in November with Vampire: The Masquerade: Wake in Hate

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Titan Comics and White Wolf have announced a BRAND-NEW comic book series, exploring a new world within the universe of one of the most iconic tabletop role playing games, Vampire: The Masquerade! Vampire: The Masquerade: Wake in Hate #1 hits comic shops on the November 11, 2026. This new 4-part comic series brings on board a stellar creative team featuring award-winning writer John Lees with art by Tom Mandrake.

When a city on edge becomes a feeding ground, one vampire is sent into the chaos to uncover what’s really hunting amidst the protests.

In the shadows of a city on fire, the bloody feed on every screen has spilled into the streets. Amidst the turmoil, whispers spread of bodies drained in the chaos, killings too precise to be human. When suspicion falls on vampires exploiting the unrest, the powers that be turn to Silky, enigmatic owner of The Dutchman bar, to uncover the truth.

Vampire: The Masquerade: Wake in Hate #1 hits comic stores on the November 11, 2026. The series will consist of 4 issues, followed by a graphic novel collection releasing in April 2027. It features covers by Andrea Sorrentino, Seth Adams, Tom Mandrake, and Andrea Olimpieri.

Vault announces Darkest Dungeon, graphic novels based on the video game series by Red Hook Studios

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Vault Comics has announced that it will publish graphic novels based on the Darkest Dungeon series of games developed and published by Red Hook Studios.

Vault’s Darkest Dungeon graphic novels will be written by John Lees, and drawn by Maan House, working in close consultation with Red Hook Studios co-founder and Darkest Dungeon creative director, Chris Bourassa. Lees is known for his writing on acclaimed horror titles like The Nasty and Hotell. Meanwhile, House is known for drawing Dark Souls, based on the bestselling video game, along with other other horror titles like The Cemeterians.

Debuting in 2016, Darkest Dungeon is a gothic roguelike turn-based RPG about the psychological stresses of adventuring, co-created by Chris Bourassa and Tyler Sigman. Players recruit, train, and lead a team of flawed heroes against unimaginable horrors, stress, disease, and the ever-encroaching dark. Widely acclaimed for its gameplay and storytelling, and notorious among gamers for its difficulty, Darkest Dungeon is among the most beloved independent games of the last decade. In 2023, Red Hook Studios, published the sequel, Darkest Dungeon II, which received widespread acclaim.

Vault’s all-new graphic novels will tell a canonical story set in the universe of Darkest Dungeon, revealing new details and introducing new mysteries at the heart of the Darkest Dungeon core mythology. Vault’s Darkest Dungeon graphic novels will debut with a launch campaign on BackerKit. Pre-launch sign-ups are now live.

Vault Chief Creative Officer and co-founder, Adrian Wassel, will lead the project for Vault, alongside Vault VP of Special Projects and Crowdfunding, Der-shing Helmer, with Bourassa overseeing creative for Red Hook Studios.

Preview: Orla!

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Orla!

(W) John Lees (A) Sally Cantirino

ORLA! is a romcom/creature feature mash-up about a lonely woman struggling to navigate the Seattle singles scene while sometimes turning into a man-eating monster.

Orla Bard is an antique restorer, romance novel enjoyer and keen birder who has a secret. She is afflicted with The Ick, a monstrous entity dwelling inside her, who violently emerges whenever Orla feels too stressed, angry or afraid. She is unable to rid herself of this curse, and The Ick needs to feed, and so Orla has decided to use her powers to help other women by removing the worst men from the dating pool. But when she finally meets a guy she actually likes, and finally has a chance at a love story of her own, will she be able to keep her inner monster under control?

Orla!

Preview: Orla! #5

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Orla! #5

(W) John Lees (A) Sally Cantirino (C) Dearbhla Kelly (L) Lucas Gattoni

You are cordially invited to the Valentine’s Day wedding of Harriet and Josh. Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace. Orla Bard might have a few things to say. As her two lives collide, can Orla protect those she cares about from the carnage of The Ick? Can true love prevail? Or is a Valentine’s Day massacre on the cards? All will be revealed in this heart-stopping conclusion.

Orla! #5

Preview: Orla! #4

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Orla! #4

(W) John Lees (A) Sally Cantirino (C) Dearbhla Kelly (L) Lucas Gattoni

Following the disastrous events of Halloween, Orla is in freefall, and has never felt more alone. Fully embracing her murderous mission, she has set her vengeful sights on her white whale: odious manosphere influencer Rick Holester, whose speaking tour has arrived in Seattle. If one horrible man is so toxic that him being eaten by The Ick would make the world a tangibly better place, is it worth the cost? Meanwhile, Gwyn has some secrets of his own to share.

Orla! #4

Preview: Orla! #3

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Orla! #3

(W) John Lees (A) Sally Cantirino (C) Dearbhla Kelly (L) Lucas Gattoni

The Ick – the terrifying creature Orla transforms into – is unleashed at times of stress, and the longer she tries to keep it bottled in, the harder it is to hold back. But Orla is working at being a different, better person, and part of that is finally keeping her promise to attend her best friend Harriet’s Halloween party. Crowded rooms, loud music, Harriet’s emotionally abusive fiancé Josh… sounds like a stressful environment. And, weeks since it was last let loose, The Ick needs to be fed…

Orla! #3

Preview: Orla #2

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Orla #2

(W) John Lees (A/CA) Sally Cantirino (C) Dearbhla Kelly (L) Lucas Gattoni

Orla has reluctantly agreed to a lunch-date with Gwyn, the friendly manager of her favourite local bookstore that she’s been crushing on. Gwyn tells cheesy jokes, dances badly, and has a worrying lack of embarrassment. But as initial awkwardness gives way to a fun afternoon, Orla faces a conundrum: how does she deal with a guy she actually likes and doesn’t want her murderous alter ego to devour? Orla might just have a chance at a story-book romance of her own… if she can keep her inner monster under control.

Orla #2

Preview: Orla #1

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Orla #1

(W) John Lees (A/CA) Sally Cantirino (C) Dearbhla Kelly (L) Lucas Gattoni (CB) Lisa Sterle

Orla Bard is an antique restorer, romance novel enjoyer and keen birder. She also believes in true love, continuing to navigate Seattle’s singles scene despite repeated disappointment. But Orla has a secret. She is afflicted with The Ick, a man-eating monstrous entity dwelling inside her, who violently emerges whenever she gets too angry or afraid. Unable to rid herself of this curse, Orla uses The Ick to save other women by removing the scummiest men from the dating pool…permanently. Hearts (and bodies) will be broken in this offbeat romcom/creature-feature mashup!

Orla #1

Preview: Orla #1

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Orla #1

(W) John Lees (A/CA) Sally Cantirino (C) Dearbhla Kelly (L) Lucas Gattoni (CB) Lisa Sterle

Orla Bard is an antique restorer, romance novel enjoyer and keen birder. She also believes in true love, continuing to navigate Seattle’s singles scene despite repeated disappointment. But Orla has a secret. She is afflicted with The Ick, a man-eating monstrous entity dwelling inside her, who violently emerges whenever she gets too angry or afraid. Unable to rid herself of this curse, Orla uses The Ick to save other women by removing the scummiest men from the dating pool…permanently. Hearts (and bodies) will be broken in this offbeat romcom/creature-feature mashup!

Orla #1

The Nasty #1 delivers an interesting spin on the horror genre

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The Nasty #1

Calling all scary movie fans! Scotland, 1994. Eighteen-year-old Thumper Connell still has an imaginary friend: the masked killer from his favorite slasher film. Thumper is obsessed with horror and always has been. He fills his time with scary VHS rentals and hanging out with his fellow fans, The Murder Club. Things begin to get weird when the club gets ahold of a notorious film that no one has seen and causes bad things to happen. The Nasty #1 is a fun start that feels like a nice spin on the horror genre.

Written by John Lees, The Nasty #1 spends most of its time introducing us to Thumper and his friends. It’s not about the kill count or creative ways to kill people. The Nasty #1 is very much a boy and his imaginary friend. Thumper seems like a nice person, but he’s a bit of a loser, not super popular, gets picked on, and his safety is his small group of friends. We also get a lot of focus and hints at his life at home, one that comes off as unhappy with a father that’s who knows where and a mother who is overworked and underappreciated. An imaginary friend like this spinning out of an unhappy home life is an essay unto itself.

And things are generally interesting building towards the end when things begin to get rolling. It’s a debut and start that’s not what I expected at all and the rather slow, and somewhat uneventful, nature of it all is a surprise from the blood and guts I was expecting.

The art by George Kambadais and Adam Cahoon is good. There’s an interesting style that I don’t normally associate with horror comics and the duo have a lot of fun with Thumper’s imaginary friend. There’s moments that got me to laugh as they play off of horror tropes. Some of the pages themselves are silent, lacking dialogue, which puts all of the focus on the art to drive the entertainment.

The Nasty #1 is a solid debut with an interesting take on the horror genre. It should be interesting to see where it all goes and overall, the debut issue shows off a lot of potential replacing what we’d expect is a horror story with something that resembles more of The Goonies.

Story: John Lees Art: George Kambadais, Adam Cahoon Letterer: Jim Campbell
Story: 8.15 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.2 Recommendation: Buy

Vault Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle

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