This week we’re looking at the debut of a morbid coming-of-age comic with Dead Teenagers, and the latest Hellboy Universe book with Leonide the Vampyr: House of Yonda! Plus, The Prog Report!
Leonide the Vampyr: The House of Yonda #1
Writer: Mike Mignola
Artist: Rachele Aragno
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Clem Robins
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Review by Jared Bird
After a vampire is chased off by rural townsfolk, she is found seemingly dead and carried to the nearest doctor, only to disappear and leave a single seed in her place. Hanz, a local physician and genius, has to find her before it’s too late. The third entry in the saga of Leonide the Vampyr sees visionary creator Mike Mignola and artist Rachele Aragno return to the brand-new world they’ve created for a two-part miniseries.
‘It is simply in her nature to destroy’. That’s how one character describes Leonide early on, and the truth is somewhere far more complex. She’s a vampire, carnivorous and hungry, yet she’s also kind, and seemingly interested in forming friendships and connections. She’s feared and persecuted for what she is, and that leads her to the precarious spot she’s in at the start of this series. Hanz, as our main perspective character here, is in love with her, and seeks to travel to her home, the House of Yonda, in order to save her. It’s a classic gothic set-up, taking inspiration from all sorts of perennial vampire tales, but it’s handled well here, with an engaging pace and beautifully well created atmosphere that keeps you reading even if it seems familiar.
Mike Mignola is on sole scripting duties here and he absolutely shines. He’s tapping into a classic gothic voice for much of it, but with a modern twist and sensibility to make it flow more easily and become more readable as the story swaps perspective and changes direction. He does a lot with a little, detailing information cleverly throughout the story until it accumulates into an understanding for the reader. He’s also got the uncanny ability for the story to work well even if you haven’t read previous entries, allowing the serialised form of comics to really shine in a great way, which I always appreciate.
Rachele Aragno’s artwork is stellar. Working alongside legendary colorist Dave Stewart, she compliments Mignola’s writing impeccably with fun, gothic artwork that’s easy to read and understand at every turn, but still jam-packed full of atmosphere and style. It’s been great to see Aragno’s style evolve over the entries as she becomes even more sure-footed in delivering a fun gothic adventure, and this has some of her best artwork in the series yet.
Overall, Leonide The Vampyr: The House of Yonda #1 is a fun and compelling continuation to the titular character’s story, with a spooky and compelling atmosphere and an energetic and fun sense of storytelling that makes it incredibly easy to read and just as easy to enjoy. It’s nice to see Mignola explore concepts outside of his Hellboy universe and really try out different things, and so I’d happily recommend this book for anyone searching for an entertaining story with a touch of the gothic.
Dead Teenagers #1
Writer: Jude Ellison S. Doyle
Artist: Caitlin Yarsky
Letterer: Becca Carey
Publisher: Oni Press
Due Out: March 18, 2026
Review by Zack Quaintance
Jude Ellison S. Doyle has fast become a must-read comics writer for me, having penned a couple of recent favorites with Be Not Afraid and The Neighbors. Doyle writes complex, surprising comics that don’t rely on genre tropes, and don’t feel the need to over explain to the reader. His newest is Dead Teenagers #1, from Oni Press, and it sees him teaming with Caitlin Yarsky, whose work is also a must-read in my world, especially when it gets into odd original ideas.
The pairing of the two creators together, unsurprisingly, makes for a great book, or at least (so far) for a great debut issue. Dead Teenagers is set in a high school in the late ’90s, which as anyone who was there can attest, is inherently a great setting for a horror story. But Dead Teenagers is not just a horror comic. As Doyle describes it in online promo, it’s actually a “slasher-time-loop-coming-of-age-teen-comedy-drama-kaiju-etc.” comic.
And while this sounds like a lot, the first issue is actually really straightforward and easy to understand. It opens on a prom night replete with the usual teen drama, a character jilted about her crush, crying to her friends, etc. By the bottom of the first page, its bedlam, and a kaiju has crashed the prom. From there, we go on a multi-scenario time romp reminiscent of stories like Groundhog’s Day or Edge of Tomorrow, all perfectly made clear by a really subtle yet bit great of lettering from Becca Carey, who lets us know which number scenario we are watching by simply numbering the scenarios. This is combined with first-person narration that gives the reader insight into what’s going on.
It’s essentially a high concept horror-sci-fi romp with a relentless motor fueled by teen dramedy and pitch perfect banter. And it’s all in service of the conflict and the plot, rather than just being banter for the sake of banter. On top of that, it’s also a great artist showcase for Yarsky.
There’s a four-panel page at one point that teases four different doomed scenarios, and it’s a ton of fun, like a quick-hit clip show of visual concepts that could be full segments or even issues. But they’re drawn in a way that gives us just enough to extrapolate the whole things from them, get back to our main plot, and keep moving.
Overall, Dead Teenagers #1 is a fantastic debut issue. A morbid, fast-paced first chapter that seeds something much deeper and is told in a way where the story could go seemingly infinite directions and still make sense. Simply put, you want to pick this one up.
The Prog Report
2000AD 2474 (Rebellion): The big stories in this week’s issue continue to steadily move along. There’s a panel in Dredd this week wherein Dredd uses magnetic boots to kick a guy’s spine out of his back, and it’s appropriately gnarly (drawn by PJ Holden with colors by Jack Davies. While Brink continues to push forward its excellent long-game intrigue storytelling, and The Discarded approaches what feels like its endgame. Within that, there’s a Future Shock this week by writer James Peaty, artist Mike Walters, and letterer Annie Parkhouse. The swerve at the end isn’t that hard to see coming, but it’s still decently satisfying to watch it coming. And the artwork is top-tier. This week’s cover (above) is by Steve Yeowell. As always, you can pick up a digital copy of The Prog here. —Zack Quaintance
Column edited by Zack Quaintance.
Read past entries in the weekly Wednesday Comics reviews series or check-out our other reviews here!
