CREDIT: DC/Vertigo
Rating: 4.5/5 – Heat is Precious, Human Life is Not.
by ComicSpectrum reviewer Adam Brunell
Welcome to the second ice age, food is scarce, living is brutal, heat is the most cherished thing in the world….oh and there is this disease that freezes you from the inside out called, “Frostbite”. Lo and behold the name of this comic is also the name of the biggest and most dangerous disease in this comic. Being the first issue I shouldn’t make jokes like, “I hope this comic isn’t as bad as the disease it’s named after” yet, I just did… but unlike the disease, the comic is pretty good.
Writer Joshua Williamson has helped create a series where I’m glad things aren’t sugar coated and kept in the safe zone. What would you do if you found the person responsible for the second ice age? What if that person asked you for help? I know what I would do, but what do the main characters of this series do? I’m leaving that unstated in this review for a reason, because I’ve read so many comics with this kind of situation and I’m never truly satisfied with the outcome. I like a bit of realism in situations like this, and Williamson delivers just that. Life in the second ice age is not pretty, and only the strong survive. Bandits out in the snow, the Frostbite disease, and unless you tread carefully it may be your last step. Artist Jason Shawn Alexander really makes the book feel like a second ice age. The world is dark and cold, the hazy colors are the dark sky blocking out the sun, stopping any kind of warmth from coming through. This land is vague, and Alexander wants you to see how chaotic it is, things are drawn to give you the idea that this world is not safe and clean.
The comic reads like a reverse Mad Max series, unlike Mad Max, everyone knows what caused the ice age. Instead of sand everywhere its ice and only the warmest survive. Heat is the most precious thing in this world, but you need money to buy it. Work is not easy to find, so it seems that you either take any job you can get or become a ruffian and steal whatever you want. The ending was perfect, I want to see what happens next and will definitely be grabbing issue #2.
Reviewed by: Adam Brunell
(adamb@comicspectrum.com)
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