[Editor’s note: Thank you for your patience waiting for this review while we updated our website host. This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Jason Shawn Alexander
Inker: Luis NCT
Summary
When we last left our “heroes” they were trying to take a doctor to San Francisco so she could help cure frostbite. Â In this issue, we find out that Keaton not only was lost on the ice when she was just a girl, but that she might have frostbite. We also learn from Victoria that frostbite is the worst communicable disease in the history of the world and that the ice age actually slowed it down because natural heat causes it to replicate and spread. As this is just a mini-series, it ends in a cliff-hanger. Just what we expect.
Positives
This is still the best apocalyptic story I have read in a long time. Zombies? Lame, been done. Tidal waves? Sure. Done and redone. Man-made frozen Earth? Sign me up. Oh yeah, death plague too. Damn. So good. Keaton is such an interesting character. Why is she a bad ass? Why was she left on the ice? Where is she from? Why does she know her way around the underworld? How the hell does she have frostbite and why is it not killing her? The thing is, there are only two issues so far and all of this is keeping me up at night.
There are some other great characters as well. You will be happy to learn that even after the new ice age and a massive plague, there are still a bunch of bros in Los Angeles and they are still douche bags. Honestly, that is one of the funniest moments in this book. I had to stop reading because I was laughing so hard. I know, I am ruining it. I will stop. Seriously, though. So good.
The art. What can I say about it? Well, it is not like any other book. Again, there is snow everywhere. I mean in your eyes, in your hair, most likely in the food. Everywhere. We finally get to go inside to a heating store so we see a world without snow. Somehow, Alexander makes the room full of bright lights and sunshine feel stark compared to the wasteland. I really was shocked by it. What an amazing contrast.
Negatives
Only six issues huh? Well, I am going to call BS on that. I am not sure how all of this is going to fit in. Maybe it won’t. Maybe that is Williamson’s big plan. Rope us in and have us hope for more. Some people will not like the lack of information bout Keaton and her crew, but I think it just adds to the tension. I get it though. Those questions that keep me up at night might turn some people off.
Verdict
Bundle up and get reading. Don’t wait for the trade paperback. That would feel like cheating. This story is going to be best consumed in small bites that leave you hungry for more. Oh, and, there is a last scene that makes you worry. Well, it made me worry. Keaton…Look out.
