Two of the most acclaimed creators of their generation -- Writer JEFF LEMIRE and Artist JOCK -- together for the first time in SNOW ANGELS -- a 10-part science fiction adventure story set in a brutal world like no other!
Milliken and Mae have never left The Trench -- it's all they've ever known. They were born in The Trench, and they'll die there, just like all their people do. The two girls, eight and eleven, are a part of The Trenchfolk, a sprawling settlement of people living inside the massive ice walls of a vast, seemingly endless frozen trench carved into the surface of an otherwise icy wasteland. The Trenchfolk survive in this hostile world by following The Three Testaments of The Trench -- golden rules repeated like a mantra from birth to death...
1. YOU MUST NEVER LEAVE THE TRENCH.
2. THE TRENCH PROVIDES.
3. THE TRENCH IS ENDLESS.
Milli and Mae don't really know how their people came to live here. No one does, not even their wise and gentle Father. On Milliken's twelfth birthday, their father takes the two girls on an overnight skate down the trench -- a coming-of-age ritual to teach them how to fish the frozen river, how to hunt the wild Trenchdogs that wander its frigid banks, and how to give proper thanks to their frozen Gods -- The Colden Ones. It's the trip of a lifetime until the girls push beyond the borders of their humble land and awaken the Trench's deadly defender... The Snowman! What follows next is an action-packed story of survival, loss, and redemption.
SNOW ANGELS #1
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Jock
Publisher: ComiXology Originals
Release Date: February 17, 2021
Cover Price: $2.99
Score: ★★★★★ (5/5)
As the surprisingly detailed solicitation states, 'Snow Angels' is a story of survival in a frozen wasteland that finds a father and his two young daughters at the mercy of not only the elements but some evil forces. The Trench is a vast unforgiving frozen landscape that entraps them but gives them a home. The three rules to live by are meant to remind them all that The Trench is all there is and all there ever will be. There's no use in seeking anything beyond it. And with that, prolific comic creator Jeff Lemire and extraordinary artist Jock introduce us to one of the tensest and atmospheric comics this year.
The story here is straight-forward and one we've seen before in the dystopian genre. A setting of scarcity and isolation, an unyielding place of struggle and danger. A tribe of people bound for generations to this frozen tundra with its own spiritual traditions and norms. A family passing on rituals only to encounter a devastating event that throws their world upside down. Lemire has set the groundwork for what's going to be a compelling limited series and it's going to rely heavily on Jock to set the tone and mood.
As an artist himself, Lemire knows exactly how to convey what he needs from Jock but also when to let him fly with it. And it looks like this collaboration has resulted in the most captivating display of artistry because of its simplicity and expertise. When a story depends on such a harsh setting, the artist has to make a convincing argument that what you see is in fact as treacherous and intimidating as described. Jock puts the reader right along with the characters in that Trench with marvelously designed pages that use limited colors and negative spaces to produce an expansive frozen landscape.
With a constant snow flurry, the characters captured from afar made to look tiny against the massive Trench and the vastness of whiteness above the horizon, Jock creates a world as broad and cold as any we've seen before. It's intercut with close-ups of the characters, narrated by Milliken herself, that gives the action a juxtaposition against the space around them. Emotion rests fully on their faces which Jock captures in various ways. This is a meditation on how to balance the personalities of the characters amid extraordinary circumstances without losing the impact of their interactions.
'Snow Angels' #1 is a compelling first issue from Jeff Lemire who sets this story in motion with a shocking cliffhanger and really is a showcase of Jock's greatness as an artist. When you have two titans of the industry on top of their game, 'Snow Angels' is a must-buy.
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