(IDW Publishing, 2015)
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Tommy Lee Edwards
I really enjoyed #0 issue of Winter World. I haven’t read up on the series so far, so this was my first foray into the Winter World. So many post-apocalyptic stories can seem so similar. Not this one. This one felt unique.
The story revolves around a nomadic traveler named Scully and his “ward” Wynn, a 14-year-old girl. This story was a flashback of part of Wynn’s life before joining up with Scully. There was also a nice framing element to it. The beginning and end of the story bookend the flashback, and provide a nice structure to the issue. The flashback itself was entertaining in that it gave us some insight on the winter world environment, and at the same time showed us a little of who Wynn is.
There was also a nice reference to Tom Sawyer that was appropriate. It also had a fun little aspect to it that I liked. I also found that having something like Tom Sawyer in this post apocalypse grounded it in our reality. It made the story seem more like something from our world instead of something totally foreign to our way of life. It was a nice touch.
The writing by Chuck Dixon was solid. I’m a fan of his from Batman and Nightwing. To me, he has always had a no-nonsense approach to writing. He seems to write in the quickest way from point A to point B. The trick to his writing that makes it so enjoyable is that you always want to get to point B. He seems to let the narration get out of the way and seems to be a big fan of “showing” over “telling” This is a big strength when he works with good artists, which he did in this case.
Tommy Lee Edwards did a fine job on the visuals. Very stark, very grim. I haven’t been following his work, so this was something new to me. There was a small section in the climax of the flashback where I kind of lost track of who was doing what for a couple of seconds. Not sure who to blame, Dixon or Edwards. I’ll blame myself. I probably just missed some connection between a couple of panels or something. Overall, really solid writing and art. Edward’s vehicle designs and interior designs were well done. I suspect he used plenty of reference, but it didn’t look like he “cheated” like how some reference heavy art can look sometimes.
This was a fairly dark tale, with a couple of humorous flourishes. It seemed a little open ended, but for a #0 it was appropriate. It’s supposed to be a teaser. I felt appropriately teased. All and all, I would like to taste some more of what Winter World has on its menu, but I think I’ll wait until summer. The weather here in Michigan is still a little cold to be immersing myself in a story of a frozen wasteland. I’ve got one of those just out my window right now.
BJ DuVall is a novice comic creator, and nerd. He likes to spout opinions, whether people like to listen or not. Usually not.