Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Jackson Guice
Colors by Diego Rodriguez, Letters by Robbie Robbins
Standard Cover by Butch Guice
Published by IDW Publishing
WinterWorld, is a continuation of a three issue series created by Chuck Dixon and Jorge Zaffino for Eclipse Comics, way back in 1987. A sequel by Dixon and Zaffino was created for Eclipse, but while it saw print in Europe, it was never published in the US, and the concept languished until Dixon revived it for IDW. It is a high concept story of a world overtaken by ice, in which the central characters, Scully and Wynn, must fight each day to survive as they cross the frozen Caribbean in search of Wynn’s homeland.
While the concept clearly speaks to the ongoing debate regarding climate change, Dixon is careful to point it in the introductory letters page (yes, this series has an old-fashioned letters page) that the concept of WinterWorld came about long before the current dialogue (it was more inspired by the 80s-era fear of post-war nuclear winter than the current climate change concerns), and while he will play with some elements of that dialogue in the course of the series, his chief concern is to write an entertaining, thrilling story and not a political diatribe.
The first issue backs up that promise, ably introducing new readers to Scully and Wynn (and their pet badger Rah-Rah), and their relationship with one another (described as being somewhere between father/daughter and brother/sister). Like Walking Dead, this is the apocalypse on a micro level: Scully and Wynn are the readers’ point-of-view characters, and the story is told from their perspective. As a result, any high level discussion of the state of the world or what brought about the catastrophic drop in temparature is off the table. The plot in this first issue is simply the characters struggling to survive each day in the frozen wasteland as they continue their journey.
As such, the success of the narrative rides on the characters, and while there are limitations on how deeply a character can be introduced in one issue, both Scully and Wynn, and their interactions with one another, are entertaining enough to carry the story. A long term series will eventually need to focus on something more complex than basic survival to remain appealing, but for now, it’s enough to carry the initial issue.
Art in this issue (and the first arc) comes from veteran comic book artist Jackson Guice. Continuing the sketchier, gritter look featured in his recent Captain America work, Guice impressively imbues the pages with a foreboding darkness even while nearly every page is screaming white, and he manages to give Scully and Wynn some non-verbal characterization despite the bulk jackets they wear through most of the issue.
WinterWorld #1, then, is an intriguing introduction (or re-introduction) to this world of ice and snow run rampant, backed up by gorgeous Jackson Guice art. In the long-term, the series will need to continue to develop its central characters and broaden the scope of the conflict, but for now, this is an interesting and unique enough world to keep readers coming back for more.
*Note – The reviewer has not read the original WinterWorld series, and thus cannot speak to this issue as a continuation of that series. *