By Chris Tresson
This week, I’m looking at the first issue of frostbite, a new science fiction story from Joshua Williamson and Jason Shawn Alexander which is being published by Vertigo. It’s something different from this publisher, I can’t remember the last Sci-fi Title I read from Vertigo…Nope. I was going to fill in what I thought it was right there but I still can’t think what it could've been. I’m going to say this is the first they’ve put out in a while. So it’s a step in a different direction for the moment for Vertigo but for comics as a whole, it’s just another drop in the ocean. Let’s get to it…
So, this story is set in a world where a new ice age has broken out due to some sciencey stuff going down and it’s all about getting heat to survive. The protagonists find themselves in a town where there’s an old scientist and his daughter looking to hitch a ride to a lab on Alcatraz. By this point in the story I’m thinking this story was pitched as Ice Road Truckers meets Mad Max: Fury Road. That was until Glenn Danzig (it’s not Danzig but it sure as shit looks like him) shows up and disrupts the gang’s plans…
“I GOT SOMETHING TO SAY… NO ICE ROAD TRUCKIN’ TODAY!”
That’s not in there. Should’ve been.
Without trying to spoil anything, there’s some shit that goes down and they kinda have to undertake the mission after that. There’s also scenes where we get a look at the disease that’s present in this world which is… Frostbite. Everyone loses their shit when one hapless old bastard gets all frosty. I fail to see how a frozen guy could be dangerous, unless these people turn into those white walkers from Game of Thrones or something. The whole ‘new ice age’ thing it’s not the most original twist for a post-apocalyptic/dystopian future story but I’m interested enough to want to know what happens next...
No quarrels with the way Joshua Williamson writes, just with some of the story elements like the frostbite thing amongst other stuff which I can’t get into without spoiling the story in this review… I won’t claim to have read a lot of Williamson’s work but from what I have read, I’m not really rating him. I’m reading The Flash right now and it isn’t really doing the business for me either. But then again, it wasn’t really doing it for me before he took over.
Jason Shawn Alexander is the real star of this book. His artwork is great, I really like his style and I’ve been waiting to see what he would do next (Empty Zone was the last thing I read/saw he’d done.) He’s thrown in some really cool designs and the coloring is spot on, too. The artwork is probably the main reason I’ll stick this one out and who knows, the second issue may change my opinion of the whole thing. Hopefully for the better.
If you’re into your post-apocalyptic stories, your science fiction and good art, I’d say this is a book for you. If you’re tired of seeing that sort of thing, give it a miss. I for one like those kinds of stories, if they’re done well. So far I’d say this book is on par with the other hundred books I’ve read from the same genre recently. The art is the only thing keeping it from dropping below a three of out five for me.
Score: 3/5
Frostbite #1
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Jason Shawn Alexander
Publisher: Vertigo Comics
Price: $3.99
Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital