Summers in New York can become incredibly unbearable. You wake up because it’s just too hot to stay in bed, you take a shower just to feel the fresh cool water on you, and two block leaving your home you’re already drenched in your own sweat wishing to go back home to shower again. Now imagine not having the water to cool down, or the winter to look forward to. Every day for as long as you can foresee, it will be hot and unbearable. This is the world of Snowfall #1 The year is 2045 in the Eastern territory of the United States and snow has not been seen for ten years. This has caused drought, wars, and a marriage between government and corporations to create a Cooperative and establish resettlement towns, research facilities and new universities. In the ten-year anniversary of the last time a natural snowfall fell on Earth, there is another one in a resettlement town in Upstate New York. It seems to be a statement/spark that will unravel conspiracies, mixed politics, and the use of climate itself as a weapon of war for control of the planet.
The world plants it’s two feet very early into the issue, setting clearly what once was and what is happening now. The running cliché of having someone explain to the world since modern days inter-cut with the inciting incident of the story elsewhere which juxtaposes the explanation of the narrator; all of it seems to work well in Snowfall #1. The necessary background of the story is explained while giving the reader the proper scenario as well as philosophy and weapons of this future world in which the characters will be taking part of. From then on the characters are shown and the plot becomes more and more complicated. The protagonist of the story, a young student named Anthony Farrow seems to be a free-thinker who likes to go against the grain.
There is not much development for the character other than the issue telling us he’s “that weird guy who’s always down in the lab.” He seems to be the only one who remember what day it is, even though that should be a memorable date for absolutely everyone, and embarks on a solo mission for which he was given no previous motivation or reason for. On the other side, there is an inspector for the Cooperative named Davitika Deal, checking on the incident that happened on the town of New Mercy. She has a reason to chase this case and the person behind it, which seems pretty simple. It’s her job. There are more characters introduced in the issue, but their role and goals were not revealed as of yet.
The art resembles Steve Skroce's very recent return to comics with We Stand On Guard. The wide panels spare no detail in background, and the closeup ones are very intimate and expressive. Martin Morazzo spends time making sure the reader is aware of the difference between the snowfall happening in New Mercy, and the arid land that is the rest of the world. There is a moment in this comic where I could almost see Matthew David McConaughey and Michael Caine could be outside sitting in the porch, talking about the need to go to space.
What is also impressive about Snowfall #1 is the letters and design. With several jumps between times and places, there is no problem following who is speaking when and seeing the aura of the fairly tale that engulfs this issue. The title, although not the most interesting one, is simple and turns into a complicated sci-fi story by the design of the cover. Snowfall is a comic that tries to make a complicated, yet interesting premise work and set up a new science fiction story with a weather conscious mentality. The world is well set, hopefully the characters can match it.
Score: 4/5
Snowfall #1 Writer: Joe Harris Artist: Martin Morazzo Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick Letterer: Michael David Thomas Publisher: Image Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 2/17/16 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital