Everfrost #1

Everfrost #1

Black Mask Studios 2021

Written by Ryan K. Lindsay

Illustrated by Sami Kivelä

Coloured by Laruen Affe

Lettered by Jim Campbell

All scientist-warrior Van Louise wanted was to retire and get off-planet as her society collapsed, but she’s unearthed a mystery involving the death of her son… and she can’t leave without discovering the truth first–even as war brews in her violent and fantastical world.

I am enamoured with this story already. The narration that opens this up is something of a contradiction and if you read it carefully enough you get this great sense that Van while knowing herself doesn’t really know herself at all. What Ryan does with this is open up the characterisation to go where he wants it to and we’ll get to that later but it’s a great thing to see. It is also a great way to introduce a series as it gives us all the information that we need to know to understand how she sees her place in this world and to her and Eight. The science is easy to follow, it’s more like science for dummies than actual hard science and that means to more readers can understand it without feeling lost or that it’s gone over their head.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see is exceptional thanks to the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages introducing us to the characters, this world and the story we’re drawn into this in some pretty spectacular ways.

The way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge do some great things for how we see this. The meaning of the science bit, the way we see the ending, the conversation that never gets answered between Van and Eight not to mention seeing the two factions have a go at one another. All these work with and towards the larger picture some closely others just weaving and contributing in other ways. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved extremely well.

I’m digging the interiors here. The linework is sensational and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work is astonishing. This also leads into the creativity and imagination that we see as well. Some of the creatures we see are familiar and feel like offshoots of animals we know or have existed and others are simply fantastical. Regardless it really adds this something special to how we see the story. Backgrounds are utilised extremely well throughout the book and how they work within the composition of the panels bringing us depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book is great to see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a marvellously talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered as well. How the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a brilliant eye for colour and how to make it work effective, interestingly and spectacularly well.

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I’m all in on this one. It has a very unique point of view, the characters are far from cookie cutter and the writing is brilliantly done including the characterisation alongside such vibrant colours that make this world feel alive. Looking for something unique, different and interesting?, well look no further because this is it and it’s bloody fantastic!