Everfrost #2

Everfrost #2

Black Mask Studios 2021

Written by Ryan K. Lindsay

Illustrated by Sami Kivelä

Coloured by Lauren Affe

Lettered by Jim Campbell

Van Louise wants to get off planet. She’s been studying the Ennio carcass to see if she can activate a seed that would carry her away, and might have finally succeed, so she’s gone back to the Precinct to let her people know. With Eight, her companion and combative confidant, by her side she’s discovered that someone’s using her dead son’s DNA to create recreational clones and she’s having absolutely none of that shit transpiring behind her back. Couple that brutal discovery with the strange realisation lifetimes have somehow passes since she was last amidst civilization andVan has a long journey ahead of her, but she’ll do anything to protect her family, or the memory of it.

I am a huge supporter of books that don’t seem to fit into normal parameters of what folks expect to see and read and this for me fits into that exceptionally well. What I like about this is that I have no idea what’s going to happen next, I cannot predict what’s going to happen and that’s phenomenal because it keeps me on my toes and excited to see what is going to happen. This kind of mystery is fun to see and it keeps me coming back because I have that need to know.

I really like 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 learn information is presented exceedingly well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job in continually fleshing these characters out. The pacing that we see is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists & turns along the way it keeps us glued to the pages.

I like how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and emerge. The layers are where we see the characterisation, the plot twists and revelations and whether they work with the main arc or swirl around it they add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. The way that everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved incredibly well.

I am thoroughly enjoying the interiors is here. The linework we see is fantastic and how the varying weights and techniques we see being utilised to create the detail work is rendered exceptionally well. While I would like to see more backgrounds what we do see is great and how they work within the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is fabulous to see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is rendered beautifully. The way we see her mother and the holographic kind deal is a brilliant use of colour and it just makes the moment pop!

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So much is going on here and the way that it’s all presented makes it feel so smooth and natural in its progression. A good story well move through the book with seamless transitions and this one has the most seamless ones I’ve seen. You don’t even realise there is a transition and I love this. With new characters and a new direction it’ll be interesting to see just where this is going to go next. With some super strong writing and characterisation with some beautifully solid interiors this is the kind of story that grips your imagination.