Everfrost #3

Everfrost #3

Black Mask Studio 2021

Written by Ryan K. Lindsay

Illustrated by Sami Kivelä

Coloured by Lauren Affe

Lettered by Jim Campbell

Off to a creepy ice island out on the frozen ocean - what could go wrong there? Van teams up with the Bloom to find some answers, which is *possible* when you end up in the place where answers go to die, but no one’s going to have a good time of it. Van is going to discover that this future hellscape is dynamic enough that it can be tailored just for you.

Part of me thinks that Van would’ve been much happier had she never come back to town looking for her people. Ignorance is bliss after all though is it really? Nay, Nay I say. Before leaving this world she had things she wanted to take care of but with her son and former husband she was sidetracked by the planet's ruler that was meant to deal with her in a way that they deemed necessary. It’s a great and shocking plot device that keeps her planetside and out of the way as much as possible. Sometimes the “human” spirit is much more indomitable than a machine is capable of realising. I think what Ryan is doing with this story is truly outrageous in the size and scope of the story he’s undertaking.

I am a fan of 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 exceedingly well. The character development 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 great job in bringing these characters to life. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we are treated to some great unexpected moments.

I like the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow and evolve. I love seeing the layers being explored here as Van finds an ally and takes the fight back up north. What we see out of these layers adds so much depth, dimension and complexity to the story. 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 do very much like the interiors here. The linework we see is fantastic, clean, crisp and strong and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work we see throughout the issue is spectacular. There are moments like seeing the frozen city as they enter enhances and expands the moment so incredibly well. How we see the backgrounds work within the composition of the panels to bring about the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story marvellously well. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours are being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a brilliant eye for how colour works and how its application can change the mood, tone and feel of any given moment.

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I’m fascinated by this story. It started off with this complex and dynamic story and with each issue it’s been growing increasingly complex. The more that is revealed the more that’s hidden away and it’s this game of give and take that never gives more than it takes and it is nearly infuriating in that we come back time and time again to see, know and learn more. Ryan has created and crafted this amazing story thus far and it's only getting better and better. With some amazingly complex writing and dynamic characterisation wrapped up in these dramatic interiors we get one of the more fascinating and unusual stories on stands today.