Winter Guard #2

Winter Guard #2

Marvel Comics 2021

Written by Ryan Cady

Illustrated by Jan Bazaldna

Coloured by Federico Blee

Lettered by VC’s Ariana Maher

The Winter Guard team must split up in hopes of catching up to Red Guardian and the White Widow, who seem to always be one step ahead of them. It’s a race across Russia as the team must venture to Red Guardian’s hometown in hopes of discovering the secrets of project SNOWBLIND. But with Crimson Dynamo in critical condition, can the Guard keep it together to uncover the truth in time?

This Red Widow gives me gas, I’m already literally over everything about her and if we start to see any more colours of Widow’s I might be done with Marvel. Now aside from the fact that she’s meant to be hated, let's forget about her for a bit and talk about the book itself shall we. I’m really surprised to see a Winter Guard series of any sort because they are Russian and they’ve the Russian God of Thunder, Perun, and it isn’t all that often we see heroes outside the United States borders have a chance to really shine. I think that is a huge part of why I am drawn to this book, simply it isn’t your normal standard fare and it’s fresh, new and different which is desperately needed considering all the crossover’s and meshugenah events happening.

I am absolutely loving 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 through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job bringing their personalities to the forefront. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story the further we are drawn into this.

I am liking how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. The layers continue to open up new avenues to be explored and while some will be, others won’t be and those that are already in the midst of being explored all add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is immaculately achieved.

The interiors here are magnificently rendered. The linework is phenomenal and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this amazing detail we see within the work. That we see backgrounds being utilised as they are and how they enhance and expand the moments is beautifully rendered. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. 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 being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a great understanding of how colour works.

​

It is really nice to see Marvel taking a chance on titles like this one, granted it didn’t get the publicity I think it should have gotten but that’s what I am here for. What started out as Russia’s answer to the Avengers has evolved over time to take on its own distinct identity and it is nice to see that finally getting a chance to see this happen. With some smart, intelligent writing and solid characterisation wrapped up in these fantastic interiors brings the Russian team to life exceptionally well.