Winter World #1

by Chuck Dixon, Butch Guice & Diego Rodriguez

Anyone familiar with comics should recognize the individuals attached to this new series from IDW. Winter World, from comic legends Chuck Dixon and Butch Guice, sounds exactly like what the book contains. Based on the story published by Dixon and Jorge Zaffino, Winter World follows two people trying to survive in a world that has drastically changed for some unstated reason. The story starts out with an excellent sequence that evokes a sense of tension without any real information and from there, the bar is set. In its first chapter, Winter World looks to be an entertaining ride.

Dixon does an excellent job with the first issue getting readers invested without telling a whole lot about the setting and the people. From the first few panels, readers are presented a sequence and some narration that evokes a mood, rather than explains the scenario. It is a much more effective way to set the stage, and Dixon and Guice are able to capture a tone that plays as a stronger hook than any exposition might. Before really diving into the story, Guice and colorist Diego Rodriguez put together a full-page panel showing a rather harrowing image that captures the scale of this new world order. It’s a fantastic moment, and one of many by the art team on the title.

Dixon then introduces readers to the two protagonists of the story. Scully, a middle-aged man, and Wynn, an adolescent girl, are arguing with each other after their mode of transportation has succumbed to the weather. The man scolds the girl about her choice of vehicle based on the luxury of interior space rather than on its effectiveness in the climate. The argument eventually comes to her requesting the ability to take at least one book with her, while the man wants the two carrying nothing but the essentials. The conversation is well-written, capturing the two voices incredibly well. Again, Dixon avoids much explanation and readers are able to glean much about the relationship and personality of the two characters as they interact in a very typical exchange. The issue has a few other moments quite similar to this, and after just one issue that features almost no explanation, readers will feel as though they really know these two. Dixon’s writing, as he is able to accomplish such a feat in such little space, is a real treat.

The first issue of Winter World is mostly low key. Readers are given a few hints at the location of the individuals and where they are headed. There is the mention of some town and Wynn’s relatives, though it is all done in a way that functions more as teasers than of anything truly informative. Guice and Rodriguez do a great job depicting this new world and there are a number of fantastic visuals in the issue, including an excellent panel of a warship frozen in the middle of the ice. Winter World has a very natural pace to it in its first chapter, but packs in enough character to grab readers and keep them waiting for issue two.