Snow Blind #1 (of 4)
Boom! Studios 2015
Created & Written by Ollie Masters
Illustrated by Tyler Jenkins
Lettered by Colin Bell
Wow is this off to a nice start. Anytime you set a story somewhere remote like a suburb in Alaska you know something is up. I mean who just up and moves there without either running from something or well let’s face that’s it. However for young Teddy it’s the only place he remembers living although his folks often talk of the South and Louisiana. Throughout the course of this issue why the family is there becomes abundantly clear as does the beginning of a very fun and unique crime drama unfolds.
Teddy isn’t like other boys he’d rather be off on his own with his books reading than socializing with others. He doesn’t have much interest in sports either. Writing however appears to be a passion as the narration seems to indicate, as if it were a book or journal entry being written and reviewed by the author. Like any teenager who thinks he’s the only one in the world having problems relating to his parents he’s somewhat rebellious though in his case instead of drinking and chasing girls it’s breaking into the library to read.
Well it isn’t long until the BBQ his father throws in winter that after drinking too much his dad passes out. The kids being kids put lipstick on him, snap a photo and boom Facebook bound it goes. Oh Dad surely wasn’t happy with that because the picture went viral as things like this tend to do. The first clue about what’s going on happened when Teddy’s dad was yelling at him and Teddy can’t get the words out of his head, the mean something he just doesn’t know what...yet.
Then one day someone comes to the house in the dead of night, cuts the power and is caught by the dog. What happens next seems to have everything spiral out of control. Teddy follows his father wanting to learn his secrets, after all he’d learned a huge one when the State Marshall comes calling after the attempted break-in.
Only a teenager would witness the death of the dog, see the intruder wannabe and learn about his folks and decide to play Nancy Drew. Yes it’s completely logical in the thinking of a typical teenager and one who can’t trust his parents, for now. No he doesn’t comprehend the danger he’s putting himself or his family in but no one said they thought these things through. So welcome to Alaska home of the latest mystery crime thriller it’s off to a promising start. With delightful characters, characterization and a beautiful locale this promises to be one of those stories that will stay with you.
Tyler’s interior artwork here is really well suited to the story. It’s this watercolour work that really lends itself to bringing the Alaskan cold through as well as keeping the mood, tone and emotion of the scenes right there. It’s just detailed enough that people, places and objects are completely immediately identifiable and then it’s kind of just painted/shaded enough to keep it mysterious.
I love a good story like this and we’ll see if Teddy can put things together for us as they unfold keeping things mysterious, slightly creepy and with that old school sensibility of those writers of the past.