IDW Publishing 2015
Written by Chuck Dixon
Illustrated by Esteve Polls
Coloured by Diego Rodriguez
Scully and his fourteen-year-old charge, Wynn, are survivors on an Earth that has become a barren, lifeless wasteland. Together they travel across a brutal world in search of Wynn’s parents, only to find that the coldest place on Earth is the human heart. Their search has been sidetracked as the pair help Trina and her previously missing and presumed dead husband, Reynold, find some missing children. After a close call with some local savages, the group has come upon a frozen shipyard whose occupants are of the “shoot first, ask questions later” temperament.
I have to tell you all the work done by Esteve and Diego blows my mind. Such detail and vibrancy to the colours it all is just so damned brilliant to see on the page. The characters too are so well done and their expressions and emotions and feelings are so easily seen in their work helping to convey what Chuck is doing with his words. I really am that impressed with their work it is so strikingly good that you kind take the issue flip through just too look at it before really settling in to read it.
We open where we left off with Scully and company finding all these ships in the frozen waters creating it’s own community this one seemingly filled with navy and other seafaring personnel. We also have a very surprising turn of events this issue as well and I have to say what Chuck does with these characters is pretty dang amazing. We keep seeing them thrust into situations they shouldn’t find themselves in but always seem to rise and fall within that roll keeping them ever evolving.
As Chuck explores these ships and the people living here we get to see amazing world unfold before us. The will to survive and adapt to whatever life throws at them is so well depicted by these people throughout the ship. It’s this combination of words and visuals working together so incredibly well that without this symmetry it might not come off as powerful and impactful as it does. Plus we see such great characterization, not only of the “main” characters but even those who live here day and day out which helps flesh out the world they live in and show us that not everyone has gone to barbarism.
Scully is amazing I think what he brings to the table is so mesmerizing. With what we see him do this issue with the ship, that all think Wynn is the new Captain of, are things that speak of some kind engineering genius. That he’s a Jack of all Trades and seemingly mastered enough of all em to be quite the asset or that much dangerous an enemy. The biggest problem with his behavior is the wake of people who will chase him down. I find it quite odd that after fleeing one large group and finding another no one had thought to secure the area and keep an eye out for those who were chasing them.
There’s no rest for the wicked here as we continue the journey that seems to be creating as much a family as the search for one. This is a world few would find themselves able to survive let alone thrive in but Chuck shows us that it can be done.