Comic book review: Winter World #2- A good old fashioned comic book

Writer: Chuck Dixon
Artist: Butch Guice
Publisher: IDW
Released: 23rd July 2014


I’m not going to write a lot of words about this book, because there’s not that much to say about it at the moment. Don’t worry, this isn’t yet another review where I say horrible things about a ‘feminist liberal’ comic book. I actually quite like this one, it’s just that as it’s only issue #2 and the story is quite simple at the moment I need to give it a bit more time, and wait until more things have happened before doing a lengthier review.

The art is going to change up a bit as they are getting new artists in, but at the moment it’s decent stuff with some nice snowy landscapes creating an icy atmosphere of cold uncertainty and dread. Tomas (King Conan) Giorello is going to illustrate the arc after this one, and as he’s my favourite artist working in comic books today you can guarantee that I’ll keep following this book just for that one reason alone.

 The story so far is easy to follow and uncomplicated. It’s about two people in a frozen apocalyptic future, fighting for survival. A bloke and a young girl with a pet badger called Rah-Rah. It’s cute and funny, but there’s danger there as well, with writer Chuck Dixon doing a great job of making me care about his characters whilst keeping the narrative on a constant knife-edge.

Issue #2 introduces what every good story needs, a creepy villain. We witness him doing creepy villain stuff, and I’m sure he’ll be causing trouble further down the road. The issue concludes on a good old-fashioned cliff-hanger, with our heroes surrounded by gun-toting locals. That’s good enough for me. Likeable protagonists, decent art (with the promise of even better to come), constant narrative tension, the introduction of a charismatic villain, and a perilous predicament for our heroes that will hopefully will be resolved next issue.

Winter World is a simple, good old-fashioned comic book. There’s a lack of liberal nonsense in it, and although it’s not exactly exposing the problems we have in the world today, it’s refreshingly free of the usual race/gender/sexuality (divide and conquer) politics, man/family-hating 70’s feminism and the unrelenting statist propaganda that you get in your big Marvel and DC comic book titles of 2014. It’s got a really good front cover this month as well. I always appreciate a good Scarecrow, and the scene depicted actually happens in the book itself.
Rating: 8/10