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Writer: Amit Tishler
Artist/Colorist: Bruno Frenda
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
As a first issue, Edenfrost subscribes to starting your story as far into events as possible to keep the pace moving. The book opens amongst chaos as a small town burns in the snowy night sky. Shortly after two young siblings Alex and Yuli run for their lives into their wilderness.
The structure of the book allows you to catch up with how we got he with a few flashbacks. A soldier, who is still wrestling with what he witnessed, recounts encountering what he can only describe as a possessed monster made of rock and ice.
Considering the context of the Russian Civil War one can assume the cultural foundations of this beast.
This is the first time I have read a comic drawn by Bruno Frenda and it will definitely not be the last. Doing double duty as both a colorist and penciler he put together some impressive pages.
One of his greatest skills is the way he renders emotion in the character’s eyes, which becomes a continuous motif throughout the issue. He uses a rather thick and clean line to generate characters loaded with emotion.
Pages have a great pace to them, especially in the flashback sequences that place the past in the background and the present in the foreground. Sometimes it does make the page a bit claustrophobic, but the comprehension is never lost.
There was also a page designed to look like a film reel. Design-wise it looks great, however, I simply do not understand its point. Considering the time this story takes place it is counterintuitive to establish a sense of place and time.
Colors were key as the use of black and white for the past compared to the fully colored present made it easy to differentiate.
One of the most beautiful sequences occurred when the Russian soldiers came upon this town covered in flames. The lighting in those moments is spectacular. Flames are raging out of control and reflecting off the cold dead snow giving it life.
Having a Russian soldier with literal hellfire behind him is not a subtle message but it is an effective one. Speaking of the soldiers if there was one area the art struggled it was in their design. Many had a nearly identical facial structure that became repetitive.
Credit also has to be given to the letterer Taylor Esposito, who was the only name I knew before reading this book. Esposito does good work and that does not change here. Much of the story is told with a letter written by Yuli which basically is a much more sophisticated way of doing it thought balloons. Esposito places those excerpts into what looks like ripped pieces of paper to make it clear what you are reading.
As mentioned previously this issue throws literally right into the fire. That leads to an exciting experience, but what is lost in that structure is the who and the why.
Sure there is the historical context, although not sure if that is super clear based on this issue. Things just happen and the catalyst for those actions is not fully clear yet.
On the other hand, the relationship between Alex and Yuli is where the emotional core of this issue lies.
You feel their love for one another along with the fear that they share. If the other narrative pieces can be designed as well as their relationship this book will be in great shape.
