The truth revealed – to those that survive a bit longer!
Creative Staff:
Story: Christopher Sebela
Art: Hayden Sherman
Colors: Hayden Sherman
Letters: Hayden Sherman
What They Say:
Hunkered down and waiting for death, the Cryonauts’ war will turn from the strange enemy lurking beyond their safe zone towards each other. As they struggle for control and try to dig up answers, family man John and the elusive LQ’s lives from the past will unfold in this nightmare future, starting everyone down a path towards the ones behind the bloody curtain.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The first two issues of Cold War were just a whole lot of fun for a range of reasons. Sebela’s story foundations worked well with its uncertainty and the cast of characters being thrust into it as it appealed to a kind of genre that I got into a lot of back in my younger years. And as engaging as it was, it was Sherman’s artwork that just made it something I craved. With him handling the coloring and lettering as well there’s just something special and magical about it. I adore the way he designs the characters, frames the action and the the flow of the movement, as well as just the kind of intensity that comes from the facial expressions even when in resting mode. I’ve only seen one other series by him but with the right stories in hand he’s producing some fantastic material and this is no exception.
With Vinh having taken over leading the group she’s dealing with the problem of one of the two characters that are the focus this time. John has an interesting past life as he spent many of his years essentially as a killer in the regular world, feeding a void in his heart and head with his victims. Seeing that path and how he grew into it by getting married and having a kid while viewing them as potential hostages and simple cover is interesting in itself, but the shift as time goes on to their voices drowning the other in his head really works well even just from a narration standpoint. It moves well to show just how everything went south for him and his as time went on and why he’s largely lost his ability to handle things in the here and now, causing more problems by drawing attention and killing randomly than with purpose in order to survive – which thrusts him into regular confrontation with Vinh.
The other story focuses on LQ as she and her group, upon seeing the robotic “garbage collectors” that are getting the dead bodies, orchestrate a way for her to be picked up while alive as well. This puts her squarely within the control center for things, allowing her to come to an understanding of the true nature of this world that’s lightly touched upon and is definitely intriguing. That’s run with the flashback storyline exploring her own past as a spy sent to America that fell in love with the country and was trying to find a path to determining her own life going forward as opposed to others. It’s again easy to see why she’s fallen into this era well so far with survival techniques and mentality but also looking for solutions other than just killing a whole lot of people.
In Summary:
With three main story points at work here between the two characters focused on and the larger story itself, Cold War delivers another strong installment. Sebela’s teasing out the information about the big picture at a good pace here while having lots going on in the present to keep it feeling forward moving and tense. At the same time we get more exploration of two of the characters in the past, more of Vinh in charge, and a whole book full of fantastic and engaging artwork from Hayden Sherman. I imagine that this will read really well as a whole but each individual issue stands out very well on its own as well, making it worth the wait with ease for each new one.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: April 11th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
