Review – Snow Blind #1 (of 4) (BOOM! Studios)

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Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Writer: Ollie Masters
Artist: Tyler Jenkins
Release Date: 9th December, 2015

Snow Blind, the latest creator-owned title from award-winning publisher BOOM! Studios, introduces us to Teddy, a teenage loner who often feels like a stranger in his own home. Secretly saving his money until he has enough to fly the nest, he only really ventures outside to attend school and to sneak into his local library to read. However, when an embarrassing picture of his drunken, passed-out father goes viral, Teddy suddenly discovers that his parents may have some secrets of their own – secrets that could potentially put his entire family’s lives in danger.

Writer Ollie Masters weaves the opening chapter of a masterful noir thriller here, hooking us with the characters themselves before slowly reeling us in as he gradually unveils the mystery. Teddy is very much the focal point here, with his parents – his surly, overly-macho father in particular – remaining basically a closed book for the time being. Teddy’s tense yet natural-sounding inner monologue propels the story forwards, detailing the gulf that exists between himself and his family, and chronicling his determined investigations later in the book.

It’s difficult not to find yourself becoming sucked into Teddy’s world as you progress through this first issue, particularly as Masters starts to tip his hand ever so slightly. The characterisation is spot-on, and the story is told in a worryingly believable fashion, filled with several truly relatable themes like trust and the fragile nature of family bonds.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of this first issue, however, is Tyler Jenkins’ gorgeously watercoloured artwork. His characters, while perhaps lacking detail from a quote-unquote “conventional” sense, are nonetheless packed with expression and emotion, and the bleak Alaskan backdrop casts an impressively foreboding shadow over the proceedings. His colour palette is washed-out and sparse, which only adds to the harsh nature of the story, and Jenkins shows a firm, confident grasp of the dramatic, particularly during the final pages of this first issue – a tense cliffhanger that will all but force readers to pick up the second issue.

Overall, this is an utterly captivating first issue of what promises to be a tense, unpredictable series. A gripping, noir-soaked mystery which is every bit as chilling as the snow-filled landscape that serves as its backdrop, Snow Blind is a series that comes highly recommended.

Rating: 4.5/5.

PREVIEW ARTWORK
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