Advance Review – Antarctica #1 (Top Cow)

Publisher: Image Comics (Top Cow Imprint)
Writer: Simon Birks
Artwork: Willi Roberts
Lettering: Lyndon White
Release Date: 12th July 2023

The first issue of Antarctica, a brand new sci-fi adventure series which launches later this month, introduces us to Hannah Curtis, a young woman whose life well and truly fell apart when her father failed to return from his top secret job at the Smith-Petersen Research Station in Antarctica.

Series writer Simon Birks does an impressive job of fostering a real investment in Hannah throughout the early portion of this book as she hits absolute rock bottom before gradually trying to pull herself back up, only to be brutally slapped right back down again. Given that she’s clearly going to be the emotional lynchpin of this story, it’s certainly a wise approach, and there’re a cinematic feel to Birks’ narrative to the point where you can practically hear the dramatic piano music swelling in the background at times.

Artist Willi Roberts matches Birks’ cinematic flair for storytelling with his layouts, and with the exception of the occasional uneven-looking facial expression, he does a good job of underscoring the various emotional beats of this first issue. He also a couple of fantastic ‘time lapse’ sequences (one of which you can feast your eyes on below) which bring several of the key moments of Hannah’s life to the page in juddering, emphatic fashion.

Sure, there are a few questionable leaps along the way, such as young homeless girl becoming a mechanical genius and earning herself a job at the same research station as her father simply by applying herself a little, and the passage of time isn’t particularly clear in places, but for the most part the narrative flows confidently and keeps the pages turning throughout.

The “sci-fi” part of this sci-fi adventure isn’t really alluded to until the very last page in the form of a tantalising cliffhanger that should do enough to hook in any stray readers who weren’t already planning on picking up issue two based on the characterisation alone.

An intriguing character piece that looks set to evolve into a thrilling, twist-filled adventure, Antarctic is a new series that most certainly deserves your full attention. Well worth a look.

Rating: 4/5.

For our Scottish readers, writer Simon Birks and letterer Lyndon White will be signing copies of Antarctica #1 and #2 at Forbidden Planet in Buchanan Street in Glasgow on Saturday the 19th of August. Full details of the event can be found HERE.