As regular Scoop readers know, during the disruption caused by the COVID-19 virus, we’ve featured reviews of individual back issues, runs, collected editions, and original graphic novels that captured and held our attention over the long haul. Now that “new comics Wednesday” has returned in some form for many around the country, we’ve decided to continue including great older comics among our features. Remember, once your store is open, checking out their back issue bins or bookshelves is a great way to #BackTheComeback.  

Winterworld: Better Angels, Colder Hearts
IDW Publishing; $29.99

The cold reality portrayed in Winter World may be brutal, but it sure is beautiful in the hands of artists Butch Guice, Tomas Giorello, Tommy Lee Edwards, and Esteve Polls (and colorist Diego Rodriguez).

For those who remember the original Chuck Dixon-Jorge Zaffino three-issue Winterworld miniseries from Eclipse, and for those who are arriving on the frozen tundra for the first time, this stories collected in this volume are highly accessible. The world, though different than the one we know, is easily understood, and the characters are appealing.

Regardless of experience with the property, it throws the reader straight into the dangerous and demanding environment of a world frozen over. Survival is the name of the game, and there are plenty of threats waiting to take down those who let their focus wander.

Chuck Dixon delivers yet again with the latest in a seemingly unending series of scripts that make the reader want to keep turning the page (You remember, the way comics are supposed to be?).

­- J.C. Vaughn