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Colder: A Review of the Miniseries

By Jeremy Whitley
February 24, 2013 - 10:41

Colder is a horror mini-series from Dark Horse Comics.  It is a stand alone, so there's no need for extensive reading before you pick the book up.  However, once you're done with it, you'll want to tell people about it.  That's where you'll have the real problem.

Colder is a very difficult story to describe.  It is obvious, even from the cover, that it is a horror story, however there's a lot more to it than that.  Colder is about a young nurse named Reece who has taken in a patient with a strange condition.  His name is Declan and while he's not in a coma (he eats, he showers), he doesn't respond to any outside stimuli.  He just sits in a chair all day staring at the wall...and getting colder.  And that's the real puzzle to Declan's condition, his body runs at forty-seven degrees.  After years of staying still, Declan is finally motivated to break his silence to Reece when he is approached by Nimble Jack, a creature that feeds on insanity.

As it turns out, Nimble Jack is the one that started Declan growing colder, and is back to feast on the insanity that Declan has been brewing all of these years.  Now, Declan has to explain to Reece before Nimble Jack makes a meal of both of them.

Confused yet?  Well, I think some of that is intentional on Paul Tobin's part in the writing.  He makes a point of giving you only a fraction of the information at any given time.  Just understanding who and what the central elements of the story are is difficult, and it's bound to take you at least three issues to even get your bearing.  That's all part of the ride in Colder.  If you enjoy the feeling of trying to keep up, the book can be a lot of fun.  However, if you're like me, you're going to want a lot more of the explanation and mythology of the story than is ever really explained.

There are two central problems with the story.  I've already touched on the first in that there's just not enough explanation.  In the final issue of the miniseries when Declan starts to figure things out and strike back at Nimble Jack, his actions seem to come out of left field.  We're not sure why he's doing things, though he seems somehow confident that they will work.  I don't feel like we ever know what it is that he's sure that he knows, even after the conclusion of the story.  Essentially, being off balance in the beginning can be nice, but by the end it still feels like things are happening with no real justification or explanation.  It left me feeling like I had wasted time trying to understand.

The other issue may not be altogether bad, but soured the story a bit for me.  The fact is, Nimble Jack is far and away the most interesting character in the story.  He is extremely fun to read.  He has the horror movie monster quality of being able to go wherever, whenever, and pop up in places you don't expect.  Then, we pair that with a manner of speaking and acting that reminds me of The Joker or Puck.  Every scene he's in he steals.  He's downright fascinating.  When you put him against Declan who has literally been faking a coma to hide from him for the better part of a century and whose primary method of combating Jack is to hit him repeatedly and to little effect, you start to wonder who you should be cheering for.

For the entire first issue, Declan doesn't talk.  For most of the second and third, he's never able to say anything coherent without Reece interrupting him.  By the fourth and fifth issue when he's making his transition to hero, he'd already lost me.  Usually the answer to this is to put the girl in danger make me care that he saves her.  Naturally, that's what happens.  However, Reece isn't too interesting either.  The best moments for her character aren't given to us until the final fight, when Declan has flashbacks to tell us why he cares so much if she gets devoured by Jack.  Overall, neither character has very strong dialog and that's part of what makes them difficult to really care about.

The real stars of this show are Nimble Jack and Juan Ferreyra.  From the creepiness of Nimble Jack to the downright disturbing covers, Ferreyra's art is on point in every panel of every page.  While I'm usually quick to dismiss the overall importance of covers on a book, these covers capture both the characters and the feel of the book exceptionally well.  When you look at the cover to issue 1, you should immediately have one of two reactions.  If it pulls you in, this book is for you.  If you feel like throwing up, it's probably best that you step away.  

Ferreyra's art is stronger the stranger and more disturbing things get.  Consequently, that means that the book gets better and better as you go.  There were several pages in this book where I felt myself just pausing to go back and look at the art.

In short, Colder is an imperfect mini-series.  While the art entranced me and the character of Nimble Jack drove the story for me, I felt the two protagonists came off as a little flat and really would have enjoyed a bit more delving into the mythology of the Hungry World.

Rating: 7.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12