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Wasteland #54-56 - Ice Cold Man

By Hervé St-Louis
July 12, 2014 - 19:41

Wasteland is a post-apocalyptic story set a hundred years from the present. Humanity is in disarray and the children of one special man called Adam run amok. Ice Cold Man is the last story-arc of this series by writer Antony Johnston and artist Christopher Mitten. Two of Adam’s children explore the place of their birth. It is a laboratory that scientists used to create them. But what are they looking for?

I came late to this comic book series. In fact, I came so late that I have no clue if the children and their father, Adam are friends or foes. But the good news is that I’m hooked. As they explore the laboratory of their birth, the now adult children can sense some of the past events that happened. So in series of flashback, the reader sees the people responsible for the experiment that gave them life. It’s amazing that this story would be my first. Everything is new. The sense of discovery with this series is at an all time high. I can’t imagine how it would have been if I had had to wait since 2006 to get this kind of pay back on a comic book. If you started reading this series from 2006, kudos to you. I hope that issues 54 to 56 reward your patience.

I enjoy the dread and the unleashing mystery appears page after page. There are many strong characters in this story. One of the scientists working on the experiment, shares important information about the experiment. His son, miles away, is our eyes into this mystery. How Adam’s kids in the present interpret the events of the past has a poetic touch. Humans who tried to save the Earth created a bigger mess in the end. That Adam is a giant reminds me of the creatures in Nausicaä. The planet was on the verge of destruction. Yet men released the giant walkers who scorched the Earth. Here, the planet is again on the verge of destruction. The best solution found is to create super humans from a sleeping giant. What were they thinking? I love it!

I enjoy Christopher Mitten’s work but he sometimes uses a few shortcuts. He reuses some of his drawings in a way that cheapens his work. For example, there is a shot of the test tube babies. He reuses the same baby in a test tube several times. His lines are crisps and wavy. Instead of applying dark inks to the background, he often shades his figures instead. It gives the story a quiet white and light grey feel. It’s cold. Only the textured and rich lines of his work interrupt this start silence. Now that I’m on board for this series, I’m following it through the end. I wonder if they have collected editions of this series. Of course they do!

Rating: 9.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12