Cold Cut Distribution's Feature Spotlight #40 - June 1999
Whiteout
| Publisher: | Oni Press |
| Writer: | Greg Rucka |
| Artist: | Steve Lieber |
| Cover Price: | $2.95 |
| Frequency: | Mini-series |
| Issues Available: | 4 + TPB |
Storyline:
As the only U.S. Marshal (and just a deputy, at that) on base
at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Carrie Stetko is the sole
representative of American law in that remote, isolated land. Not that
there's much law-enforcing to do on the bottom of the world - it's
just a bunch of scientists riding out the cold weather, cracking
jokes and making up nicknames to keep themselves sane. It's not
the "Naval Support Force Antarctica" (NSFA) to the locals - it's
"No Sex For Awhile". Deputy Marshal Stetko, it's rumored, has
been exiled down to that Antarctic post for some unspecified
trouble she got into up north. But unless she figures out why only
a lone, mutilated body has just been found where there should
have been a whole research base, she's probably going to have a
lot more trouble on her hands - and there'll be a new nickname
making the rounds of the South Pole: McMurder Station.
Writing Review:
Greg Rucka, a successful mystery novelist, applies his
storytelling talents to comics, with marvelous results. Whiteout is an
exciting, gripping adventure with twists and turns on nearly every
page. Carrie Stetko is a realistic, driven character, and her cohorts
in the frozen wastes are no less well drawn, from the enigmatic
British Ms. Sharpe to the long-haired American doctor. The
dialogue is real and powerful, the mystery puzzling and frustrating,
the danger very real. A superb mystery, and perfectly suited to
comics - bravo for Mr. Rucka!
![[ panel from Whiteout ]](images/whiteoutweb.gif)
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Art ©1998 by Steve Lieber
Art Review:
Did I say this story is perfectly suited to comics? Let me be more
specific: it's perfectly suited to Steve Lieber. Lieber's
straightforward presentation at once expresses the unending whiteness and
the run-down dinginess of life at the South Pole. The characters
may not be "beautiful", but they perfectly suit their personalities:
Stetko's ambivalence and driving force, Sharpe's reticence,
they're all captured exactly. Lieber's art plays fair with the
audience - it's easy to follow, and presents not only the facts but also
the people involved with a true eye. Excellent job - and a perfect
match with Rucka's great story.
Audience:
Whiteout is one of the best comics of 1998, now being collected
into one of the best graphic novels of 1999 (just released in May).
A solid, gripping, mystery with action galore and Antarctic
exploration adventure, Whiteout will appeal to all mystery
readers (fans of Bulletproof and other Known Associates books, or
Ms. Tree, Detectives, Inc., and so forth), as well as fans of
unusual and gripping adventure - try this out with readers of
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, or X-Files, for instance.Of
course, Sin City readers will lap up another great hardboiled
mystery like this one! I predict solid sales of this great standalone
mystery - and when your customers inevitably come back for
more, let them know the sequel ("Whiteout: Melt") is in the
works for later this year!
If you like Whiteout, take a look at:
Nemesister
| Publisher: | Cheeky Press |
| Writer: | Laura Behary |
| Artist: | Craig Clark |
| Cover Price: | $2.95 |
| Frequency: | Quarterly |
| Issues Available: | 6 |
Storyline:
Babette Buster is a Los Angeles Private Investigator who keeps
hoping for cases more interesting than the typical "cheating husband"
scenarios she keeps getting. Imagine her pleasure when
she gets a missing person case dropped in her lap - but when she
finds the girl she's tracing in a strip club and dead bodies start
turning up left and right, Babette starts wondering if she's in over
her head. As the rough stuff starts getting close, Babette starts
letting her own internal demon out to play - a strange entity called
Nemesister who takes over her body and turns her into a spike-suited
whip-wielding bad girl. Not exactly your typical PI, I
guess -- and not exactly your typical case of characters, including
a strip club owner who's a former sheriff, a surfer dude who may
be another shape-changing internal-demon owner, and a
persistent assistant who keeps trying to get into Babette's pants.
Writing Review:
A mystery without a resolution, yet, and a sometimes bewilderingly
large cast of characters. The writing ranges from down-and-dirty
private investigator scenes (such as when Babette retreats to
her "out of the way hideaway") to confusing pesudo-mystical
stuff (such as when the surfer-demon-guy appears and tries to kill
Babette). Considering we're six issues into the nine-issue series,
it's a bit disconcerting that we still don't know why Babette
occasionally changes into the whip-girl, or who the surfer dude is, but
the more "normal" part of the mystery seems to be unfolding
nicely, with the missing girl leading to the unraveling of a much
larger crime ring, including murder, bribery, and teenage slavery.
Overall, it's a quality mystery so far - I'm looking forward to
reading the final three issues.
![[ panel from Nemesister ]](images/nemesisterweb.gif)
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Art ©1998 by Craig Clark
Art Review:
Craig Clark has clearly been working in Hollywood for a while;
he has a clear animation style and a fondness for shadows and
light. His art may sometimes seem a bit too cartoony for the
material, and the rendering of people, faces in particular,
occasionally comes off uneven - but by and large the contrasts, clean
lines, offbeat angles, and minimal backgrounds reminds one of
great cartoons like "Batman: TAS". The cover art is uniformly
excellent: artistic and eye-catching. Overall, a good package.
Audience:
Nemesister is a mystery story with a comic-book-style twist, a PI
who can mysteriously transform into a bad girl. This should sell
to fans of mysteries (like Bulletproof or Whiteout), action
cartoons like "Batman" and "Superman", and offbeat story-driven
bad girl books like Cavewoman, Lady Rawhide, and the
short-lived Wicked. Published roughly quarterly, around the busy
schedules of both Behary and Clark (who both work in the
Hollywood film industry), issue 7 of 9 is due out around June.
If you like Nemesister, take a look at:
Cold Cut Distribution
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