Winter City #3 -Review

Winter City
Patrick Purcell: Producer, Letterer, Co-Writer
Carl Purcell: Co-Writer
Pablo Verdugo Munoz: Pencils & Inks, Covers
David Aravena Riquelme: Colourist Rating: 8/10


Volume 3 opens with a news report to recap the events of the last two issues, namely, the murders of Alan McLean, and Franklin Skyles. Having this recap on the news is a familiar touch; often utilized in other Noir stories and it serves its purpose well, both reminding readers of the previous events without having to break the flow of the story, and re-establishing the setting and tone of the rest of the issue.

On the next page the action then moves into Sam’s past. Now at age twelve Sam’s become “pretty quick for a scrawny bastard” at killing pigs. For some reason his uncle seems to be an accomplished blacksmith, with some quality arms and armour in his smithy, possibly shedding some light onto how Sam’s so well equipped as an adult, and making his uncle seem crazier than ever. His uncle gives him another no-holds-barred-beat-down, and then goes inside to drink some green (probably alcoholic) liquids, while lamenting how “the boy doesn't listen”. Uncle Norman seems like a very familiar character, you know the one, the aggressive loud-mouth bully who dies (and always dies). So, I'm betting he’ll die in a gory, appropriate, and ironic way; strung up and stuck like a pig maybe?


What’s really interesting about these flashbacks is they show the first instances of Sam’s loss of sanity, with the green captions and font we associate with his adult persona. As he comes to realise that his uncle is, “just meat” and slowly begins to harden his knuckles by punching the sap* out of a tree


The story then progresses onwards, reconnecting with the ending of the last issue; the hunt for the conspirator Donald Swanson What I really liked about this part was the attention to detail in this page:

That’s actually a fairly faithful recreation of the actual poster to ‘La Dolce Vita’.

The usage of the colour green making it seem as though Donald was being illuminated by Death’s gaze, the big blade on the back of his forearm, and Donald’s terror make this a *ahem* killer page. It really makes me wonder though why green? Again, it remind me of Raziel and Spawn, and makes me think of The Matrix as well. While the story isn't an insane techno-thriller (yet?) I like to think that there’s some symbolism in the presence of this colour, particularly how it seems to permeate every one of Death’s scenes. Or it could just be, as they say on TV Tropes, rule of cool.


Unfortunately there’s not much more I can say here without spoiling the rest of the story, but I’ll say this: These comics are great! They look good, read well, and I hope the next issue comes along as soon as possible.

Sure beats any welcome rug I've ever seen.

*Horrible pun intended.

Originally written for and posted on Comikkazee.
Posted on the 20th of June, 2012