Graphic Novel Review: WHITEOUT (Vol. 2) – MELT

With the theatrical adaptation of the original WHITEOUT graphic novel comes renewed interest in creators Greg Rucka & Steve Lieber’s (writer and illustrator, respectfully) work and the second adventure of U.S. Marshall Carrie Stetko in the cold death of Antarctica. It this second series Carrie is enjoying a little R&R when she is called back into service to investigate a tragedy at a Russian research facility. Antarctica is a cold place and it is up to Carrie to use her experience to discover what happened before an International incident occurs.

It doesn’t take long before Carrie discovers that the Russian research facility is really an underground depot that houses illegal weapons and nuclear warheads which have been stolen by a group of professional assassins. Now Carrie has to form an unwilling alliance with a Russian official in order to stop the assassins from escaping the Antarctic and sailing the nukes on the black market. Carrie is racing against time and the harsh weather that the Antarctic brings with it and either the assassins or the weather may be the death of her.

Rucka & Lieber craft another compelling story of one of the most interesting U.S. Marshall’s in comic book history. Like the first story, Rucka crafts a story in which Antarctica is the true character and all the other people in the story are just animals finding a way a way to survive in one of the harshest places on the planet. Another great aspect of the story is all the history that Rucka puts in the story that creates not only the place in which the story takes place but the mood and atmosphere which helps ground the story in reality. Lieber’s artwork accentuates this and together the two craft a story that’s just as compelling as the original graphic novel.

Even though the film WHITEOUT was a sparse version of the original graphic novel it allowed these stories to find a wider audience and that’s a great thing.