This issue is not at all what it appears. We get a deeper look at the reason why Hannah’s dad is no longer in Hannah’s life, and we also see a lot of sinister things at play. It is the start of a new arch, and it’s already getting weird. Now that the previous 5 issue story arch has been completed and the Hannahs have entered into this dimension through the fracture, things are about to get wild. I do not doubt that once they realize the truth of what’s going on, and meet the man that is their father, all hell will break loose and the sky will be filled with blood and bullets. Until then, however, we start with a slow issue that introduces new characters such as; Dr. Gohel, an evil-looking Sargeant, a 7-year-old Hannah, and the man that is Hannah’s father. This particular is a weird trip, mixes reality, and reads a bit distorted in terms of pacing and time, however, there are a few key elements that put things into alignment. For example, when we go back into the past and experience things through a flashback, we see a little plush (very noticeable) penguin that denotes that Hannah is in fact in a flashback of her life, however when we go back into the house and Hannah is still 7 years old but the penguin is nowhere to be found we can infer that she is living in a simulation instead of experiencing a memory.
Pacing-wise, this feels a little bit weird than previous issues. I will not make any wild accusations and say that Simon Birks could be losing his thread as the story progresses because, in the past, Antarctica has been known to shut me right up, at the perfect moment. That being said, I feel as though 7-year-old Hannah isn’t speaking like a true 7-year-old, and it felt a little weird and uncanny to read her word balloons while she conversed with her father. Now, could this mean that Simon is planning to reveal that the kid is an alien, or a robot, or something weirder? Maybe, I wouldn’t put it past Antarctica to give us such an unexpected twist. The Tone of the story is relatively expositional, and there isn’t truly anything happening other than a few interesting panels and pages here and there. This is bound to happen when you are setting up the pieces of a new story arc, and I will focus on the interesting things being set up instead of harping on how it might have been a little boring. Two really interesting moments stood out to me, and while they were not explained because this is only issue 1 in the new arc, I feel that they will be major plotlines in the upcoming issues. The first moment happens when 7-year-old Hannah is staring out of her window and notices that at 14:56, a bird flies in; at 14:58 he gets a worm, and at 15:00 on the dot, the bird vanishes. This very interesting page makes me feel that Hannah is in some sort of simulation of her memory and we’re not seeing a flashback. It also makes me think that Hannah could be getting clued into what is going on around her and is slowly realizing that not everything is what it seems. The next moment that seems very interesting to me, is when Hannah’s father is walking towards a similar portal to the one that the team jumped into, and out from it come a bunch of weirdly masked characters. They look like they are in futuristic gimp outfits and they look creepy. They aren’t talking and no one explains who or what they are, but I have an inkling that they are going to be this arch’s main villains.
This new arc features a lot of drawings of a young Hannah, and I gotta say that I am very pleased to see that the rendition of the younger Hannah has improved greatly, she looks super cute and I love that baggy unicorn sweater she’s wearing cool and simple design. There were some awesome angles on this issue as well, one of my favorites has to be the one where she’s on the ground playing with her plush toys and we’re looking up at her dad running into the room. It’s such a close and pure panel, that is juxtaposed greatly with the face of her dad running incredibly stressed into the room. As far as character design goes, my hat comes off for the designs of the evil Captain Man, and Dr.Gohel, I think she looks awesome and the diamond on her forehead goes a long way toward giving us even more racial diversity which is wonderful, because this series has a lot of characters from a lot of different places and it is not always a given with modern media that so many different ethnicities. In that regard, artist Willi Roberts has a fantastic way of representing each character and even with just their design, they can give you a deeper context into who the character is. Already from the way she wears a fluffy cot with a white trim, you feel like she’s not at all a bad character. In contrast, the Captain just looks evil. The pointed hairstyle, the high cheekbones, and the 8-red button double-breasted suit with matching red shoulder pads is intimidating, this man is not to be messed with. One last thing I have to say about this issue’s art is that it is great to see the different environments. Between the house interior and the laboratory, we can see two wonderful worlds of home and science merge into one cohesive set piece that coexist in harmony with one another. The wooden floors versus the white tiles strewn with wires make for a constant visual cue that reminds us of where we are at any given point in the story.
Letting continues to work very well, and even though the less action we get we are treated to less and less sound FX (simply because they wouldn’t fit in with the tone of the story) we still get a few nice ones here and there. That being said, I think the BUURP! we got this time around could have been a tiny bit better. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good and it features the style we know and love from previous Antarctica chapters, however had this BUURP! been a tiny bit wavier or perhaps with a few more U’s that could make the wave that much more noticeable, its effect would have hit a lot harder than it did. It’s a nice moment regardless and it serves a tiny bit of comedic timing in an otherwise serious entry into the franchise.
Did I like this issue? Sure. Is it however one of my favorites? Not by a long shot. With that in mind though, it is important to understand that writing can often feel like playing chess with your viewers. To get to the checkmate, first, you need to move your pawns out of the way so that you can let the big hitters do their thing on the board. This feels like a first move in the chess board, where the writer Simon Birks is laying out his [awns and putting together the winning strategy to seize control of the king that is our interest.
If you’ve been reading Antarctica up to this point, I would suggest you continue. There are some very interesting points being laid out in this issue that will for sure influence the decisions and consequences that will play out in future chapters. However, if you’re just starting, I suggest you go back and read the first 5 issue story arc before jumping into this one. Not only will you be as enthralled by this story as I am, but you will find yourself understanding the impact that having a 7-year-old Hannah in a simulation entails in the overall landscape of the story.
Writing: 4.5 Stars
Art: 4.5 Stars
Colors: 5 Stars
Overall: 4.5 Stars
Written by: Simon Birks
Art by: Willi Roberts
Lettering by: Lyndon White
Cover art by: Willi Roberts
Variant Covers by: Lyndon White
Published by: Top Cow
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