EDENFROST

Tishler offers a collection of historical war comics with a supernatural touch.

This book brings together the first four installments of writer Tishler’s titular comic series, starting in media res with a young narrator, Yuli, recalling a memory of her mother. Their hometown, her mom said, was Eden, and its wintertime, when everything was cold and dead, was just a temporary “Edenfrost.” Beneath this opening voiceover are images of a burning village, dead soldiers in the snow, and Yuli’s brother, Alex, carrying her on his back. The story is set during the Russian Civil War in the early 20th century, when the siblings are desperate to reach their extended family in Kyiv. On their trail are Lt. Col. Krasnov and Lt. Belov of the White Army,who’ve been informed of a “monster made of rock and ice” that once came to the kids’ rescue. With the stakes firmly established, the series moves between the doe-eyed, determined sister and brother and the imperious officers chasing them. Dream sequences and flashbacks skillfully establish the siblings’ past and unveil the true nature of the “monster”— a Golem that Alex can summon with a talisman around his neck. Alex, it turns out, is still mastering control of the creature, whose voice occasionally intrudes into the boy’s mind, asking to be let out, to take over—and Alex fears its full power. In proper serial fashion, each issue ends with an effectively suspenseful cliffhanger, and readers will likely find it difficult to not devour all four parts in a single sitting. Frenda’s realistic, full-color artwork likewise captivates, sometimes ably carrying the story alone, and rendering various fight and battle sequences with a cinematic flair—albeit with a level of gore that may not be suitable for younger readers. Avid comic-book fans will find that the overall style successfully captures the feeling of classic 20th-century war comics.

An impressive, pulse-pounding start to a new series that will leave readers eager for another compilation.