Snow angels

There are three rules to living in the trench: it provides, no one leaves, and it is endless. Milliken lives in the trench with her father and younger sister, Mae Mae. When the trio arrives back at their camp after a hunting trip, they find everyone else dead. Furthermore, the legend of the Snowman (described by Milli as "death incarnate") is true, and he is seeking vengeance because someone has broken the rules. Artist Jock uses a mostly blue-gray and white palette to depict the characters and their dystopian tundra landscape; the more violent scenes stand out as they are accented in red. The illustrations are detailed, especially the characters, while the setting is somewhat hazy, as is the landscape, adding to the sense of place. This first volume ends on a major cliffhanger, and readers will be eager to get their hands on volume two. In the meantime, recommend Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette's Snowpiercer series for those who like the icy environment, and Jonathan Maberry's Rot & Ruin comic series for those who like stories about teen survivors.

The gripping first volume of this postapocalyptic adventure by Lemire (the Sweet Tooth series) and Jock (the Batman series) hurls readers into a snowbound world where 12-year-old Milliken, her younger sister Mae Mae, and their father hunt on skates through a seemingly endless ice trench. Milliken's father has taught her the rules of survival and legends of the "Colden Ones" who created the Trench, but after their village is destroyed she discovers that much of what she's believed is wrong. With nowhere else to go, the family sets out into the far reaches of the Trench and the hunting grounds of a killer called the Snowman. Jock's snow-spattered art immerses the reader in the textures of ice, snow, wind, and fur as the characters struggle through a hostile, predatory landscape. The plot moves quickly, throwing the family into one life-or-death situation after another and setting up mysteries that remain open to explore in the next volume. It's an appropriately chilling, action-packed, and stunningly drawn dystopian icecapade that will leave readers wanting more. (Feb.)