Writer: Simon Birks
Artist, Colorist, & Cover A Artist: Willi Roberts
Letterer & Cover B Artist: Lyndon White
San Diego Comic-Con Cover Artist: Abigail Harding
Publisher: Image Comics (Top Cow)
Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 12, 2023
Each time her father's job took him away, Hannah looked forward to his return. At least until the day he didn't when her world fell apart. Lost in a bottle, she ended up on the street. Can she find a way to reclaim what she lost and become someone her father would have been proud of? Let’s dig into Antarctica #1 and find out!
Story
Homeless, Hannah steals and hurts people to get money for her next drink. One day, the owner of a coffee shop offers her a deal: if she takes a class at the local technical college, he'll give her a place to live. His concern prompts her to survey what's on offer. Once, she dreamed of becoming a scientist. Yet, she realizes that getting her hands greasy appeals to her. So she throws herself into the Mechanic Assistant course. In time this gives her the idea to search for her father. She’d heard him speak about Antarctica. Perhaps that was where he had worked before his employers declared him lost.
There's no mention of Hannah's mother or who cared for her when her father's work took him away. I also wondered why learning more technical skills held no appeal. Antarctica #1 left me pondering how she converted her Mechanic Assistant course into graduating with an Engineering degree.
Art
Hannah destroyed her childhood toys when she lost her father. Sinking into alcoholism made her hair turn white. Jim's caring cuts through her façade. Figuring out how to repair engines and coffee equipment gives her determination and a purpose.
Hannah grew up in the suburbs, lived on the streets, and often sat outside Jim's coffee shop. Her friend's café looks like your typical roastery or diner. The architecture, bridges, and vehicles in Antarctica #1 give scant clues that she lives anywhere other than the United States. Yet eagle-eyed readers will notice a red, double-decker bus drive past the technical college, and envelopes accompanying application forms read British Antarctic Research Company. While Willi Robert’s art doesn’t scream of England, writer Simon Birks lives in Scotland. Perhaps that’s where Hannah lives too.
When she accompanies her coworker Matteo out into the cold for the first time, Hannah wears an outfit—bearing a Union Jack--designed to protect her against Antarctica's harsh extremes. Yet when she returns to the blizzard-like conditions, she foregoes her hat and goggles and wears a black, monogrammed fleece jacket. The cover for Antarctica #2 shows her wearing this jacket and clutching a semiautomatic pistol. I'm guessing that exciting times lay ahead for Hannah.
Final Thoughts
Gorgeous art envelopes you like Hannah's father's arms as you sink into Antarctica #1's warm embrace. Although dialogue balloons reveal select conversations, the diary-style narrative summarizes Hannah's lost years and how grit and determination—aided by a friend's kindness—propels Hannah to Earth’s least visited continent.
8.6/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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