Blow Away #1 Review

 

Writer: Zac Thompson

Artist: Nicola Izzo

Colorist: Francesco Segala & Gloria Martinelli

Letterer: D. C. Hopkins

Cover Artists: Annie Wu, Tyler Boss, and Tula Lotay with Dee Cunniffe

Publisher: Boom!

Price: $4.99

Release Date: April 17, 2024

 

Brynne Brautigan traveled to Baffin Island in Canada. Her mission: to capture footage of nesting Red Knots. Alone in the arctic wilderness, her focus wanders. Will Brynne complete her documentary before the helicopter arrives to return her to civilization? Let's bundle up, leap into Blow Away #1, and see what happens!

 

Story

Brynne ventures onto the snow to reposition cameras and change memory cards. Then, she returns to examine the previous day's shots. GEM+ commissioned her to get coverage of the environment. She hunts for a scoop that will make her a star.

 

After forty-plus days alone, Brynne tires of studying her monitors. Yet the clock is ticking in Blow Away #1. Soon, the ice will thaw, and the endangered birds will abandon the area. Brynne dreads calling her producer. So when she checks in late, Matt Reznor gives her a drop-dead date. Then he’s sending the helicopter whether she’s ready or not.

 

With little time remaining, she’s hungry for a great story. So when two hikers appear, Brynne decides to multitask. But isolation and long hours make her careless. Or perhaps she’s just brave. Others have paid the price for her hunger for headlines. This time, Brynne could pay the price for her careless disregard for safety.

 

In Blow Away #1, Zac Thompson transports us to the edge of the world. Brynne spends her days gazing at Mount Asgard. After an encounter with a polar bear, an animal believed by native peoples to serve as an intermediary between Humans and the gods, Brynne spots two climbers. Like brothers, they help each other. Yet, like brothers, they also fight.

 

Brynne senses a mystery. But does she have the time to solve it?

 

Art

Snow assails Brynne, clad in her thick parka. She gazes through sunglasses as she checks her camera equipment. Nicola Izzo captures Mount Asgard's vast size in Blow Away #1. Izzo imbues the snowfields with a sorrowful feeling as Brynne races past crevasses on her snowmobile.

 

Is Brynne wrong about the Red Knots nesting on Mount Asgard? Sixteen images stretch longitudinally across two pages like a photography contact sheet. Two images capture the elusive birds. The remainder only shows the mountain and sled dogs pulling a hunter across the snow. Might the endangered birds be nesting on Mount Odin instead?

 

Inside her squat cabin on stilts, Brynne studies two monitors. Disposable cups of coffee proliferate as she perches on the edge of her chair. Instead of searching for the birds, Brynne studies the climbers. She denotes their personalities from their actions and appearances. The one with long, black hair seems nervous as he climbs. His blond companion, sporting a beard, seems more at home on the steep mountainside.

 

Francesco Segala & Gloria Martinelli color Baffin Island in white, blue, and green. White dominates, as you would expect, amid the constant snowstorms. Yellow, orange, brown, and purple claim cabin interiors, while the colors on her monitors serve as windows to the outside world. Yet red marks its territory in Blow Away #1. One climber wears a red jacket. But we notice it most when blood sprays and covers bodies. Then there’s the trail of red that Brynne follows when she risks her life to help someone in need.

 

D. C. Hopkins slots frail black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. Inflection makes words bold or introduces color changes. Enormous white letters help us hear sounds and the howling wind, while their red cousins accompany a soul in pain.

 

Thanks to Boom! Studios for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Reality and mythology merge as a photographer seeks a killer scoop amid whiteout conditions on the mountain James Bond once skied off in Blow Away #1.

 

Rating 8.6/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.