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.
