Comics: Cold War #2 - Reviewed

Cold War #2 is out now

New from AfterShock Comics is Cold War #2, a hyper-violent dystopian tale filled with over-the-top action and screaming bodiless robots that is both brutally crafted by Christopher Sebela and beautifully drawn by Hayden Sherman. Co-Created by Sebela and Sherman, Cold War is an absolutely insane battle between humans and robots that is reminiscent of Altered Carbon, Demolition Man, and Starship Troopers.

The Cryonauts have been in a cryogenic sleep for hundreds of years and are now being woken up to a new world, one in which they imagined would be better than the one that they left. Instead, they’re in for a rather rude awakening, as they are thrust into a war against an unknown enemy. They are provided with the same materials; a special uniform that can heal small wounds and auto-cauterize severed limbs, a weapon that runs on nanoballistics, and a diagnostic helmet that contains indexes of their old lives. Issue one mainly focuses on Tom Rook, a hardened former soldier who is built to thrive and survive in this harsh world of war. The first issue ends with a surprising twist that should have left readers looking forward to seeing what would happen in issue 2.

Issue 2 finds the group of remaining soldiers fighting robots with human heads and alien-like creatures, all while scrambling for survival. The main story in this issue is devoted to the grandmother Vinh, detailing her past life and the vengeful reason of why she choose to be cryogenically frozen. We discover a little bit more about this world and the enemies that the cryonauts are facing, but only enough to leave us seeking out the next issue to learn more.

Aside from the never-ending orgy of violence, the true showcase of Cold War is the outstanding art and colors from Sherman. His style is totally unique from anything that you would expect to see from the major comic studios, and resembles something more from the era of underground comics from the ‘70s. It's a refreshing change of pace. The art is gritty and the characters are less detailed, with more focus being put on the heavy colored shapes of their bodies. The faces often contain the only points of detail and line work. The colors are superb and feature blacks and oranges, juxtaposed with panels that look like they came from a newspaper comic or from a three-color screen print.

Cold War is a must read for fans of ultra-violence or sci-fi dystopias. It is action-packed and totally over-the-top, featuring the terrific art from Sherman. I cannot wait to see what happens next.