I managed to split up the sequel comic to Giants over the span of a few days, compared to having read through the first five volumes within one sitting. I wanted to give it a bit more time and see if I found this sequel to be something that actually expands upon the first and fixes any of the problems I had with the first. In the review of the first comic, I mentioned that it had beautiful art, but unfortunately ended way too soon just as things were really getting interesting. It had a narrative that somewhat lost me despite having so many interesting elements to it that ended up simply glanced over for the most part. Giants: Ghosts of Winter was a sequel I had hoped would serve more purpose in exploring the world the story inhabits, removing some of the personal drama that surrounded the first. In the first one, the story focused on two young teens that had reached the frozen surface of a world plagued with giant insects and monsters, with a material of high value key to survival that needed to be accumulated. Things go bad and the two characters go different ways, leading to conflict later on. This was where things went south a bit for me, I wanted to see more depth. Ghosts of Winter is set a little bit more into the future, and focuses on the same characters in the first as they navigate throughout the froze wasteland in search of a new place to call home.
I found that this sequel had a lot of influences from other big franchises that the comic had pulled interest from, and a lot of this was referenced in the art style and locations that ended up holding some importance to the story's motion. One location had the characters go into a tunnel, riddled with cars and dark. It really reminded me of 28 Days Later when they travel through the tunnel, get a little trapped, and have a race against time to escape. A lot of zombie films throughout the years use tunnels as a place of claustrophobia for the characters, leading to a struggle and race against time. I also found great similarities to the western Godzilla films of recent years, this was met with a lot of similar monster designs, as well as scenes that featured paratroopers that would descend from the clouds into a war zone of gigantic creatures. Similar features were found here, but I think they were handled well and didn't seem like blatant copies, but definitely added a bit more weight to the story as things felt more fast and serious compared to the previous comic. Especially with the characters finding a new group of survivors that seemed to have things locked down a bit more. Stocked up with weapons and various bits of gear that helped them traverse through the city barely noticed. Always a step ahead.
It was in these higher tension moments that the colours in the panels really became more vibrant, significantly more interesting. I liked that contrast between the more blue and white panels as the characters traversed through the harsher snowy environments in the city, mixed with the warmer aspects of danger and thrills. A lot of this action is, much like the Godzilla titles, showing the perspectives of those on the ground. The struggles they have to survive amidst the chaos of gigantic creatures fighting, towering over the city. The perspectives often showing us looking up at them from the ground. I quite liked this aspect of things, the scale that the comic ensures we feel, and of course the danger that is felt from the perspectives of survivors caught in the middle. Especially when they have the task of trying to take one of those gigantic creatures down, which required finding a way to climb on top of it, scaling the thing as it moves and fights something of equal scale.
Even with the action, the comic this time focused more on the struggles between survivors as ideologies clash. One side believes they can coexist with the giants, which keep the smaller monsters at bay. In the previous comic it was made clear that the larger ones rarely had interest in people, mostly fighting with the smaller ones and otherwise leaving the humans alone. There was this feeling of natural balance that was felt, and how people were trying to essentially play God against a group of monsters that otherwise couldn't be controlled, assuming that taking down the largest of them all would somehow make things easier on them. The comic was shown previously to be something more metaphorical, something on how people grow and adapt. I could see the same thing happening here, being on how people should learn to adapt and coexist with things that may seem threatening in life, but are otherwise harmless. This realisation that trying to control nature would otherwise lead to more disruption and bad than simply leaving it alone. Interesting ideas, but nothing majorly deep if you know what I mean.
I think the sequel was significantly more interesting than the first one, not just due to the themes, but the fact that it felt like each panel actually had something to it. Whether it was the faster and constant motion and action, or the drama that unfolds in the middle of it all. The environments are constantly shifting through all of this, showing the characters in their weakest moments, always having to move forward as mistakes from others are made. The art also felt a lot cooler, more unique perspectives and more utilisation of colour that made the panels stand out. From the tones used in the action panels to the environmental colours that showed the various industrial and commercial zones of cities. I quite liked that some panels would have a specific dominant colour while others would feature many more. It meant that the art wasn't too focused on being so colourful all the time, and instead where it mattered the most. They definitely improved everything from the first comic, and this one is definitely my favourite of the two.
Woah. This looks....really really good. Where can I read it? Is it like a pdf or..?
Comics are mostly cbz files but you can get those from pretty much any place that sells comics digitally. Just google it and see what storefronts come up for you.
@namiks, I'm refunding 0.338 HIVE and 0.110 HBD, because there are no comments to reward.