Colder Series Review

Title:	Colder
Contributors:	Paul Tobin Juan Ferrera
Publisher:	Dark Horse
Issue #:	1 - 5
Year:	2012
Pages:	152 Pages
Age Rating:	16+ (Language, Violence, Gore, Adult Themes)
Story Grade:	B
Art Grade:	B

In a bazaar tale of the supernatural meets Cuckoo's Nest, comes the tale of one man's journey from insanity to becoming the savior of his savior through his war with the supernatural. Reading this series is like playing a halo with a bunch of 12 year-olds, a lot of randomness and bouncing around, but it was still a fun read, just a little chaotic at times.

The story is about an man, Declan (pronounced Deck-Lan), who was interned at an asylum where a fire broke out. During the fire Declan encountered Nimble Jack, a supernatural being who feeds off the insanity of humans. Nimble Jack touches Declan and speaks one simple word, Colder, and from that moment forward Declan never speaks another word.

At this point things get weird.

Declan now has a body temp that's actually lower than even the ambient temperature of the environment he is in. Declan gets checked out of the asylum into the care of a woman named Reece, who is a complete stranger and who just so happened to feel that it was important to provide a home for a complete stranger from an insane asylum. Yeah, big plot holes are everywhere in this series,  but it's still fun and worth a read. Fun, but filled with implausibilities and weirdness.

It looks like Tobin had fun in writing this story and the fun comes through every page. Where Tobin succeeds is that Tobin doesn't feel the need to explain everything little thing about every little thing. Tobin treats the readers like they are intelligent people who can use their own imagination to fill in the blanks. This is what makes good horror, well... good horror. It is scary not knowing what is coming at you from the bushes. But finding out it is a little rabbit making that big noise, what's so scary about that.

The artwork is a fantastic blend of supernatural fantasy mixed with contemporary modernization. If Tobin had fun writing the story, Ferrera must have a College Toga Party's worth of fun drawing it. While there are some minor issues with art, mainly in the consistency of rendering facial structure, the artwork is stunning. especially when Nimble Jack feeds. I love love love the coloring in this book.

If you are looking for a fun, horror-based, read then this short series is likely right for you. I graded this book a B. The artwork is definitely worthy of an B due to some issues, but the story gets dinged on some plot holes that make it hard to suspend my belief system. But again, it is still worth a read so check it out.

Until next time... Remember that below 95º F hypothermia has already set in.