REVIEW: 'Everfrost' #3 by Ryan K. Lindsay, Sami Kivela, and Lauren Affe

Off to a creepy ice island out on the frozen ocean - what could go wrong there?

EVERFROST #3

Writer: Ryan K Lindsay

Artist: Sami Kivela, Lauren Affe

Letters: Jim Campbell

Publisher: Black Mask Studios

Release Date: August 25, 2021

Cover Price: $3.99

Van teams up with the Bloom to find some answers, which is *possible* when you end up in the place where answers go to die, but no one's going to have a good time of it. Van is going to discover that this future hellscape is dynamic enough that it can be tailored just for you.

Ryan K. Lindsey, award-winning writer of ETERNAL and NEGATIVE SPACE, teams again with Sami Kivela, the artistic juggernaut behind ABBOTT and UNDONE BY BLOOD, alongside Lauren Affe, the colourist of THE WITCHER, STRANGER THINGS, and FIVE GHOSTS, as they drop an absolute bomb of sci-fi insanity and heartbreaking emotion in the grandest Black Mask tradition.

Score:

★★★★☆ (4/5)

Van just shocked her allies who brought her into their stronghold and killed their leader. To say that's awkward is an understatement. In Van's defense, it was another clone of her son and she just wasn't having it. She's trying to retrieve his code so he's no longer cloned before she finds a way off the planet but the war between the Bloom and the Ward Regime has escalated and she's trapped in the middle. 

Van's journey has been an emotional one. After the murder of her son by her husband set her on a path of self-exile and reflection, leaving civilization behind for a remote part of this frozen dystopia. Much like Doctor Manhattan in 'Watchmen,' Van is "...tired of Earth. These people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."But her plans to get away by using the energy in the carcass of a giant that landed eons ago are put on hold as she joins the resistance to mainly serve her goals. 

Ryan K. Lindsay paints a sympathetic figure in Van who also can wield a big-ass sword when needed, and she needs to, a lot in this issue. The pain we see in Van every time a clone of her son appears is palpable, a reminder of what's she fighting for, and the search for peace in his memory is a constant thread in the series. It's a heartbreaking plot point that finds her killing one clone after another and for the reader, it's hard to imagine a tougher situation. Her and the Bloom fighters' foray into the Ward-controlled island sets up a whole new adversary that I won't spoil here. It is, however, a surprising new twist that has Van bargaining with the devil. 

Sami Kivela and Lauren Affe continue to do a fantastic job of bringing this peculiar frozen dystopia to life. While the character designs are extremely well-thought-out and unique, some of the landscapes in this issue are simply breathtaking. A city island partly covered in ice as high a skyscraper connected by a frozen body of water is one of the highlights. 

'Everfrost' continues to surprise with action and pathos that hit new highs in issue three. Van's journey to confiscate her son's code from being cloned takes new twists that change things in unexpected ways. Lindsay and Kivela deliver an emotional but exciting new chapter in this unique sci-fi action thriller.