Whiteout: Melt – 1999-2000 (Oni Press) – Mystery, Thriller
Author: Greg Rucka
Art: Steve Lieber
Series Contents: Whiteout: Melt #1-4
Welcome back to the arctic. As a new explosive event occurs, a familiar face is pulled back into the frigid fray.
Story:
Heading back into historical expeditions into the arctic, the year 1912 is a focal point. A successful trek into this undiscovered land is punctuated by a storm that killed everyone. As other stories are covered over time, eventually we hit this very day, and some bloody murder again happening.
A team of men in full suits and masks slash throats and murder research staff at a Russian outpost. It is clear they want zero survivors. They have a target, and look to take resources of some kind, and are watched by one of the researchers off in the distance out on the ice. He runs away, needing to get the word out…
Deputy U.S. Marshall Carrie Stetko has left the arctic however, and is enjoying the warm and green of the non-frozen rest of the world. As she relaxes in Christchurch, she is informed about an incident at Tayshetskaya, the Russian research center in Wilkes Land, deep in the eastern arctic. As the station has been reported exploded and gone, she has questions…
Join Carrie Stetko as she heads back onto the frozen ice to discover what happened in this incident. What will be found this time, and how does it tie to the land’s history? What challenges will she find, what will she learn about herself, and how will she survive the experience?
Art:
Art is same on this volume as the first, and still black and white. It remains a fitting accompaniment to the story.
Reasons to Read:
If you liked the first, then this is a natural continuation. No reason not to hit it up as it also is another short and fast read. There are compendium versions of Whiteout available also which contain both stories, or all 8 issues. While there was a rumored Whiteout: Thaw that Rucka was working on, it has never hit shelves.
Similar Titles:
Whiteout; Where the Body Was; Criminal; Velvet; Queen & Country; A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance; Houses of the Unholy; Night Fever; The One Hand & The Six Fingers