After the grief of losing her father, Hannah finds a way to get a job at the Antarctic Research Station he went missing. What will she discover in the coldest place on Earth? Find out in Antarctica #1 from Image Comics!

ANTARCTICA #1

Writer: Simon Birks
Artist: Willi Roberts
Letterer: Lyndon White
Editor: Elena Salcedo
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 12, 2023

Previously in Antarctica: Hannah Curtis’ life starts to fall apart the day her father does not come back from the Smith-Petersen Research Station in Antarctica. After years of living on the streets, a friend helps her start to turn her life around. Little did she know that this would lead her, in turn, to Antarctica!

A LIFE, SUCCINCTLY

Antarctica #1 immediately shows us the deep affection between Hannah and her father ever since she was a little girl. He would be gone for months at work, but he always came home. Until the one day when, finally, he didn’t. He was lost in Antarctica, and Hannah lost herself in grief and anger. She became homeless, and she honed her skills in survival on the street.

Not that she is entirely alone. She has a friend in Jim, a kind young man who runs a coffee shop. He lets her use the bathroom there so she can clean up, a small but important kindness. He brings her clothes from a charity shop, no strings attached. And one day, he brings her a flier for a skills fair at a local technical college. She insists she is not interested, but the one favor he asks of her is that she go and take a look. She may not feel like she has a future, but he wants to show her a possible path to one. He also gives her a key to his shop so she has a place to sleep.

At first, the skills fair does not interest Hannah much. But the presentation on becoming a mechanic’s assistant catches her eye. She pursues this and gets her diploma. But when she returns to the shop to tell Jim, she finds him dead. It was an aneurysm; there was nothing anyone could do.

But having a purpose in life now gives her a focus. Her father was lost, not dead. If she can get to Antarctica, it would be the first step in perhaps being able to find him. Survival has made her tough, and she is not afraid of hard work. One day, it all finally pays off and she arrives at the Smith-Petersen Research Station in Antarctica.

At the Station, she meets Matteo whose first comment to her is that she is late. She was supposed to be there yesterday, and she should have radioed ahead herself to let him know. She barely has her coat off before he insists that she suit up. There is an antenna that they need to fix. He asks if she has ever worked at these extreme temperatures, and when she admits she hasn’t, he calls her a novice.

But Hannah spots the problem with the antenna, and they fix it. There is a weird flash of light which Matteo brushes off as just something that happens. But when they get back to the station, the monitor now shows two stations instead of just one. This should not have happened, and Hannah decides to venture back outside and investigate.

REAL AND HEARTFELT

The art of Antarctica #1 is solid. The characters are well-drawn and distinct. They look like real people and we can clearly see the love between Hannah and her dad when she is a small girl. They mean the world to each other. The back story of his disappearance is told succinctly over a montage of panels all reflecting him returning home over the years. The seasons change, the time of day differs, and Hannah grows older, but we get a sense of how dependable he is so when he does not arrive, we can feel the difference.

Another effective montage takes us and Hannah through the skills fair all the way through her graduation as a mechanic’s assistant. We also see the street-hardened young woman find a new joy in life. She continues to be tough, and she certainly looks strong and wiry, but we see again a smile on her face for the first time she was very young.

BOTTOM LINE: A THRILLING BEGINNING

Antarctica #1 covers a lot of ground in setting up the story, but the payoff is worth it. This is not just a normal search and rescue mission. The creative team also handles the setup deftly. It is clear without being wordy and brings us up to Hannah’s new life in a way that leaves us eagerly waiting for more.

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Antarctica #1

80%

80%

Thrilling!

Hannah turns her life around for the chance to search for her missing father.

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• Art

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