After escaping from a Communist soldier, what will Alex and Yuli do when they find themselves in the hands of the White Russians? Find out in Edenfrost #3 from Mad Cave Studios!

EDENFROST #3

Writer: Amit Tishler
Artist: Bruno Frenda
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Editor: James B. Emmett
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: February 28, 2024

Previously in Edenfrost: Alex has a connection to the golem, but he does not know how to control it. Deep in the woods, they meet Olena who lives in a small cabin. She grudgingly agrees to give them shelter in exchange for their work. Alex’s goal is to work enough so that’s Olena will trust them. Yuli is frustrated but helps out, even to the point of using Olena’s meager food to prepare meals. One night when Olena is drunk, they learn that she was a peasant girl who was made pregnant by the landlord’s son Ivan. She lives here in hopes that he will leave his wife and return to her. Ivan is (or perhaps was) an officer in the Tsar’s army. Yuli and Alex realize that she does not know the Great War is over. Later, when the children are out foraging, they find a lone communist soldier.

THE SNARE TIGHTENS

Edenfrost #3 opens shortly after Alex summons the golem. This is when Yuli first realizes that he is doing this, and she is resentful of him for keeping secrets. The Red Army soldier runs back to camp in a panic only to find it now occupied by the Whites who invite him to tell them…everything.

The children hear gunshots. Alex wants to go back to the cabin. Yuli does not understand why he does not just summon the golem and fight. The boy understands that the golem has its own agenda, and he is more cautious. If they return to the cabin, they may also be able to get some supplies. Their talk smooths Yuli’s ruffled feathers and they go back.

Olena has passed out from drinking. They quickly gather up what supplies they can and Yuli grabs a cooking knife and slides it into her boot. Then they hear a knock on the door and a voice asks for help. Yuli can tell that Alex wants to help whoever it is, and she grabs his coat when he moves toward the door. But Alex cannot resist. He opens the door and in falls the young soldier they met earlier. He recognizes them, but he also tells them it is not safe. The White army ambushed his unit, and they are now making their way through the woods.

Alex sees that the soldier is wounded and says he will administer first aid if the man answers his questions. The soldier is Boris Alexeyev, from Ukrainian-Soviet Intelligence. He was trying to rescue a spy from a nearby village (which Alex suspects might be theirs), and Colonel Krasnov found out.

Olena wakes up, furious to find a communist in her house, and grabs her shotgun. She jumps to the conclusion that the kids are also communists. Outside, the Whites approach. Alex tries to calm the woman down, but she is fed up with people taking advantage of her. Then the Whites arrive, led by Lieutenant Belov. Belov asks Olena to drop her gun because they are only there for the communist and the kids. Olena assumes he is with the Imperial Army, and he lets her think this. His men start to tie Boris up, and he tells Olena she can kill him if he is any trouble. But he wants the kids alive.

Yuli grabs her knife and stabs one of the soldiers. Another one knocks her back. Alex is hit with a rifle butt, and his pendant flies off. Elena turns on Belov. He tells her the kids’ parents were caught harboring a Bolshevik spy they have been chasing since the Revolution. Now she learns about the Revolution and that her lover is probably dead. Still, she does not countenance violence against children.

Yuli takes this all in and remembers the attack on her parents. She feels so frustrated and so helpless. She desperately wants to fight back. And she hears a voice in her head.

BLOOD AND SNOW

The art of Edenfrost #3 does a great job of showing us just how quickly things can change. The Ukrainian woods may be sparsely populated, but tracks are easier to follow through the snow. It has not been that long since Boris left his camp, so he returns, calling out to his comrades before realizing that they have all been killed. This also gives us a sense of how close the Whites have gotten to Alex and Yuli, so we feel their urgency to depart. When Boris returns, we cannot tell if he tried to run away or is being forced to lure the others out. But this starts the standoff in Olena’s house, a standoff with so many opportunities for people to switch sides for the smallest reason.

We have seen the contrast between Alex and Yuli before, but it really comes to the fore in this issue. Not only is Alex cautious about the golem, but he is also compassionate to other people despite the horrors of war and despite the deaths of his family. Yuli has a fire burning inside her and a thirst for revenge, a thirst that is frustrated by the fact that she is young and small and a girl.

BOTTOM LINE: HEADED FOR A COLLISION

Edenfrost #3 boils over with high tensions and treachery. That the protagonists are kids growing up early only heightens the sense of drama.

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Edenfrost #3

87%

87%

High Tensions

Yuli and Alex are trapped as the Russian Civil War escalates around them.

• Writing

  8
• Art

  9
• Coloring

  9
• User Ratings (2 Votes)
  9.5