Snow Angels, Vol. 1

The gripping first volume of this postapocalyptic adventure by Lemire (the Sweet Tooth series) and Jock (the Batman series) hurls readers into a snowbound world where 12-year-old Milliken, her younger sister Mae Mae, and their father hunt on skates through a seemingly endless ice trench. Milliken’s father has taught her the rules of survival and legends of the “Colden Ones” who created the Trench, but after their village is destroyed she discovers that much of what she’s believed is wrong. With nowhere else to go, the family sets out into the far reaches of the Trench and the hunting grounds of a killer called the Snowman. Jock’s snow-spattered art immerses the reader in the textures of ice, snow, wind, and fur as the characters struggle through a hostile, predatory landscape. The plot moves quickly, throwing the family into one life-or-death situation after another and setting up mysteries that remain open to explore in the next volume. It’s an appropriately chilling, action-packed, and stunningly drawn dystopian icecapade that will leave readers wanting more. (Feb.)