SNOWFALL Winter In America
Dystopian futures are ten-a-penny, but Joe Harris and Martín Morazzo manage to make the world of Snowfall feel fresh.
It’s 2045, and the world’s ecology has crashed. It hasn’t snowed in a decade and America is now effectively run by the Hazeltyne Corporation. The reappearance of a weather-controlling ecoterrorist known as the White Wizard, however, changes everything. A student, Anthony Farrow, sets out to join him, but crosses path with one of Hazeltyne’s deadly inspectors...
Ecological themes and strong world-building make Snowfall a distinctive, occasionally exciting series, if not quite the sci-fi classic you hope for. The characterisation of its three leads is sketchy in places, and while it’s pleasing that none of them are straight goodies or baddies, it’s hard to care about why the White Wizard is doing what he’s doing – he usually just comes across as a bit of a crank. Joe Harris’s script overloads the reader with info. And while Morazzo’s art is fine, with some distinctive character design, Kelly Fitzpatrick’s colouring is flat in places.
Despite these flaws, Snowfall is distinctive and engaging enough to stick with, a cyberpunk fairytale with frost on its mirrorshades. Will Salmon
Joe Harris and Martín Morazzo previously collaborated on the similarly environmentally-themed Great Pacific.