REVIEW: Cold Dead War – TPB

3.85/5.0 Stars
Rating if the Book Were a Movie: R

Creative Team:

Writer: George C. Romero
Artist: German Ponce
Colors: Gabriel Rearte
Letters: Saida Temofonte
Cover: Diego Yapur and DC Alonso
Editor: Joseph Illidge
Publisher: Heavy Metal 

Ratings:

Story: 3.5 Stars
Artwork: 3.7 Stars
Cover Artwork: 4.8 Stars
Dialogue: 3.5 Stars
Mechanics: 3.7 Stars
Editing: 3.9 Stars 

About the Book:

The story of Cold Dead War begins during World War Two. The crew of the B-25 bomber, The Cold Dead, is making a bombing run when it is shot down during the Battle of Midway. While the plane is going down a meteorite passes by, giving the airplane’s crew the power of immortality.

We fast forward to 1950. Lance Howard, the only living survivor from the crash, has been asked to serve his country once again. The remaining members of the Nazi Party are building an army in South America. It’s up to Howard and his friends to stop them as we take a journey into  the wild imaginations of Mr. Romero and company.

Reader’s Notes:

Cold Dead War made it onto my radar when a buddy of mine was going through a stack of indie  books in a collection he had purchased. He told me that it looked like a title that would be in my wheelhouse. Going off of the cover, I can see why. My youngest would describe this cover as “extremely creepy and cool”. He’s not necessarily wrong on either count. I told my buddy that I was unfamiliar with the title; but I would be happy to check it out.

I’ve always enjoyed historical fiction and science fiction. Cold Dead War gives us both. We get the historically accurate portion of the story with some relevant members of the Nazi party emigrating to Argentina after World War Two. We also get plenty of science fiction with some of the experiments we see taking place. It would not surprise me to hear Mengele and company were trying to create super soldiers. Did they go to these lengths? It’s hard to say what these mad scientists managed to accomplish.

That is what makes a story like this so entertaining. We can speculate. We can allow our imaginations to take us wherever the story goes. If there’s anything even remotely plausible to a theory, I’m all for seeing what kind of story we can get from it. Anything is possible when creators allow their minds to gallop. Remember, once upon a time someone pitched the idea of a story with sharks being caught in a tornado. There are no bad ideas!

This cover announces Cold Dead War’s presence with authority. It’s incredibly detailed. It’s striking. It’s memorable. This is everything that a creator can hope for when their book goes on the shelves of comic book stores around the world. Well done!

I enjoyed the interior artwork of this book. The crisp lines give us terrific detail without being too vivid when it comes to the gore. The artwork meshes nicely with the story to give the reader a sense of being right there with Captain Howard through every single panel. I especially liked seeing the crew during the Battle of Midway.

If you’re looking for the “Great American Novel”, this one may not be quite what you’re looking for. If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, this geek on a budget believes that Cold Dead War is well worth the price of admission. We get terrific artwork, a few laughs, and an opportunity to ask, “What if….?”.