WHITEOUT - Oni Press Review by Fleur Douglas, 07/11 Carrie: I don't bother trying to explain that there's more to it than that, much more. It's the Ice, after all. It changes you. And you either get it or you don't. Ice is creepy. It was true when John Carpenter did it in 'The Thing', it was true in the earliest X-Files episode I ever remember watching (1x07, "Ice"), and it's true in Greg Rucka's Whiteout. The sheer foreign nature of the landscape of Antarctica is what lends the creepiness -- the idea of howling winds, of temperatures seventy degrees below freezing, and three months of darkness just doesn't seem right. And that's coming from me, who grew up in a ski resort. (Not to say that Queenstown is much like Antarctica. Or at all creepy. It's a lovely place and is never covered in darkness for months. And the Lakes District Council can send my cash reward for that plug c/o Gotham Comics, Onehunga, Auckland.) Anyway -- the remote landscape provides the perfect background for Rucka's murder-mystery in Whiteout. He sets up a small set of outposts, and the atmosphere within them is absolutely tangible -- the cabin fever, the near-mania, the very thickness of the air. There's an amazing sense of atmosphere, helped by the bleakness of the art -- entirely in black and white -- and sparse dialogue. I'd tell you more about the plot, but it would only spoil -- suffice it to say that it's absolutely excellent. The set-up is a classic whodunnit, with clues and twists and the butler didn't do it all around. The main character is tough as nails, but delightfully, we're shown this, rather than told it -- which makes for a nice change from the comic book status quo. She's realistic and unique -- and realistic-looking, too, which the artist certainly deserves kudos for. Actually, the artist here really deserves praise for his overall job, too. In a written addendum to the book, Rucka talks about his difficulties in finding the right artist, but he certainly hit the right spot with Lieber -- not only are the characters all well-rendered and completely individual, they all look real and realistic for the environment in. A true feat when you consider he's working entirely without colour. Whiteout is most certainly something very different, and for that alone, it shines -- a must-read for more or less everyone.