The Winter Men

             I’ve always had affection for Russia. It seems no matter what the ice-covered country has faced, it has endured and built an iconic past. From the Czars and Rasputin to The Bolsheviks, the Gulag and Joseph Stalin to the crumble of the USSR, Russia has always upheld a position of supremacy in earth’s history. The country’s influence has spread throughout China, Korea, The United States, Cuba, and even across the Bering Straight into Canada. Russia is bursting with pride and tragedy, patriotism and revolution. Of all the words you could use to describe Russia, one should be respect.

            Growing up in the eighties, I vividly remember the USSR in the news. Perhaps I was a bit young to fully understand, but I knew they were considered enemies of the United States. I saw them dominate in the Olympics. I heard tales of the treachery of the KGB. I was awed by the rumors of their brilliant scientists creating world-ending nuclear weapons. I watched Red Dawn and it scared the hell out of me. What was really going on in Russia? Was the media that far from the truth?

            The Winter Men were an elite unit created to keep Russia’s genetically enhanced superman at bay. If he ever got out of control, Kris Kalenov and his team were drafted to stop him. During Socialist rule in Russia, this never occurred. After the Soviet fall, The Winter Men disbanded and went their separate ways to seek their own fortunes. Their years and experience in the service have left them emotionally scarred and morally warped.

            Kalenov seems to have taken his past the hardest. He is a poet, but has a gift for fighting and pissing people off. He is considered one of the best by all of the local mob families and the corrupt governing bodies. Kalenov has no concern with torturing or killing a man in cold blood to achieve his bosses’ objective, yet he struggles with his personal choices everyday. He is a truly tragic character.

            The Winter Men is the most well researched comic that I have ever read. No, I’m not saying that Brett Lewis cracked some secret Spentsnaz code and discovered that Russia was really creating super-men. The thing that dazzled me about this book was how extraordinarily real it felt. The dialogue was convincingly foreign. I could almost hear the broken English of my local cabbies when I read it. Lewis also paid close attention to the details of the Russian language. Unless you are certain that your audience is fluent in the language that you are quoting, as an author it is frowned upon to use foreign language in literature. Lewis seemed very well aware of this principle and instead of shying away from using Russian, he saturated this book with it. He was very careful to make side notes and translate when necessary. Instead of feeling confused or intimidated by the language, I felt absorbed in it, almost like I had a background in Russian.

             The bulk of the story is set in post cold-war Russia. Fledgling capitalists at war, people waiting in mile long lines for groceries, the awful weather…a very grim scene. Yet Lewis had me laughing out loud a few times. Kalenov isn’t your typical mafia hit man. He’s a rough drunk dealing with some personal demons. He’s constantly fighting with his friends as well as enemies and in every chapter he ends up with more bandages on his face than the one before. He makes bets with his partner and close friend, Nikki for “Big Maks”. Lewis writes a black comedy as well as anyone I’ve ever read.

True to the story, John Paul Leon draws a stunningly grim vision of Russia. The streets are dirty and the snow is grey and clinging to buildings. Apartments are poorly decorated and rundown. Leon’s art was dark and sometimes sexy, but very real. Dave Stewart and Melissa Edwards added to the images with a very drab pallet.

The Winter Men is a story for anyone who enjoys the crime genre, but it would be hard to place this book in any specific category. It is flooded with conspiracy, drama, comedy and even a bit of science fiction.

This book is what comics are all about for me; well written and just as stunning to look at.