Review by Frank Plowright

Snow Angels introduces two sisters, Milliken and the younger Mae Mae, along with their father who survive in a post-apocalyptic society of another ice age. They occupy a trench, and successive generations have passed down a mythology about it, including dire warnings of death being the result of anyone leaving. The sea lies beneath, and residents are told the trench is endless. Readers see all this as the girls and their father take a skating trip to celebrate Milliken turning twelve. Reaching parts rarely seen, they encounter a distinctively designed threat. Is it a robot or an armoured person?

This hardcover Library Edition combines two very distinct paperbacks, starting with Volume 1. What very much begins as Jeff Lemire’s tribute to The Road eventually skates in a different direction uncovering unpleasant truths, not least about the family history. The opening chapters are very dependent on artist Jock creating the appropriate barren tone and environment, which is stunningly realised. The bleak existence transmits as the cast are viewed through constant snow and obscured by shadow, often to the extent of just being a few details picked out on a silhouette. For much of the first section only people and clothing depart from snow and ice. Jock’s design for the intruder is also notable, maintaining the possibility of being human or otherwise. When the world later expands, Jock’s designs remain integral.

A turning point occurs roughly halfway through when family secrets are disclosed through necessity, and explain more about the world while undermining lifelong beliefs. They set up the second half, originally Volume 2, as one of greater exploration and revelation. This really is a sea change, and while it supplies the complete background formerly kept as mysterious, to an extent it also sacrifices the mystique.

More people populate the second half, and greater technology is seen in a section that’s a more common form of SF action thriller. As it’s Lemire it’s a cut above, though, introducing interesting ideas, while the girls remain figures of sympathy. You want them to pull through having their world turned upside down. Flashbacks are required, and the lack of captions isn’t such a lapse when both original volumes are combined.

By virtue of the successfully generated atmosphere the first half betters the second, but this is a clever story well told.

Just in case you come across them, despite sharing a title, this form of Snow Angels isn’t connected to the 2007 film, nor the 2025 TV series.