2 out of 5

Victor Santos loves Frank Miller, and he learned his noir in the broadest strokes possible.  Polar was a web series, collected her in a widescreen hardcover with, it sounds like, some plotting added on to what was originally a silent tale.  Which is apparent, as the dialogue is as meaningless as possible (and full of blunt statements that are meant to be gritty but really don’t make too much sense) and the ‘story’ can be carried fully by the negative-space art.  By “fully” I mean that you get the gist of what’s going on, but the figures are so big and blocky and the fighting physics so embellished that sometimes it’s impossible to discern who’s doing what, so you’re just going based on feel.  And to be fair, assuming this was put up on the web at a weekly pace, this streamlined nature of the art and story is an accomplishment.  But it’s also pretty bare bones and empty beneath that stylish affect and sense of momentum.  ‘Black Kaiser’ is an aging spy / something being put out to pasture.  People are trying to kill him.  He kills them, takes revenge.  There’s no back story; there’s no characterization.  Dude has an eyepatch and likes sex and knows how to shoot.  Broad strokes.  Santos uses a nice bright red for highlights but otherwise sticks to black and white.

I dig that Dark Horse collects a lot of web series, as I’m still too lazy to read this stuff online, but even at 150 pages (and with some bonus sketches), ‘Came From the Cold’ doesn’t feel worth it.  The art isn’t so mind-blowing to justify it as a coffee table addition, and there’s practically zero story beyond a big ol’ general whiff of the genre.  There’s nothing outright offensive or bad going on here, but neither is there anything that really makes the book stand out beyond a glance.