Author: Benjamin LeGrand
Written by: Jean-Marc Rochette
Publisher: Titan Books
Film Pulse Score: 8/10
In the distant future, where the Earth is shrouded in cold, humanities last hope is a train, forever moving across the barren wastelands. This vessel, The Snowpiercer, houses the last vestiges of our once great civilization.
In celebration of the upcoming feature film adaptation, Titan Books has translated the original French comic book series into English for the first time and released it in America in a two volume set. To read our review of the first volume click here.
Volume 2: The Explorers takes place upon a second train, The Snowpiercer 2, whose denizens live in constant fear of colliding with the ill-fated Snowpiercer. This review will contain minor spoilers, so if you haven’t read the book and don’t want certain plot points of the film revealed hold off on reading. First, we’ll take a look at the book itself.
This hardcover edition features 140 pages with an extremely nice glossy finish, much like the previous volume. The pages are thick, and the overall quality is excellent. The translation into English is mostly good, however some dialogue between characters feels a little odd. Titan has been one of our favorite publishers as of late, and the quality of this book reinforces that opinion.
The story in volume 2 feels somewhat similar to the first, with a lead male and female who inevitably fall in love, but the second book feels much more rewarding. There’s more action and more tension on the Snowpiercer 2, and the stakes are much higher.
There are several interesting differences between the two trains as well. On the second train, the crew is much more concerned about maintaining the integrity of the machine, with regular break tests involving a group known as the explorers who actually leave and check for problems from the outside. It’s also outfitted with an aircraft that give the crew the ability to scout up ahead for problems on the track. This makes for some very thrilling scenarios. There’s another huge feature equipped with The snowpiercer 2, but discussing it would be going too far into spoilers.
The two protagonists in the book are Puig Valles, a brave explorer, and Val Kennel, the daughter of a prominent leader. Their relationship plays out much like Proloff and Adeline, with a wealthy first class dweller falling for a lower class working man.
The same themes are at work in the second part as well, however the lines prove to be much more blurred this time around. Less time is spent discussing the class divide and the equality of men and more time is spent simply trying to not get everyone killed. There’s a greater focus on the government’s concealment of information from its people in this story as well. The Snowpiercer 2 certainly seems better off than the original Snowpiercer, but everyone still knows they’ll never make it off that train.
From the beginning the book feels like a completely separate story from the first, however as it progresses the original begins to become more directly tied in. This was something I found very refreshing, considering how the first part ended so abruptly.
Having no seen the film, I don’t know how much of each volume will be included, but hopefully director Joon-ho Bong will include both parts so viewers can experience the entire saga. If not, picking up this book is a must if you fancy the movie.
