Plot
The energy crisis for Marshville has been quelched as Bruce has overseen the installation of the pump at the tar pits north of the city and getting the trucking of oil into town up and running. He returns home to his apartment, into the waiting arms of Meriem Cooper, for an amorous evening.
The next day Meriem makes way to the town’s museum that has been converted into a food garden. En route she happens upon a set of prints in the snow that remind her of the prints she found a month prior during an expedition to the north tar pits. While examining the prints, she is hit by an oil transport truck, but walks away unscratched, leaving only an impression of her posterior in the truck’s plow. At the museum she begins work on harvesting the sunflowers.
Meanwhile an unseen entity (Animal? Dinosaur? Something else?) slays Mrs. Solomon, a woman returning home with her food ration. A trio of kids happen upon her body and inform two adults who brush off their concerns.
At the museum, snow keeps accumulating on the roof, threatening to break the skylights. Two maintenance workers attempt to clean up the mess but find the building’s gantry frozen. With glass cracking, Meriem becomes more concerned with the safety of the garden she holds so dear and ventures to the roof of the museum to assist. She uses her superhuman strength to dislodge the gantry, but in the process crashes through the window, causing snow to pour in on the crops. Professor Cook attempts to assuage Meriem, but dejected, she leaves the scene and returns home.
Commentary
The second issue of “Snow” was published May of 2011, with series stalwart Rob Durham continuing the story and art. Picking up two months after issue one, the major dilemma introduced in “Snow” #1, the power plant running out of oil and thus the ability to heat Marshville, has been solved. But, for a town transported to the prehistoric past, problems jeopardizing survival are like a game of whack-a-mole: as one is solved another arises. The town may have heat, but an unseen threat, foreshadowed in issue one when Meriem and company found the unknown tracks in the snow outside town, has now popped up, slaying Marshville citizens. An incoming storm threatens to blanket the town with even more snow, causing skylights, such as that atop the museum that houses the town’s garden, to crack under the weight.
A big theme in this issue is the spectrum at which the populace of Marshville takes seriously (or not) their role of keeping the town safe and functioning. The first page of the comic has Bruce reflecting on his role at getting the oil pump up and running and the logistics for transporting oil to town: “In some strange way the important meaning of the projects to our survival has kinda given me… purpose.”
Bruce realizes this, but it is shocking at how many citizens of the town do not, or do not care, and do not take responsibility.
The first example comes early in the issue when Meriem is on her way to the museum to help in the garden. She stops to investigate a set of mysterious prints in the snow (which are, of course, a part of the grand issue of an entity stalking and killing the people of the town). As she examines the tracks she is rear ended by an oil-ferrying truck. Meriem is unscratched (though her tits pop out of her top, turning the scene into a sex-comedy gag) because of her superhuman abilities. The truck driver (named Tanis), who was not paying attention to the road, is quick to deflect responsibility of the accident from himself to Meriem by saying “Now in the future young lady you should be a little more careful.” Basically, Tanis is able to absolve himself from running over a young lady and instead deflect that responsibility back to her. Though the sequence is played for laughs, it demonstrates subconscious misogyny going on and overt not taking responsibility for one’s role in the safety of Marshville seriously.
A similar situation occurs at the climax of the issue, though this time it is played seriously and not for laughs. Cathy, who is overseeing the garden inside the museum, has asked Marstone to have the snow cleaned off the glass roof of the museum so it will not cave in. Marstone, in turn, has delegated this duty to two maintenance workers. When they finally get around to address the snow on the roof, they realize the gantry’s gears are frozen. The two have a heated exchange “Damn it, I asked you to grease the gears a week ago!” “I was getting to it!”. Meriem shows up and takes the initiative to solve the issue by using her strength to rattle the gantry loose, but she winds up falling through the skylight, taking the snow with her, damaging the garden. Marstone is quick to blame Meriem for the whole debacle, calling her a terrorist and a menace. Neither of the maintenance workers step forward to claim their culpability (after all, if they had done their job a week prior, none of this would have happened) and instead allow Meriem to take full blame. It is her fault, and not the fault of the men with authority in the scene, just like with the truck crash earlier.
While the men finger point, grumble, and skirt the responsibility of being placed in important positions integral to the survival of the town, Meriem has done nothing but step up her game. Cathy comments that no one else wants to be in the garden picking vegetables: “Glad you made it in, no one else has, and I could sure use the help!” Meriem, on the other hand, is all too happy to lend a hand and pick sunflowers so the land can be rotated to have cabbage planted. Bruce and Meriem are model citizens and go above and beyond for their community (which is one of the reasons they are so compatible together).
A final scenario in “Snow” #2 that feeds into this overall theme of not taking the situation the town finds itself in seriously is when three children happen upon the corpse of Mrs. Solomon who has been slashed by the unseen stalker in the town. The children, as they are supposed to do, report the body to the adults. When the children return with two adults, (who are also the two maintenance workers that were supposed to deal with the museum roof), they find the body gone. The adults dismiss the children’s concerns (which, solidifies their general attitude of not doing anything as is evident with the upcoming scene on the roof). This is a common trope in horror films: the children witness a monsters/something bad, tell someone about it, and are not taken seriously (until it is too late). The Blob (1958) is a perfect example of this. Steven McQueen and friends are teenagers who witness the blob in action, and report it to the police, who are outright hostile to them (one of them thinks the kids are trying to get to him). Marshville is a town that has been teleported to the historic past. It is surrounded by dinosaurs and other weird creatures. The entire situation is absurd and calls for the utmost attention and seriousness. When someone is pointing out “Hey! We saw a dead body”, given the predicament the town is in, it warrants true investigation and not dismissal.
Conclusion
Issue two of the “Snow” storyline is great. Narrative-wise, this is a dense issue. There is a lot going on in the town of Marshville, and even with all the external threats going on, it is seeing the (perhaps unintentional) internal threats from its own citizens that adds to suspense and drama of the story. Real characters/people behave in different ways, and the complacent/fear of taking accountability characteristic is a legitimate character trait that adds depth and complexity. It is heartbreaking though to see Meriem try so hard for the people of the town (with her helpful personality and heroics) but still relegated to the role of outcast and spoken of negatively.
Art-wise, Durham always brings the best in the cheesecake style. For sexploitation/exploitation purposes, Durham makes sure to showcase a small helping of nudity (as when Bruce returns home to the awaiting arms of Meriem, or when she is hit by the truck), or to draw Meriem in poses that highlight her glamorous features (as when she is picking sunflower seeds). A great issue that is both fun while not letting up on maintaining its air of suspense that any moment something will occur that threatens everyone.
For more information on Cavewoman “Snow” issue two or my other Cavewoman reviews, check these links:
