Plot
Defeated, Meriem lays unconscious in the snow. In her fevered state she dreams of her unborn children and Bruce trying to flee a monster. She jolts awake, swinging her fist, catching Bruce right in the chin. Meriem’s gorilla companion, Klyde, happened upon Meriem while out and about, and was able to lead Bruce and Professor Cook to her and bring her home.
Though beaten by the unseen entity, the good news is that the cache of food and supplies that was hidden in the cabin that Meriem located was able to be retrieved and brought back to Marshville, saving the town from the food crisis. A second instance of things getting better is that Meriem, Bruce, and the professor look out a window to see the sun shining, signaling the harsh winter is approaching its end.
With a renewed sense of hope, Meriem bolts from Bruce’s apartment to track down the creature she fought. Bruce and Professor Cook give chase on a snowmobile and find the cavewoman in battle with a large humanoid wolf. The battle looks to be a stalemate. Bruce fires his rifle, scaring away the lupine monster. Professor Cook theorizes that it was a werewolf, the original werewolf that all folklore has descended from.
A month later, spring has officially arrived. The town of Marshville had endured the wicked winter and Meriem finds herself back in the museum garden, planting sunflowers.
Commentary
The “Snow” story arc of Budd Root’s Cavewoman series concludes with issue four, which was published back in September of 2011. Rob Durham continues being the artist and writer for the series at this point in time. This issue sees the conclusion of the primary predicament that has plagued Marshville for the past five months, the brutal winter, but also the reveal of the unseen killer that has been stalking around town, leaving only bodies (sometimes) and tracks.
It is a bloody werewolf.
This conclusion to the “Snow” story arc is bittersweet. The town of Marshville surviving the punishingly long winter is a simple act of waiting out the clock. Unless the Cavewoman universe was about to usher in an Ice Age, this obstacle was going to be naturally overcame. As in a horror film, characters need to survive the night. Overall, high stakes, but an expected conclusion.
The introduction of the werewolf as the unseen killer was an expected curveball, and its extremely brief appearance in the issue is a point of perplexity. On one hand, this works. Meriem and the town of Marshville are in the prehistoric past where almost anything outlandish that could happen, will happen. In the prior one-shot “Extinction” Meriem fights an underground monster that looks like a floating oyster with dozens and dozens of tentacles. If Meriem can encounter and battle a Cthulhu-esque monster like this, there is no reason she cannot encounter a werewolf.
On the other hand, the story jumps from zero to werewolf so suddenly that it has no time to ground itself. The foreshadowing of the werewolf’s reveal through the prior three issues, though appropriately incremental, were not substantial, relegated to tracks in the snow and dead bodies. Professor Cook immediately jumping to the conclusion that the monster is a werewolf seems uncharacteristic of him. A few pages prior he proclaimed that he needed to run tests to verify that the winter is ending. Jump to a few pages to him saying the creature is a werewolf and probably the ur-werewolf that all other werewolf folk lore is derived from. It is probably a true statement, and in the broad scheme of the Cavewoman universe it fits, but the explanation feels shoehorned in. It comes off as an instance that artist/writer Durham felt the need to overly tell the readers this is a werewolf and to expect werewolf action in future issue. It is an unsatisfactory case of telling instead of showing.
In addition, the appearance of the werewolf raises a few narrative questions. A month passes between Meriem’s encounter where she is defeated by the werewolf, (with some slashes and gashes shown on her body), but she does not turn into a werewolf herself. The ur-werewolf is also operating during the daytime when traditionally humans turn into werewolves according to a lunar cycle. The werewolf in Cavewoman is not operating like a traditional werewolf. This could be because it is an ur-werewolf, and it would later evolve/devolve into the werewolves of pop culture today. Or it could be Professor Cook is way off base and incorrect at calling the bipedal humanoid wolf with two sets of human female breasts a werewolf (note: a wolf should have eight nipples in two rows, so this werewolf packing two sets of human female breasts is certainly a sexualized stylistic choice).
On the subject of Professor Cook, the character is definitely hiding something from Meriem. In issue three, after Meriem takes off to scout the cabin, Cook takes Bruce aside: “Now that she’s on her way we have another urgent matter to discuss.” The subject of the discussion is not revealed in issue four. Since Professor Cook is part of the inner political circle of Marshville, he is certainly privy to the coverups of the murders that were happening due to the werewolf. This could have been that topic. What is known is that Cook directed attention away from the werewolf twice in issue four. The first time is after Bruce fires his rifle, scaring away the werewolf: “Well Prof,. we go after this thing or what?” with Cook replying, “I think we should let this thing go for now.” The second time is the final page of “Snow” when Meriem states “I’ve been thinking about that hairy meat eater. I have this weird feeling about it. Something familiar” with the professor replying dismissively back “How about we just let that go for now?” and instead directs Meriem to planting sunflower seeds, an act she loved doing in issue two. Meriem stating that the encounter felt familiar ties with a contradictory statement Cook made earlier in the issue to Bruce: “She lost twice to this carnivore.” Yet, Meriem had only encountered the werewolf one time thus far, at the end of “Snow” issue three. This could be an error on Durham’s part, but it could also be Cook let something slip, that Meriem has had dealings with this werewolf before unbeknownst to her. Perhaps when the werewolf was in human form? There is an incredible amount of intrigue going on!
The werewolf is certainly the focal point of issue four, but there are other happenings that deserve mention. In the beginning of the issue Meriem has a fever dream about her two babies, which do not exist. The dream sequence is designed to get Meriem reinvigorated with a renewed sense of purpose. This is another instance of the Cavewoman series exploring the matronly and motherly side of Meriem. In the aforementioned “Extinction” issue, Meriem exhibits her motherly attributes when she rescued Susie from the tentacle cave monster. Meriem is not simply a cheesecake jungle girl with superhero abilities; there is this wholesome side to her as well that the series likes to explore from time to time.
When Bruce and Professor Cook ride on the snowmobile to catchup with Meriem, they ride past her gorilla companion Klyde as he hibernates under a mound of snow near the hot springs. It is not a visual gag per se, (save maybe Klyde’s indifferent facial expressions), but this sequence is a panel-by-panel recreation of the same gag in issue three when Meriem runs past Klyde on her way to the cabin. These are welcome types of throwbacks to find in a comic book, little enhancers like throwing a bay leaf into a stew.
While issue three lacked nudity, issue four more than makes up for it. When Meriem wakes up in Bruce’s apartment, her breasts are on display in many panels, with her pubic hair barely visible in a few. It is not sexual per se, as Meriem has been in a hospital-esque situation, sleeping under a heavy fever, and has just woken up. It is nonchalant nudity. The bare breasted werewolf on the other hand, that might be veering in the direction of furry erotica.
Conclusion
Issue four of “Snow” concludes the story arc, but it raises and introduces more questions than answers. It does damper the experience a small bit when looking for resolution to the four-part miniseries, but on the other hand future issues will certainly bring closure. The next Cavewoman arc, the two part “Feeding Grounds,” depicts Meriem fighting the werewolf on the cover, so that is exciting to see what will happen. While the writing felt bittersweet in this issue, Durham’s art style is, as always, top notch. Meriem always has the best facial expressions, especially in her eyes, when Durham depicts her. The werewolf is only fully visible in two panels, but it feels like many more when Meriem is fighting the creature. Durham has expertise at controlling what he wants the readers to see, and he has been able to expertly not reveal the werewolf despite the multiple panels of the lupine engaged in hand combat with Meriem. With winter over, and the snow melted, what does the future hold for Meriem the Cavewoman and the citizens of Marshville?
For more information on Cavewoman “Snow” issue four, check out the official product page at Amryl Entertainment:
For more reviews of Budd Root’s Cavewoman series I’ve penned, check these out (chronological order of issue publish date):