We had a big snowfall two weeks ago, and I was out driving the city in it (I have a part time delivery job).
My car and I held up pretty well in it, and that was satisfying. As the news warned people to stay off the roads, I was out there doing my rounds. That was even more satisfying (though I was very happy and relieved to eventually make it home without getting stuck).
Snow changes everything. The entire environment is completely different, and the minute-to-minute operations of life become more complicated and troublesome.
In comics, snow can be a lot of fun. Flakes can fill up the pages and add to the grit and danger in comics like Sin City…
One of my favorite X-Men stories was when a little girl gets sidetracked in a blizzard and encounters a nearly-dead Wolverine, who's being hunted by some vicious adversaries.
Another great snow-centric comic was in an old issue of Amazing Spider Man (#277, Google tells me), where a Wendigo (creepy mythical monster) stalks New York during a blizzard.
Snow can also create an atmosphere of quiet calm. Again, same as in real life.
Of course, the legendary snowmen from Calvin & Hobbes are too great for words!
I did one issue of Typical Strange that featured snowy weather, but the story had nothing to do with snow, or Christmas. I just wanted it to be snowing, and adding the snow to every exterior panel was a lot of fun and looked great to me. Having a different season gives things more texture and reality, I think.
Snow has a vibe, an atmosphere when it's falling, or even when it's just covering the landscape. The winter season adds so much to the Peanuts comics, as well as South Park and Calvin & Hobbes.
Blizzards in suspense or horror stories are drawn in a wild, distorted style, with wacky shapes to the flakes that add to the kinetic excitement or danger and oppression of the weather (and the story).
The quiet calm of a landscape covered with snow, most details obscured, can give a nice effect, too, just as it can in real life.
Is it snowing where you are? Do you have a love/hate relationship with the stuff like I do? Do you feature snow, or variation in weather and seasons in your comics?
happy Thursday!
-Banes
S'now Time Like the Present
Banes at 12:00AM, Dec. 1, 2016
4 likes!
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EssayBee at 11:32AM, Dec. 1, 2016
I've used snow in my 2013 and 2014 holiday pics and learned that it looks best if I change the color of the lines for the snow (http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Essay_Bee_Comics_Presents_Fusion/5447310/ ), otherwise that snowman (and the snow on the trees) would've looked way too harsh. And glad to see the Calvin and Hobbes pic at the end--my thoughts immediately went to C&H as soon as I thought about snow and comics.
Whirlwynd at 9:56AM, Dec. 1, 2016
I'm with plymayer as I am OK with snow as long as I'm not driving in it. I CAN drive in it (trial by fire -- or ice, rather -- learning to drive in Wisconsin) but I don't want to X( It is nice curling up in few big fluffy blankets with a hot chocolate while there's a blizzard raging outside. Part of 20 Galaxies takes place in Illinois so there will be snow, plus one of the heroes has ice powers. Snow was going a plot point in the old version of Lady Unlucky -- the Lumnians are not familiar with precipitation, so some of the rebel characters hacked the atmosphere generators to make it snow and watch the resulting chaos. This isn't in the new version, though. When you mentioned X-Men and blizzards I just remembered that Genesis video game and how distracting the snow effect was https://youtu.be/SsHjkgFY-j0
usedbooks at 7:34AM, Dec. 1, 2016
The last long story arc of Used Books was set at a ski resort. Snow is useful for cutting people off from the world. I have fond childhood memories from WV, settling into our home for a few days to ride out blizzards. Sometimes we lost power. Sometimes we lost phone service. Once we got snowed into a hotel for almost a week. A city barren of activity. Two channels on TV. There was a toy manufacturer having a convention in the hotel. They invited us kids to hang out and play with their products. We ended up eating most of our meals at the Shoney's across the street. (Their employees couldn't get home and were put up at a hotel beside the restaurant.)
usedbooks at 7:28AM, Dec. 1, 2016
There's a good thriller graphic novel called Whiteout. It's about a murderer on an Antarctic base. Obviously, the elements come into play as a danger as well, but it's a much more interesting tale than *just* man vs. the elements. (And the elements add the extra danger on top of the murder plot.) Snow has the added benefit of requiring less ink in printing. ;) That said, no snow here in Virginia. :( We've had the AC on for the past few days.
KimLuster at 6:29AM, Dec. 1, 2016
Love the snow... on the very rare occasions we get it! It is very atmospheric! Just makes some movies and scenes!
plymayer at 4:03AM, Dec. 1, 2016
Love the snow. Hate driving in it (because of idiot drivers) and shoveling it (because I'm lazy that way).
bravo1102 at 1:41AM, Dec. 1, 2016
I have had entirely too many real life adventures in the snow to ever, ever, ever want to write a story about it.
bravo1102 at 1:39AM, Dec. 1, 2016
There was an ancient peanuts where Linus paraphrased the old French Foreign Legion motto of "March or die" when walking to school by putting a sign on his pack saying "make school or die". Ever since then that has summed up my relationship with snow. Do or die. Stuck in the snow, changing a tire, walking and driving in white out blizzards... do or die.
Gunwallace at 12:44AM, Dec. 1, 2016
It's the first day of summer here. Sun, sun, and sun.