Like the first issue, this issue begins with a scene that I guess takes place in the “present”, whenever that is in this comic. Things are very different. Ray is with a group of people armed like soldiers, and they used a helicopter to “unfreeze” some teenage girl from a High School and are taking her somewhere, while being pursued by some other armed people. The girl confused and doesn’t know what is going on, and Ray is explaining to her what’s been happening in the world since everyone but him mysteriously “froze” one day.

So back to his recapping, the story picks up an unspecified amount of time since the first story ended. The small group have relocated to a large building in San Marino, California, and are basically trying to continue civilization as best they can. They’ve had Ray “unfreeze” a bunch of people to join them, based on that person’s skills for what they need to survive, and on how well they think that person will adapt to the new reality. They do this by looking up the person on the internet, which still works, before “unfreezing” them. We don’t see exactly how many people are now in this group, but we know that Ray, Lisa, Daisy, Gavin (Mr. Ordway) and Nazim (the doctor) are the core group who make the decisions on who to “unfreeze”. There’s also Lisa’s sister Maria, Karen (the Nurse), some unnamed guy who’s running the local power plant, and Adam, a former pro-football players and self-described “computer genius.” Those are the key characters in this issue.

Ray and Lisa are now in a relationship, and we learn that Ray has brought his mother to the building with them but has so far not unfrozen her because she was already dying of Cancer, and as long as she’s frozen she is basically in stasis. That is similar to the reason given last issue to not have Ray unfreeze Daisy’s baby, as it was born extremely premature and could have serious medical issues if it’s unfrozen. This brings up certain implications, like does this mean everyone who is unfrozen is also not aging? Are they effectively immortal until unfrozen?

Ray has also brought his dog, Lucy. It’s not made clear if Lucy or any other animals are likewise frozen, of if the worldwide freeze only affected humans. There is no mention of stray animals on the lose now. But that is an interested question that probably should be addressed.

Trouble erupts in the form of one person who attempts to kill Ray with an axe, having apparently snapped and now believing that this whole thing is some kind of punishment from God and that Ray is an agent of Satan who must die. His is stopped by Adam, and the group votes to exile him from the rest of them, although some wanted to kill him. And just when they think they’ve handled that situation, they make another shocking discovery that shows that there is another killer in their midst.

Another gripping issue, full of dramatic tension. Writer David Wickline writes these characters very well, with natural sounding dialog and characterizations. And Phillip Sevy’s artwork fits the tone of the series perfectly. This is turning out to be one of the most suspenseful new books that I’ve read in a long time!

Chacebook rating: 5 STARS

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