Advance Review – A Complicated Plot And Stunning Artwork Lift ‘No Man’s Land’ #1

For three months a year, the United States and Russia are physically connected via a thin ice bridge in the Bering Sea known as the Ice Curtain. So when a vicious murder is committed on the curtain, investigating the crime requires equal parts diplomacy and subterfuge.

In the appropriately titled No Man’s Land, Szymon Kudranski weaves a complicated plot together with some stunning photorealistic artwork to tell the story of FBI agent Kevin Collins’ complicated case. Through some methodical exposition, we learn that a young woman is found ritually murdered near the Diomede Islands, between the US and the former USSR. Kudranski amps up the 1960s Cold War mystique by having a general shrouded in shadows fill him in on the case.

There’s no local law enforcement. Sending the military to investigate would trigger the Soviet’s suspicion, though they have likely already sent the KBG in to investigate.

As different as it seems on the surface, the story feels quite familiar. The middle-age law enforcement officer, near the end of his career gets pulled back into one more case. The complexity of the case mirrors the troubles he has at home with his wife.

It’s Kudranski’s artwork that differentiates No Man’s Land, though. He simultaneously captures minute details on characters’ faces – Collin’s face is a map of the world – along with the bleakness of the vast Alaskan tundra. It’s a visual cornucopia.

His use of color is sparce. Much of the opening, featuring a speech by President John F. Kennedy and the scene with the mysterious general, is largely black and white, as if we were watching the action play out on a period television show. The sole true color in the limited series’ first issue comes is an simmering amber as Collins argues with his wife before the flight to Alaska. The islands themselves are all bleak white.

After this strong start, it will be interesting to see where Kudranski takes us from here. With a main character seemingly on the edge of a breakdown, a complicated murder mystery, and great artwork, readers should be eager to return to this No Man’s Land soon.

No Man’s Land #1 will be available in comic bookstores and on digital platforms September 17th from Image Comics.