Advance Review — ‘No Man’s Land’ #2 Is An Icy Page-Turner

Szymon Kudranski knows how to keep your attention once he captures it.

Perhaps that shouldn’t be a surprise given his work as both a writer and an artist on Blood Commandment and Something Epic. Now he’s halfway through his latest title, No Man’s Land, which tells the story about an FBI agent teaming up with a KGB operative to solve a Cold War-era murder.

The story is dense and layered, but Kudranski keeps things moving to the point with his complicated characters and photorealistic artwork.

FBI agent Kevin Collins is sent to the Diomede Islands, between the US and the former USSR, to catch the killer of a murdered young woman. The murder is brutal and hints of something even more diabolical. To complicate matters, the remote islands are largely have to real owner, meaning the US and Russia have joint authority, more or less.

Enter KGB operative Sonia Diodrow, who legitimately seems to want to solve the case with Collins. Near the end of his career, Collins is a no-nonsense detective who quickly parses through the information around him and moves the case forward. Whether Diodrow is there to help or hinder the case is all part of the mystery that Kudranski has laid out.

Visually as well, Kudranski excels. He knows when to zero in on tight details and when to hide them behind the frigid winds coming off the Bering Sea. In one memorable splash page, he depicts the dead woman’s foot in chilling detail close to the reader with the two detectives in the background, partially obscured by the shifting snows. It’s a remarkable analogy for the murky mystery obscuring their vision of the vicious murder.

Kudranski largely eschews color, leaving his detailed inks to stand on their own, much like a black-and-white movie. It adds to the Cold War mystique.

Kudranski has taken what could be a tired procedural story and made it a compelling read.

No Man’s Land #2 will be available in comic book stores and digital platforms Wednesday from Image Comics.