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Snow Day #1-2
Snow Day
An outsider sheriff struggles to find his place in an isolated, snow-covered town populated by a hard people who are set in their ways and don't take too kindly to strangers. It's a place where folks mind their own business -- however odd it may be -- and do as they please. That is, until the calm, quiet sheriff decides to do his job...
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 13, 2018
A smalltown sheriff gets fed up with being pushed around by the drunken louts employed by the corrupt local businessman and mayor and one day decides to push back. You can’t break the cold by breaking the thermometer…
Pierre Wazem and Antoine Aubin’s Snow Day is an ok comic. I get the impression they’re shooting for a Coen Brothers-type quirky comedy/drama but, like everyone else who attempt to mimic the Coens’ style, fall short.
That’s probably because everything about the story feels like it’s happening at quite a distance from the reader – I never really connected with or got too wrapped up in what was happening on the page. As Wazem doesn’t take us into the inner thoughts of the main character, Spencer, I never felt like I got to know him and therefore cared less about his mission. That, along with his general blank look, quiet demeanour and understated actions made him seem almost autistic and that much more difficult to relate to.
There are a couple of deliberately “kooky” characters that felt contrived and unnecessary and a magical realist sequence that doesn’t quite work. But on the whole the lo-fi approach to the archetypal western-esque “lawman cleaning up shop” story was quite enjoyable and I liked Antoine Aubin’s pretty black and white art.
It’s trying a bit too hard to be an indie movie, nor is there anything too outstanding or memorable going on to make it a must-read, but Snow Day isn’t a bad comic and has its charms – worth a look for indie comics fans if you see it in the liberry.
Pierre Wazem and Antoine Aubin’s Snow Day is an ok comic. I get the impression they’re shooting for a Coen Brothers-type quirky comedy/drama but, like everyone else who attempt to mimic the Coens’ style, fall short.
That’s probably because everything about the story feels like it’s happening at quite a distance from the reader – I never really connected with or got too wrapped up in what was happening on the page. As Wazem doesn’t take us into the inner thoughts of the main character, Spencer, I never felt like I got to know him and therefore cared less about his mission. That, along with his general blank look, quiet demeanour and understated actions made him seem almost autistic and that much more difficult to relate to.
There are a couple of deliberately “kooky” characters that felt contrived and unnecessary and a magical realist sequence that doesn’t quite work. But on the whole the lo-fi approach to the archetypal western-esque “lawman cleaning up shop” story was quite enjoyable and I liked Antoine Aubin’s pretty black and white art.
It’s trying a bit too hard to be an indie movie, nor is there anything too outstanding or memorable going on to make it a must-read, but Snow Day isn’t a bad comic and has its charms – worth a look for indie comics fans if you see it in the liberry.
November 10, 2017
Too low key to be a thriller and too slight to be an examination of life in a small town. It was nice enough, but I have to wonder if the idea came after watching the old Walking Tall movie and someone joking, "Hey, we should do Walking Short!" (Attention is drawn to the protagonist's height repeatedly throughout the story.)
December 17, 2017
Snow Day is beautifully illustrated. The inking is beautiful. The landscapes are striking. The pacing of the story and its depth are a bit lacking. The writing seems choppy at times, and repetitive in others. It has elements of noir, but comes across as trying to hard. The sheriff is a good guy. From conversations with his ex and his housekeeper, we gather that he was away and now he is back, but we don't really know. These two women ask him why he has come back, or why he is still here, and he doesn't seem to have an answer; it seems that he just wants to root out the evil in the factory. The factory owner and the mayor are in cahoots and are bad guys, though we don't really get to know why. They have three goons, who work at the factory and beat up on the other workers if they complain about the work conditions (this is the only thing I could figure out the sheriff must mean when he says those three "do more than just work" at the factory?!) The three goons, the factory owner and the mayor all bully the sheriff, but he is a like a bad penny, he keeps dogging them and arresting the guys, etc. In the end, he "wins" with the help of his ex and another woman in town (there seem to be very few people in this town; perhaps all are working at the factory.
The plot is thin and requires some fleshing out; we don't even know the basics: what kind of factory is it? Why are these men bad? We get an inkling of some of the other questions, but not enough to be sure: it seems that the sheriff decides to do his job and stand up to the factory owner and the mayor as an act of showing he is a good, strong man and worthy of the love of his ex, whom he still loves. But this thread is too weak to support the action.
The kooky characters, like Becky and Butch, seem stereotypical, though they do add to the thin cast and make the story a bit more interesting. In a longer work, their stories could be fleshed out and linked to the sheriff's troubles.
Someone else mentioned the stylistic choice of the loose sketch drawings for the scene where two guys are recounting what happened the night before (where the sheriff arrested the three goons). Though I understand this choice as something to distinguish the retelling of a story within the larger story, I think the decision to draw the most important scene in the story with the least detail is not a great one... Why not open the story with this scene in full detail? Later, if the waitress (sheriff's ex) wants to know what happened the night before, the two guys at the diner can tell her in a few sentences. Better yet, they can just be like "why, you haven't heard?" and we can infer that she found out later from someone else and came to help the sheriff... There are many possibilities; I'm not convinced that the one the authors decided on was the best.
Recommended for those who like deer, snow, factories, bears, and ghosts.
The plot is thin and requires some fleshing out; we don't even know the basics: what kind of factory is it? Why are these men bad? We get an inkling of some of the other questions, but not enough to be sure: it seems that the sheriff decides to do his job and stand up to the factory owner and the mayor as an act of showing he is a good, strong man and worthy of the love of his ex, whom he still loves. But this thread is too weak to support the action.
The kooky characters, like Becky and Butch, seem stereotypical, though they do add to the thin cast and make the story a bit more interesting. In a longer work, their stories could be fleshed out and linked to the sheriff's troubles.
Someone else mentioned the stylistic choice of the loose sketch drawings for the scene where two guys are recounting what happened the night before (where the sheriff arrested the three goons). Though I understand this choice as something to distinguish the retelling of a story within the larger story, I think the decision to draw the most important scene in the story with the least detail is not a great one... Why not open the story with this scene in full detail? Later, if the waitress (sheriff's ex) wants to know what happened the night before, the two guys at the diner can tell her in a few sentences. Better yet, they can just be like "why, you haven't heard?" and we can infer that she found out later from someone else and came to help the sheriff... There are many possibilities; I'm not convinced that the one the authors decided on was the best.
Recommended for those who like deer, snow, factories, bears, and ghosts.
March 5, 2019
This book's major selling point is Aubin's gorgeous pen and ink illustrations. Every page is a powerhouse of mood and impact, drawing the reader right into the offbeat, tense, yet oddly casual narrative. Wazem's script is interesting - an offbeat crime drama, with a few slightly eccentric characters and a oddly engrossing languid pace. The primary conflict isn't developed sufficiently, and the finale is a bit too pat, with interference on the sheriff's behalf that doesn't quite fit, so the ending is underwhelming. Fortunately, getting to the ending is a decent, easy-going affair and a great showcase for Aubin's artwork.
January 28, 2025
"Termometreyi kırarak soğukla başa çıkamazsın!"
Adına yaraşır derecede basit, yalın ve güzel bir çizgi roman. Sessiz sakin küçük bir Amerikan kasabası. Kasabanın tüm yaşamına hakim bir fabrika. Patron ve onun kurt sürüsü gibi davranan adamları... Herşeye hem göz yuman hem de muhtemelen tüm yaşananlardan beslenene bir belediye başkanı... Sıradan kasabanın sıradan, basit, emekçi halkı.
Hepsinin üzerinde, kasabanın kendisi kadar sessiz sakin bir şerif. Ta ki herşeyi altüst eden, bardağı taşıran o son damlaya kadar.
Adına yaraşır derecede basit, yalın ve güzel bir çizgi roman. Sessiz sakin küçük bir Amerikan kasabası. Kasabanın tüm yaşamına hakim bir fabrika. Patron ve onun kurt sürüsü gibi davranan adamları... Herşeye hem göz yuman hem de muhtemelen tüm yaşananlardan beslenene bir belediye başkanı... Sıradan kasabanın sıradan, basit, emekçi halkı.
Hepsinin üzerinde, kasabanın kendisi kadar sessiz sakin bir şerif. Ta ki herşeyi altüst eden, bardağı taşıran o son damlaya kadar.
August 2, 2019
Very simple stuff here with art that seems like it was just taken from storyboards for a tv show. Not much to the story and it’s over so quick that there’s not much to the characters either. Was this supposed to be a short film/pilot/etc that fell through and they just added dialogue boxes to the already made storyboard breakdowns ?
September 2, 2023
What starts as a slow, reflective character piece accumulates into something a bit over the top. I also wasn't sure about the very end.
Some of it reminded me of a graphic novel I read in the same library I read this one called 'Moon Cop,' although that was more subtle and I think more effective.
I liked the atmosphere of the start though, and the protagonist's cat, however briefly featured.
Some of it reminded me of a graphic novel I read in the same library I read this one called 'Moon Cop,' although that was more subtle and I think more effective.
I liked the atmosphere of the start though, and the protagonist's cat, however briefly featured.
October 17, 2017
Lawman decides to stop turning a blind eye to the town factory. Pretty straightforward, with a bizarre little surreal interlude over a few pages in the middle.
April 6, 2018
Enjoyable, but it would benefit from doubling its size. There is so much more meat here that doesn't get it's due.
May 9, 2019
Uninspired.
October 25, 2019
I usually prefer to watch movies like this, but this was good too for some reason.
December 19, 2019
The artwork was great, but the story came up short in character development and the resolution of the main conflict was a bit wonky.
July 7, 2023
Extra points for art but loses points for a hollow story.
Reads like there is a missing introduction.
Reads like there is a missing introduction.
October 6, 2023
The art and setting of this book is beautiful. However the story is thin, have quite a few unanswered questions and plotholes and there is no real connection to the characters unfortunately.
August 7, 2025
Stunning art and a great atmosphere. Really captures the claustrophobia of a small town, but wish there was a bit more to it
March 17, 2017
This was an interesting graphic novel in that a lot of the sequences were pictures only-no words. Most of the time, the pictures were drawn impeccably except for a a bar brawl in the middle of the book which seemed to reflect that the illustrator was in a hurry to finish that sequence. Thus that was drawn much more loosely and sloppily than the rest of the book. But overall, the story was well written and the plight of the protagonist was such that the reader remained engaged until the end of the story.
January 2, 2018
Set in America’s heartland, author Pierre Wazem and illustrator Aubin combine their contemplative talent in an atmospheric black-and-white graphic novel, “Snow Day.”
Spencer, the new town sheriff, along with his black cat, moves to an isolated, snow-covered backwoods town and finds himself knee-deep in trouble amidst a rough group of townspeople who don’t take kindly to outsiders.
Late one night, Spencer hauls three rowdies to his jail and locks them up for a public disturbance, drinking and brawling at a local bar called “High Life.” The next day, Spencer is threatened when the offenders’ boss arrives at the police station asking Spencer to release his men so they can head to work at the factory.
Spencer will not be bullied by anyone, even the meanest men in town. But when the mayor is called to the scene to warn Spencer of his behavior, all hell breaks loose.
When Spencer doesn’t back down, he is met with hostility. Discouraged, Spencer is determined to do the job he was hired for, against the odds of a rough country town and its hostile inhabitants.
In this dark, isolated environment where outsiders are not always welcomed, Spencer overcomes many obstacles from the townsfolk and learns through determination and strength how to keep his town safe from danger.
Fans of the TV series “Fargo” and “Trapped” will be pleased to venture to the small corner of the world in this gritty, skillfully illustrated crime story.
Spencer, the new town sheriff, along with his black cat, moves to an isolated, snow-covered backwoods town and finds himself knee-deep in trouble amidst a rough group of townspeople who don’t take kindly to outsiders.
Late one night, Spencer hauls three rowdies to his jail and locks them up for a public disturbance, drinking and brawling at a local bar called “High Life.” The next day, Spencer is threatened when the offenders’ boss arrives at the police station asking Spencer to release his men so they can head to work at the factory.
Spencer will not be bullied by anyone, even the meanest men in town. But when the mayor is called to the scene to warn Spencer of his behavior, all hell breaks loose.
When Spencer doesn’t back down, he is met with hostility. Discouraged, Spencer is determined to do the job he was hired for, against the odds of a rough country town and its hostile inhabitants.
In this dark, isolated environment where outsiders are not always welcomed, Spencer overcomes many obstacles from the townsfolk and learns through determination and strength how to keep his town safe from danger.
Fans of the TV series “Fargo” and “Trapped” will be pleased to venture to the small corner of the world in this gritty, skillfully illustrated crime story.
November 9, 2014
Big Bear
April 22, 2017
a great intimist crime story !!!!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews