Edenfrost: Comics About War, Survival and a Mysterious Giant

In the two comic book issues published so far in the Edenfrost series, Amit Tishler unfolds the story of two Jewish siblings escaping through the Ukrainian steppes - and it still looks exactly like an American comic book should look.

Edenfrost Writer: Amit Tishler; Artist: Bruno Frenda. Published by Mad CaveIssue 1 - November 2023; Issue 2 - January 2024

First publication (in Heb.) February 25, 2024

Mom once called this place "our little piece of paradise" [...] I asked her "Mom, how can this be paradise?! I'm freezing!" She chuckled, looked at the snow and said: "This? This is just Eden frost. Don't worry, it will pass."

Edenfrost 2

During the chaos of the Russian Civil War, shortly after World War I, two siblings who are the sole survivors of their Jewish family escape through the Ukrainian steppes. This is how the Edenfrost comic book series created by Amit Tishler opens. The first issue was published in November 2023 and the second issue came out last month.

In an interview conducted by Yuval Saar, Tishler told how Trump's rise and the rise of antisemitism in the United States and the world in general merged for him with family stories about antisemitism in early 20th-century Eastern Europe. At least at this stage, antisemitism is the beginning of the story, meaning the reason for the pogrom and their escape. Later they're pursued because they're strangers and fugitives.

Edenfrost 1

The more interesting Jewish point is connected to mysticism and the creation of the golem for revival. It will be interesting to see how things develop further - two more issues are planned this year, and a "second season" is also being prepared (it's a bit strange to talk about seasons regarding literature, but that's the custom, in America at least).

The opening image of the first issue is a small village, no more than ten buildings surrounded by a low wall. The entire village is burning, surrounded by heavy snow and scattered corpses. Alex and Julie survived a pogrom carried out by Russian soldiers in their village, with the help of local antisemites. Not only their resourcefulness saved them, but also a mysterious giant made of ice and rocks.

The characters of the two siblings are the heart of this story, and they're indeed built in a convincing and relatable way. The fact that the siblings are left alone in the world, fleeing, and have enormous power they're still learning to use - connects us to them quickly.

Alex carries his younger sister Julie on his back. They're cold, Julie is slightly injured, but she refuses to accept that their parents were murdered and they're left alone in the world. She also fights for her independence, unwilling to be dragged on Alex's back, unwilling to let him lead. She quotes their father who said "safety first, tears can wait." Both are driven by purpose to reach Kiev, she's a bit sharper and hot-tempered, he's hesitant and absorbed in internal dilemmas that will become clearer later.

During their escape they see a solitary, lit house, and are caught by the young woman who lives there while trying to sneak into it. At this tense point the first issue ends. Later we discover that the young woman lives alone, waiting for her beloved to return from the war she's convinced is still happening. Julie and Alex convince her to give them shelter and food until winter ends in exchange for all the household and surrounding work.

They disguise their true identity from her, convince her that those who attacked them also threaten her, and so she agrees they can stay. This works for a while, but one day while picking mushrooms, they're discovered by a soldier (who this time actually looks innocent) and Alex again summons the giant to protect them.

The characters of the two siblings are the heart of this story, and they're indeed built in a convincing and relatable way. The fact that the siblings are left alone in the world, fleeing, and have enormous power they're still learning to use - connects us to them quickly. Their parents appear in their memories at key moments with wise sayings, reminding us that they were once a family.

The giant's character is the great mystery of the issues. It's what gives the issues their power, connects them to the supernatural superhero tradition so natural to comics. The first time the giant appeared is maintained only as testimonies and as Alex and Julie's memory, but also of one of the villagers who led the pogrom himself. He describes how the giant struck the rioters, much larger than them, holding a person in his hand easily like King Kong. How he fought five people together, helpless against his power.

That local's testimony is also detailed testimony to the antisemitism that started it all: he tells how he wanted to teach Julie a lesson, and generally the Lowe family who only brought trouble to the village ("It all started with these little Jews!") - a family of dangerous, treacherous and scheming people who can't be trusted. It's interesting to see that precisely he, the ignorant villager, is the one who knows how to make the connection between the giant and Judaism. Despite having no idea exactly where the giant came from and how, it's clear to him that he's part of a long chain of Jewish stories: "They summoned the golem to kill us!" The soldiers hearing his testimony don't believe his dramatic theories and mock: "Sure they summoned him... right after Baba Yaga and Wawel's dragon left." Despite the comparison being made dismissively, it actually places the giant/golem exactly where it belongs, within folklore (Slavic and Polish, respectively).

The second issue opens with (slightly) more details about the mysterious giant and the power that operates it: Alex. Alex has the ability to connect to a great power that protects the family bloodline, perhaps Jewish, that he belongs to. He struggles to control the power, despite the mysterious entity claiming they are one.

The colors, number of frames, movement within them, sounds - all this looks, sounds, and feels exactly like an American comic book should look. For example, the colors of the main plot create the depth of the image. They're realistic and sharp. A particularly successful effect is the snow that doesn't stop falling, drawn like a separate layer on the frames, demonstrating the dry, bone-penetrating cold. Moments of remembering the recent past are clearly marked as separate, colored gray, with a kind of film marking on the sides of each slide strip.

The concept of comic book issues requires fast and parallel plots, suspenseful endings (cliffhangers) for each chapter and lots of movement. During the first issue at least two plots develop: in the main plot Julie and Alex flee to the snowy forest to save their lives. The big plan is to reach Kiev, but first they need to survive the winter. The subplot follows the soldiers who came to understand what happened, interrogating the only survivor. The force commander chooses a young officer named Belov to continue pursuing them. Their intentions, of course, are bad.

In the continuation issues, apparently, more and more details will be clarified about the giant-golem, about how it's operated, and about how the siblings will be forced to defend themselves and their heritage. Their childhood paradise no longer exists, but hopefully they'll still find a new Eden for themselves, preferably one that's a bit less frozen.