Snowpiercer, Vol. 1: The Escape Hardcover – January 28, 2014

I will make this review short but sweet. I absolutely loved this comic. I'm doing this review based on both volumes 1&2 of this series as I have just finished reading both of them. I have already ordered the 3rd comic which comes out March 22nd,2016. I will say that this is a must buy comic series. I watched the movie before I read this series and the movie was a Masterpiece of a film and it's in my Top 10 favorite films of all time. I was very impressed by the story and yes it's very different from the movie so if you're worried about that then there is no need to be at all. The art style was Impeccable. The story is clearly set in a very abysmal setting and it really shows in the artwork and the story. I will finish by saying you need to pick this up and read it. You will not regret it but beware it is definitely mature to an extent with some of the pictures and graphic content even though it is in black and white.

Saw this featured on a website and it sounded interesting so I gave it a try. Extremely original sci-fi post Apocalypse story. Art is really great (reminds me of archer) and the way it's told is really great. Anyone into sci fi graphic novels at all should give this a read.

I found it quite difficult to review Snowpiercer, until I considered that this story was penned some 30 years ago. The concept is deceptively simple: Jacques Lob uses the excuse of a (for the most part) veiled apocalyptic event to form a context where the breadth of western, capitalist society can be condensed onto the carriages of a single train. The hierarchies, social injustices and dehumanising effects of class structures are poignantly portrayed through a very linear journey through the train, starting with the lowest and ending with the most priveleged of classes. The story may seem a hackneyed exploration of clichéd issues, but it is haunting that this volume seems to be every bit as relevant today as when it was written.Where the story (arguably) flounders a little is in the execution. The pace of the story is so incredibly rapid that no ideas are explored or discussed in any real depth - social injustices are apparently presented "as-is" at face value, and any depth of consideration is left to the reader. This would probably not have been problematic if it did not result in characters that seemed very flat (with the exception of the two main characters); even the conflicts and negotiations between the various role players seem wooden and unconvincing. There seem to be no real obstacles for the protagonists; everything just happens to work out smoothly and the story, like the train it happens on, just chugs along. I also get the impression that the dialogue suffered in the process of being translated from French into English and would rather read it in the original language.Jean-Marc Rochette's artwork is striking and appropriate, but is also inconsistent in treatment. Lack of attention to keeping the features of key characters recognisable throughout the narrative was especially distracting (they simply look like different people at various points in the story, even accounting for changes in hairstyles, the length of the timeline etc). Having said this, his treatment of facial features is often incredibly engaging and beautiful.I appreciated being able to benefit from the lower cost of procuring this comic in the paperback edition. The hardcover edition is clearly a nicer product, but I would have felt cheated if I had paid more for this story.

The snowpiercer movie was my first introduction to this general story. I liked it, but wasn’t blown away. The TV series is where I got really into this story and the issues it explores. So I expected something similar to the series in the comic. The comic has the basic elements but is completely different in major places but is still great. So don’t expect to see the same characters or plot lines you’ve seen before, but prepare to enjoy it nonetheless.

I watched the movie that came out in 2014 with the same title, and figured I would buy the book to learn some of the back story and answer some of the questions that I had watching the movie.Warning: It's not the same story, at all. The only similarities is that it's a train going through snow, that has the last remnants of humanity. Similar to how "The Walking Dead" comic and TV show diverge.However: It's a good story all on it's own, the last page mentions a volume 2, and I purchased that as well just to see how it would go.

Like many people I saw the movie first, devoured the fist series in three sittings, followed the series two and am enjoying the series three.The graphic novel is excellent.Just as the film is different from the series,expanded and detailed the graphic novel is totally different from both.And, I admit all the better for that.It is a lot grimmer, short and the detail of the claustrophobic natue of mankind being limited to just 1001 rail cars pulled by a perceptual motion railway engine endlessly circling the globe.The world is an icy wasteland of endless ice and snow.The book is in black and white which really mimics the outer world of black and white and the harsh nature of life aboard the train is enhanced to the full.De humanised, brutal yet totally believable guards ' police the train' like the 'best' run Soviet Gulags.Two central characters as taken from the rear of the train on a long and incident filled trek to the Engine at the head.This treatment really emphasises the world on the train and although shorter trumps both the TV series in explaining the true horror of a warm world now lost to Mankind.A totally brilliant Graphic Novel.

This is not the movie, just the setting. If you can get past that, it is an interesting read and with some ideas I truly wish had made it into the film. But by that same measure, the film had many improvements and a darker tone that make it the superior tale. The first book is the weak link of the three - decent in its own right, but made better by how much Book 2 and 3 expand from this tale in ways that make it worth the read. But if you go into this having seen the film first, you will find the climax and conclusion pale by comparison.The book is mostly monochrome, with occasional color highlights, and the art style is unique. Being hardcover, it's a proper wrapped cover, not a slipcover (as those always get ruined).

Good story but short.

Despite having an interest in graphic novels, I don't know of many French ones. That's even despite visiting Angouléme a few years ago, I'm not up to scratch with French novels.A few years ago a live-action Adele Blanc-Sec was released, which wasn't fantastic but did make me aware of the classic comic series, so I bought a few. Now I find myself in a similar boat as the live-action movie of "Transperceneige" (the original French title) comes out this year and we have the series translated in English for the first-time, just to plug the movie a little more!I basically read through this in a single afternoon/evening. I couldn't put it down. I don't want to give away any spoilers (and therefore ruin the novel and the movie), but it's a slightly crazy idea of the last if the human-race being stuck on a forever-travelling 1001-carriage train. When reading it, I never "felt" that the train was that long, but maybe that just me! The entire setting is depressing and the political/social aspects of the book relate directly to real-life... even though it's 30 years old it still makes a good point about todays world (rich/poor, etc). The artwork, although somewhat dated, suits the tone completely with its stark colouring.I bought both Vol1 and Vol2 at the same time. If you're a collector you'll want both. But with hindsight, Vol2 really wasn't necessary - it's almost a rehash of the first volume, and doesn't really add anything in it's own right. (If you read the notes inside, you find out it came out about 10/15 years the original with a different artist.) I don't know if the new movie will pull material from both sources, but I hope it just sticks with Vol 1.Vol1 - 5/5Vol2 - 3/5

Having had the chance to watch Snowpiercer recently (and having loved it), I decided to return to the source and read the graphic novel it was taken from.***** SPOILER ALERT *****In a bleak and desolate future there is a 1001 carriage long train which travels constantly through the frozen wastes of an environmentally destroyed earth. The train itself is a microcosm of the previous world at large. Social and political inequality still thrives with the poor being crammed in the back of the train, living in like sardines in abject squalor; and the rich living a life of luxury and hedonism in the front carriages. The logistics of maintaining social order mean that everyone must keep to 'their place' on the train. No social climbing is allowed and no chance to better yourself. The story centres around Proloff, a man who escapes the tail section and is subsequently placed in quarantine as there is a killer virus amongst the poorest passengers, he is joined by an arrested woman called Adeline who is a campaigner for equal rights, and together they are ushered through the train by the military force towards their fate. As they move through Snowpiercer it is evident that life is very different, and some what decadent, for the more fortunate train dwellers. The poor have been lied to and told that meat, fruit and vegetables have become extinct, yet the privileged dine on them whilst the tail section residents eat processed cockroaches. Drugs and sex are the favourite pass times of the rich, they live without empathy for the poor and seek only pleasure. During their arrest Proloff and Adeline overhear that the tail section is going to be released as the engine is beginning to fail, they try to warn the end carriages, managing successfully, but putting their own lives at greater risk. On the run they eventually they reach the last compartment before the engine and are cornered, Proloff breaks the windows as he and Adeline would rather die than be captured, but he is rescued by the train driver and hauled into the engine compartment. There the driver, Forester, unveils the truth about the train and the last frame is of Proloff alone driving an empty train, all it's inhabitants killed by the virus.As an idea the story is excellent with sharp observations and chilling predictions on the future of society. There are some horrific moments (especially the cockroaches and meat) and some parts of the novel which drag a bit. As with other reviews I strongly agree that the train does not feel anything like 1001 carriages long and I feel that there was a lost opportunity somewhere in the middle where the tension and horror could have been upped, more detail and characters could have made a richer story.The artwork is somewhat retro (it is 30 years old) but the black and white starkness of it compliments the story matter. But like the movie Alien, the dated feel it isn't a distraction. A full colour approach would have minimalised the harsh and bleak nature of Snowpiercer and the art does skillfully capture the claustrophobic and hopeless microcosm. The length of the book is somewhat short, which works well in one respect as it was getting a little drawn out; but I do think that if the story had been expanded, with stronger characters, sub plot and more detail regarding the social aspects than it would have benefited from being longer. It's one of those strange books that firstly you think "thank goodness that's over" but you end up wanting to know more. What I did miss was character development though and building relationships between them. Being that it was about the decline of humanity, it would have been a richer story if a greater human element hand been added, I never quite got attached to any of the protagonists and at the end of the book really didn't bother what happened to them. In hindsight I wonder if any of the dialogue and story was lost in translation, as the book is originally French. Very often, especially in foreign films, a beautiful piece of dialogue is butchered by insensitive translation. Having said that though I did enjoy the novel and would possibly read it again.If you have arrived here via the movie adaptation I should warn you that the book is quite different. The movie took the bones and rounded it out with muscle and heart, the story is more explosive too with a more dramatic but hopeful ending.All in all I enjoyed the graphic novel but wished I had read it before seeing the movie as I was a little dissapointed. It is however a fascinating premise that makes you consider just what direction society is going to take. And will we survive ...............Many thanks for reading.