I first became acquainted with SNOWPIERCER, VOL. 1: THE ESCAPE
after having watched the movie starring Chris Evans. I enjoyed that movie and
after learning it was based on a graphic novel, I wanted to find and read the
original story. The story is set in at an undetermined date in the future. The
Earth has been turned into a frozen wasteland (by human hands and not nature)
and a remnant of humanity survives by living on a giant train of over a 1,000
cars that travels around the globe non-stop. The rear cars contain the most
poor and impoverished people while the most wealthy and affluent are near the front
of the train. After an attempted coup years before, the rear of the train has
been quarantined from the rest of the train and there are rumors that the train
officials are considering dumping those cars as soon as they can. Proloff, a
refugee from the rear, escapes and is wanted to be seen by the top officials.
Some want to use him to advance their political careers while others just want
to see him out of curiosity. However, as Proloff is escorted through the train,
it becomes clear that things aren’t exactly as they seem and his only chance
for survival is to make it all the way to the engine.
SNOWPIERCER is a graphic novel that was first published over
thirty years ago in France. It’s amazing how relevant many of the issues the
book raises still are. In some ways the story is even more relevant today as
society wrestles with climate change and our impact upon the environment. There
are moments that the story drags, but not so much that it distracts from the
overall story. Personally, I really enjoyed reading SNOWPIERCER, VOL. 1 THE
ESCAPE and I look forward to reading the other three volumes in the trilogy.
