WINTERWORLD is a three issue mini-series
done by myself and Jorge Zaffino. It featured a future planet
Earth frozen over from pole to pole and the desperate struggles
of Scully, an amoral adventurer and a young orphan girl named
Wynn.
The story was bleak and the action ruthless.
It didn't break any sales records but helped my reputation
within the comics business. A lot of pros, young and old, still
ask me about it.
A sequel was written and Drawn by Jorge and I for Epic. It
was called WINTERSEA. It told the story of Scully and Wynn traveling
across an ice covered Caribbean in search of Wynn's homeland.
If anything the story was even bleaker with a tribe of cannibalistic
pirates sailing the ice floes on a giant schooner. The two part
mini was never published. I'm sure hoping Marvel still has the
original art. I've been asking for it back for a couple of years
now. The rights to both stories belong to Jorge and I. It's been
extensively collected and re-printed in Europe. But no collection
has ever been published here. When I get the art back from Marvel
I may approach a few willing publishers to see if they care to
collect the whole thing in one volume. Who knows? I may get enough
interest to do WINTERWAR the concluding part.
- Author's Word
- Article originally published
in WINTERWORLD #3 (March 1988)
-
I first saw the work of Jorge
Zaffino a little over a year ago. I only saw a couple of portfolio
pieces and a handful of pages from an Argentine comic story,
but their effect on me was immediate.
I wanted to work with this guy.
I had to work with this guy.
Happy russian date at http://vanilla-love.com/My introduction to Jorge's work came through Ricardo Villegran.
Ricardo and I had been working together on Evangeline
for various companies for a while, and I was aware that he had
a studio in Argentina that was full of extremely talented artists
(including Ricardo's brothers, Enrique and Carlos) who were seeking
work in North America and Europe. I looked through samples of
all the artists he worked with and was impressed with the level
of professionalism and draughtsmanship I saw there. These guys
has grown up wanting to emulate the best artists comics has to
offer, artists like Raymond, Foster, Salinas, Caniff, and Toth.
Their work had a classic look to it that was perfect for adventure
comics. As I looked at each artist's sample I cataloged in my
mind the type of story he would be best for, the kind of story
I would write for him if I were given the opportunity.
Then I saw Jorge's work.
He combined all the strengths of the other Argentines, but
brought a darker feel to his work. There is a strength
and passion and malevolence to his work that is rare in
comics from any country. Joe Kubert has it. Tim Truman has it.
Rich Corben has it.
Zaffino can draw guys you don't want to meet. Ever. His work
has an element of danger to it. His characters have an
animal vitality and ruthlessness about them that makes them live
on the printed page.
So what could I write for this guy?
Winterworld came to me a few days after seeing Jorge's
drawings. Oh, not all at once, but little by little I thought
about a future world that was frozen over and lightly populated
with all kinds of desperate characters. The relationship between
Scully and Wynn grew out of this bare bones idea and became the
core of the story. I wanted to do a story atypical of the average
American sci-fi comic. No flashy spaceships and monsters and
dudes in tights wielding alien-spawned super powers, just a bunch
of gun-toting paranoids fighting it out over ruins of a dead
civilization. This wasn't going to be a story about heroes battling
to save the universe. This was going to be about folks who weren't
sure where, or when, their next meals was going to be and who
they'd have to kill to get it.
I felt that the story line was suited for Jorge's talents
and , upon receipt of the first issue's script, Jorge agreed.
He was very enthusiastic about the story and sent me two drawings
of the characters. So, with the sample drawings and a simply
worded proposal, I shopped the mini-series around until it found
home as part of the 4Winds line for Eclipse.
If you've read the entire Winterworld saga, you already
know what a tremendous job Zaffino has done. I hope we'll be
seeing more work from him in the future. He and I plan a sequel
to Winterworld so, if you want to see it, let us know.
For now, we reluctantly leave Scully, Wynn, and faithful
Rah Rah to their uncertain future in the world of perpetual winter...
- Chuck Dixon
- March 1988
- WINTER WORLD #1-3 was a full-color monthly mini-series
by Chuck Dixon and Jorge Zaffino
- Originally published by Eclipse Comics 1987
- copyright Chuck Dixon and Jorge Zaffino
WINTERWORLD DRAWINGS BY JORGE ZAFFINO
