By Bruno Savill De Jong — White is not a color, but the absence of one. It dilutes and covers up cultures which it comes in contact with. Imperialism, therefore, is a blizzard that buries its colonial atrocities against indigenous populations under thick covers of blank snow. It is up to others to melt it away. This is what Owen D. Pomery attempts to convey in British Ice, a well-meaning if shallow tale of a fictionalized remote British Overseas Territory in the Arctic. Even somewhere so distant, colonial resentments bubble beneath the surface, with British Ice surveying the factional divisions of flying a British flag amidst the frozen Arctic wasteland.

This unique environment is the main attraction of British Ice. Pomery dedicates full pages to the sparse landscapes, cleverly using the comic’s negative-space to dwarf the human settlements, subtly undermining those that try to ‘control’ such areas. The book follows the last imperial commissioner to these Arctic colonies, Harrison Fleet, in 1984. Harrison is a mild-mannered and well-intentioned bureaucrat, tentatively following the example of his father, who was a legendarily ruthless colonial ambassador. Harrison is sent to represent the British government, but finds himself also representing its historical mistakes, and faces resentment instead of respect. While distrusted by most locals, Harrison is also assisted by other Inuit natives to discover the true history behind the colonial settlement by a ‘Captain Netherton’. A truth which is preserved under these ice-cold conditions, even if buried beneath the snow.

Pomery renders the two time-lines with distinct hues, 1890 in a greyish-green and 1984 in a muted blue, capturing the chilly air of the Arctic. Similarly, the linework is thin and wavery, the figures looking like they are about to evaporate into the background. The unique setting of British Ice is well conveyed by Pomery’s discreet and subtle artwork.

Unfortunately, his writing is less subdued. Amongst the unblemished atmosphere it stands out as stark and dense. Harrison claims he was brought over “to serve… not to preach”, but the dialogue in British Ice is pretty explicit, characters lecturing him about imperial grievances in inelegant ways. And while I’m the last person to complain about overextended metaphors, comments about how “people’s convictions are as unique as snowflakes” or how “it’s easy to lose your perspective within all this white” feel unconvincing within the book. British Ice also contains many examples of how poor compositions can hinder a comic. When speeches meant to inform characters are confined to singular, undynamic word-balloons, they stymy the book’s blow and flatten the characterization. It ultimately leaves all the character’s hollow. The intentionally plain backgrounds and simple artwork also renders them flat and inexpressive, causing the actual narrative to leave me rather cold.

This is particularly true for Harrison, who despite being the central focus of British Ice remains underdeveloped. Despite undergoing long periods of isolation (a day-counter sometimes jumping ahead weeks at a time), his characterization never feels particularly engaging. Although the book ostensibly tracks his discovery of colonial wrong-doing, such disengagement makes any such transformation undramatic. Indeed, his mild-mannered reasonableness against the outrage of the Arctic’s colonial subjects almost undermines them, making their serious grievances appear unwarranted. The depiction of Inuits is not ‘offensive’, but it is bland, being unspecific to their unique northern location, and the bluntness of their narrative makes British Ice fairly disposable.

Pomery’s message within British Ice, acknowledging the truth of the colonial past, is an important one. But British Ice is too simple and shallow to fully convey it. Perhaps it would have benefitted from expanding the ecosystem with greater context and complexity, or an opposite approach that reduced the dialogue and overt messaging for a more abstract direction. As it is, British Ice has an interesting setting and adept art-direction, but the narrative filling feels as blank and empty as the surrounding snow, which at a touch might melt away.

British Ice
Writer/Artist/Colorist/Letterer: Owen D. Pomery
Publisher: IDW
Price: Digital: $6.99; Print: $14.99
Working for the British High Commission, Harrison Fleet is posted to a remote arctic island which is still, inexplicably, under British rule. As he struggles to understand why, and what interests he is protecting, Harrison learns just how much of the land and its community lies in the shadow cast by the outpost’s founder. Caught between hostile locals, the British Government, and an unforgiving physical environment, he begins dragging dark secrets into the light, unaware of the tragic repercussions they will cause. And help is very, very far away. Part noir, part historical mystery, British Ice explores the consequences of colonialism and the legacy of empire.
Release Date: January 2020

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Bruno Savill De Jong is a recent undergraduate of English and freelance writer on films and comics, living in London. His infrequent comics-blog is Panels are Windows and semi-frequent Twitter is BrunoSavillDeJo.