'Winterworld' gets hardcover release

G.I. Joe writer Chuck Dixon's Winterworld will be released in hardcover early next year, courtesy of IDW Publishing.

The book compiles the titular miniseries, along with its unpublished sequel Wintersea. Artwork on the graphic novel was provided by the late Jorge Zaffino.

Set in a frozen world, the storyline follows a hardened trader named Scully and his companion, a young girl called Wynn. After the pair are captured by slave traders, Scully escapes and organises a rescue mission.

"Scully is a guy who's seen the absolute worst that humanity has to offer. This is a world where the environment is terribly unforgiving and the remaining population is at an animal level doing what they can to survive," Dixon told CBR.

"Somehow, Scully has held onto a sense of purpose that is galvanised when he runs into Wynn. Wynn has made it through until this point because she is seen as having value to her captors and the fact that she, like Scully, is generally more intelligent than those around her."

The creator went on to say that the comic was originally created with Zaffino's artistic style in mind. "There was this raw, organic force beneath his awesome draftsmanship," Dixon added.

"Larry Hama has a theory about art, that it's about mojo and fist; passion and craft. Too much craft and it's lifeless. Too much passion and it's hard to believe in. Jorge had equal parts. His work was alive and he was equally adept at the small human moments as well the big, grand opera aspects of comics."

Winterworld arrives in hardcover in January 2010.