Couldn’t have asked for more fun this week than this blood-stained chunk of ice and snow. Flipping it open, you wouldn’t be punished for thinking that Brian Wood’s “Northlanders” was still chugging on: A group of Vikings, pursued by savage warriors, hurry through a frigid wasteland in an attempt to make it to the gates of their settlement before they’re closed.

“Helheim” diverges from Northlanders, however, when the skeletons of slain savages begin to tear themselves from the flesh of their fallen hosts and continue their attack on the Vikings and their village.

Could’ve been cheesy, yeah, but the dynamics within the gated community keep things on track. It turns out, for instance, that the father of the story’s hero believes his son’s lady friend has something to do with the evil surrounding their village and, as the situation devolves into carnage, has no problem loudly sharing his thoughts with her and the rest of the community. Mysteries abound.

Superb art here from Joëlle Jones, and though it definitely invites that Northlanders comparison, it is distinguished by a nice contrast of harsh angles and J. Scott Cambell-esque curves.

Action, twists, family politics, ice, decapitations, the undead breaking through protective barriers… You could do worse than flip through the pages of this thing. Definitely picking up #2. And, hell, I might as well just make it my POTW as well.