Winter Was Hard

Set on a wintry New England night, Winter Was Hard — featuring the oddball superhero group The Miracle 5 — is stuffed to the gills with mystery, suspense, action, adventure, war profiteers, subterranean temples, and wrathful goddesses as a sensitive robot simply named "O", a well-meaning weapon in the tradition of "The Iron Giant", thwarts mischief-makers even as he ponders the larger questions, such as, “Why is life so fleeting?” (though most people’s answers to these questions don’t involve snow pooters and trans-dimensional travel). Dave Ortega brings a refreshingly original — and hilarious — voice to the comics medium. A subtle wit anchored both in an extraordinary realm and in everyday reality combined with a deranged plot, rendered with a hyper-cartoony art-comic style.