Edenfrost TPB: Bound to a Golem

After losing their parents in a pogrom, teenage siblings Alex and Yuli use the mystical power of a Golem to survive the chaos of the Russian Civil War. In a harrowing journey through war-torn Ukraine, the duo will face the harsh reality of warfare, ethnic bias, and national pride as they fight for their own place in the world.

Alex and Yuli are already on the run when Edenfrost begins. Their village burns behind them, and they owe their survival to a monster that appeared out of nowhere–a golem that is bound to Alex. The children get a brief respite when a Russian peasant grudgingly takes them in. But it’s not long before Alex, Yuli, and the power they command are trapped between soviets and anti-Bolshevik Whites.

Edenfrost explores a lot of themes in a very short amount of time. The story is a swirling consideration of ethnic bias and nationalism amidst conflict and war. The Russian Civil War provides an ideal backdrop for the series because of how complicated a sense of identity could be in the country at this time. Every major character has complex relationships with each other. The leader of the Bolshevik opposing Whites has no use for the anti-communist peasant Olena or her (likely dead) Romanov loyalist lover. The White leader and the peasant have no love for the Ukrainian Jews Alex and Yuli. And Alex and Yuli don’t necessarily trust the one character that has no problem with them as Jews because he is a Ukrainian soviet. In this context, the golem (which is interesting but underutilized) is an effective metaphor for the immutable parts of one’s identity.

Focused as it is on Alex and Yuli, Edenfrost offers very little information on larger events. Since the series is told almost entirely from the children’s perspective, this makes sense. Alex and Yuli are from a small, somewhat isolated village and as children they likely wouldn’t be aware of the more complicated national issues. Unfortunately the lack of context causes confusion more than once. In some ways, Edenfrost is best enjoyed by being read once to experience the story on an emotional level, then set aside to examine an overarching summary of the Russian Civil War, and then re-read to be able to place that emotional experience within the larger context of events.

Alex and Yuli are very compelling main characters. With both characters Tishler effectively blends childhood naïveté with intelligence, and responsibility with a fear of failing their parents. Both characters, but especially Alex, walk the line of being smart and clever without ever feeling too adult. And since they never feel too mature for their age, the emotional outbursts that call forth the golem still resonate as a child’s.

Frenda’s art is impressive throughout Edenfrost, but perhaps he excels best in his depiction of Alex and Yuli. If there is added difficulty drawing children (which is not an uncommon refrain), Frenda demonstrates none of it here. Alex and Yuli’s size and proportion is consistent, not just in relation to the adult characters but to each other. The result is a dynamic that plays out repeatedly: Alex feels much older than Yuli when they are together because of his greater height, but as soon as both of them are in the presence of an adult, Alex might as well be the same age as Yuli because the adult is so much larger than both of them.

The art also helps compensate for the fact that Edenfrost’s story doesn’t get to know anyone other than Alex and Yuli very well. Frenda tends more toward exaggerated facial expressions rather than subtle. None of them are overly so (except perhaps the evil sneer from the leader of the Whites), but it is enough to communicate emotion that the dialogue might not otherwise convey.