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Earthdivers #2
Earthdivers, Vol. 2: Ice Age
Guest artists Riccardo Burchielli ( DMZ ), Patricio Delpeche, and Emily Scnall join Stephen Graham Jones— New York Times best-selling author of The Only Good Indians and My Heart Is a Chainsaw —for a mission to the Ice Age exploring America’s pre-Columbian past!
When Martin and Tawny’s children disappeared, the couple barreled into the desert to track them down at any cost. Instead, they ran afoul of another group of rovers who claimed to be saving the world by traveling through a cave portal to the year 1492 to prevent the creation of America—an idea that defied belief until the grieving parents were lured into the cave and vanished in time and space.
Now alone, Tawny must adapt to the wild marshlands of prehistoric Florida, circa 20,000 BC, and the breathtaking and bloodthirsty megafauna are the least of her problems when she’s caught in a war between a community of native Paleo-Indians and an occupying Solutrean force. Tawny’s odds of survival are in free fall, but she’s a mother on a mission…and she’s holding on to hope that the cave brought her here for a family reunion.
In the tradition of Saga , the next chapter of the critically acclaimed sci-fi epic is here in Earthdivers Vol. 2 . Collects Earthdivers #7-10.
When Martin and Tawny’s children disappeared, the couple barreled into the desert to track them down at any cost. Instead, they ran afoul of another group of rovers who claimed to be saving the world by traveling through a cave portal to the year 1492 to prevent the creation of America—an idea that defied belief until the grieving parents were lured into the cave and vanished in time and space.
Now alone, Tawny must adapt to the wild marshlands of prehistoric Florida, circa 20,000 BC, and the breathtaking and bloodthirsty megafauna are the least of her problems when she’s caught in a war between a community of native Paleo-Indians and an occupying Solutrean force. Tawny’s odds of survival are in free fall, but she’s a mother on a mission…and she’s holding on to hope that the cave brought her here for a family reunion.
In the tradition of Saga , the next chapter of the critically acclaimed sci-fi epic is here in Earthdivers Vol. 2 . Collects Earthdivers #7-10.
104 pages, Paperback
First published February 27, 2024
About the author
Stephen Graham Jones
244 books16.4k followersStephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author thirty-five or so books. He really likes werewolves and slashers. Favorite novels change daily, but Valis and Love Medicine and Lonesome Dove and It and The Things They Carried are all usually up there somewhere. Stephen lives in Boulder, Colorado. It's a big change from the West Texas he grew up in.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
March 23, 2024
Annnnd...I'm out! Time-travel stories are just not my jam, and this one is as confusing as hell. Sooo many questions. And then I realized: Do I really CARE? And the answer was no. Overly convoluted story, muddled, unclear storytelling by the artists...The art is meh to begin with (And, really...the book was SIX ISSUES OLD, AND THE ARTIST/CO-CREATOR HAD TO TAKE A BREAK ALREADY?), but the visual storytelling, the actions and movement between panels that convey what is happening? Just nonexistent. There is a big two-page spread that made me say "What the fuck is she doing here?" Biting someone's foot? Maybe? Who knows? Does biting a foot really deserve a two-page spread?
I wanted to love this series, I really did. And I feel like if I jump off, I'll be missing out on something, but money is too tight to keep spending on books that I don't absolutely love, and this one was not even close.
I wanted to love this series, I really did. And I feel like if I jump off, I'll be missing out on something, but money is too tight to keep spending on books that I don't absolutely love, and this one was not even close.
July 22, 2026
The first volume was so good, but the storyline went in a completely different direction here, and wasn't quite as engaging. It was kind of a subplot in the first one, and I did wonder if we'd see more of it, but I don't think a whole volume was necessary. Hopefully the third one will get back on track.
May 18, 2024
With everyone from the first book cast back in time, we digress from the Columbus storyline to follow Tawny Ramirez as she searches for her twin children in the last ice age. Tens of thousands of years before Columbus she finds herself in trouble with the indigenous people of the time and needing to fend off an invasion of North America's Atlantic coast by the Solutrean people of Europe.
I really like the emotional core of this series, even if the story is hard to follow from page to page at times.
It doesn't help that three different artists pitch in to draw the four issues collected here. They are all okay, but this story really needs a single illustrator with a strong vision to deliver on what Stephen Graham Jones is laying down. I'm curious what his scripts look like and wonder if he'd consider adapting this series as a novel when it is done.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents:
• Chapter One. Tawny / Riccardo Burchielli, artist
• Chapter Two. You Want a Death Ritual? / Riccardo Burchielli, artist
• Chapter Three. Strong Enough Medicine / Riccardo Burchielli and Patricio Delpeche, artists
• Chapter Four. The Last Special Place / Emily Schnall, artist
• Covers / Rafael Albuquerque, Angel Hernandez, Sam Lotfi, Patricio Delpeche, Ibraham Moustafa, artists
• About the Creators
I really like the emotional core of this series, even if the story is hard to follow from page to page at times.
It doesn't help that three different artists pitch in to draw the four issues collected here. They are all okay, but this story really needs a single illustrator with a strong vision to deliver on what Stephen Graham Jones is laying down. I'm curious what his scripts look like and wonder if he'd consider adapting this series as a novel when it is done.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents:
• Chapter One. Tawny / Riccardo Burchielli, artist
• Chapter Two. You Want a Death Ritual? / Riccardo Burchielli, artist
• Chapter Three. Strong Enough Medicine / Riccardo Burchielli and Patricio Delpeche, artists
• Chapter Four. The Last Special Place / Emily Schnall, artist
• Covers / Rafael Albuquerque, Angel Hernandez, Sam Lotfi, Patricio Delpeche, Ibraham Moustafa, artists
• About the Creators
June 7, 2026
Stephen Graham Jones's time-travelling saga continues, in an appropriately non-chronological fashion.
At the end of the first story arc, it was uncertain which character would fulfill the prophecy of this volume's title. Yet a few narrative strands were left loose on purpose, and this story line originates from a minor plot point in volume 1: late in the volume, Emily meets a family looking for their children and sends them into the cave (for reasons that, I must admit, aren't clear to me). Considering the workings of the cave that are detailed repeatedly and at length, readers are left wondering where... or rather when, the characters will end up, for the panel doesn't show the necessary detail. This second volume reveals that the children's mother, Tawny Rodriguez, was holding a prehistoric Clovis flint...
... and is therefore transported back to the Ice Age.
She immediately recognises mastodons and infers that she's in America rather than another continent. Hoping to find her kids, she starts exploring; only to walk into the site of a massacre of natives perpetrated by a tribe of Solutrean. I'll intrude on the plot at this point to observe that even a perfunctory search will discredit the Solutrean hypothesis as founded on coincidences, but it is obviously used here to grant the author an opportunity to represent natives resisting colonisation by "white people" as far back as 22 millenia ago. Besides... well, let's say they don't get to stick around for long. Driven by her motherly and survival instincts, Tawny tries to navigate a deep past that proves just as bloody for the indigenous Americans as the history she knows all too well. She actually manages time and again to salvage details from the grievous history of the Natives to her own advantage, with ingenuity and resilience.
As in the previous volume, Graham Jones proves he's done his homework and comes up with clever solutions for the plot. Unfortunately, the narrative is even more muddled than in the first volume, resulting in a frustrating reading experience. At times it's hard just to follow what's happening, and this is aggravated by the author's choice to avoid captions. Meanwhile, Tawny obviously doesn't understand the languages spoken around her, and ends up talking to herself or her missing family members.
Even the art is underwhelming, which I did not expect since Riccardo Burchielli is a veteran of ucronias (see DMZ). I must say it's a relief that this arc is only half as long as the others. The fourth episode of the volume is actually a flashback from earlier in the saga (which is to say, in the future, from the standpoint of the readers). I'll finish the series because I'm a completist, but I'm not expecting any surprise from the concluding volume.
At the end of the first story arc, it was uncertain which character would fulfill the prophecy of this volume's title. Yet a few narrative strands were left loose on purpose, and this story line originates from a minor plot point in volume 1: late in the volume, Emily meets a family looking for their children and sends them into the cave (for reasons that, I must admit, aren't clear to me). Considering the workings of the cave that are detailed repeatedly and at length, readers are left wondering where... or rather when, the characters will end up, for the panel doesn't show the necessary detail. This second volume reveals that the children's mother, Tawny Rodriguez, was holding a prehistoric Clovis flint...
... and is therefore transported back to the Ice Age.
She immediately recognises mastodons and infers that she's in America rather than another continent. Hoping to find her kids, she starts exploring; only to walk into the site of a massacre of natives perpetrated by a tribe of Solutrean. I'll intrude on the plot at this point to observe that even a perfunctory search will discredit the Solutrean hypothesis as founded on coincidences, but it is obviously used here to grant the author an opportunity to represent natives resisting colonisation by "white people" as far back as 22 millenia ago. Besides... well, let's say they don't get to stick around for long. Driven by her motherly and survival instincts, Tawny tries to navigate a deep past that proves just as bloody for the indigenous Americans as the history she knows all too well. She actually manages time and again to salvage details from the grievous history of the Natives to her own advantage, with ingenuity and resilience.
As in the previous volume, Graham Jones proves he's done his homework and comes up with clever solutions for the plot. Unfortunately, the narrative is even more muddled than in the first volume, resulting in a frustrating reading experience. At times it's hard just to follow what's happening, and this is aggravated by the author's choice to avoid captions. Meanwhile, Tawny obviously doesn't understand the languages spoken around her, and ends up talking to herself or her missing family members.
Even the art is underwhelming, which I did not expect since Riccardo Burchielli is a veteran of ucronias (see DMZ). I must say it's a relief that this arc is only half as long as the others. The fourth episode of the volume is actually a flashback from earlier in the saga (which is to say, in the future, from the standpoint of the readers). I'll finish the series because I'm a completist, but I'm not expecting any surprise from the concluding volume.
October 19, 2023
The time traveling dystopian series Earthdivers continues to branch out into possible futures and pasts for volume 2's Ice Age, collection series issues 7 to 11.
Unlike volume 1, the story line plays out with less back and forth between the past and the present, at least for the first few issues. Instead we focus on Tawny, who went into the magical cave and arrived in prehistoric Florida circa 20,000 BC. Instead of facing off against the Columbus and his colonial followers, Tawny is caught between the megafauna, a community of Paleo-Indians and Solutreans (Europeans who traveled across pack ice) while she searches for her children. In many ways it is just as brutal a the 1490s, but much more blood is spilled here.
And without the same time and effort to master language and the era as the main charachter of volume 1 did, Tawny continues to speak English and has to survive by her wits. At various points she is captured and imprisoned by different factions.
We then journey back to some of the present, switching between 2099 and later revealing more of the backstory from Volume 1 and how everyone came together. The one wearing glasses is desperate to get off planet, but instead is left beaten and ground bound. He finds the cave and forces Tawny's children to explore the possibilities of the time travel cave before they attack him and flee into the cave. The cave, where native Americans have always found safety under threat of attack.
While the story flows a little easier in volume 2, the weaknesses of the narrative remains. It is frustrating when the summary on the back of the book makes the events more clear than actually reading the issues. The keys to Tawny's journey are highlighted with key panels or important archeological discoveries, but even though we are at first just as lost as Tawny, she has the advantage of the author's mind while we are left to piece it together. What works in the script doesn't always translate well into the graphics.
Still, it's an interesting enough twist to the time travel canon that I'm interested to see where it goes from here, even if it might need lots of notes and to be ordered chronologically in story to make full sense.
I received a free digital version of this EBook via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
Unlike volume 1, the story line plays out with less back and forth between the past and the present, at least for the first few issues. Instead we focus on Tawny, who went into the magical cave and arrived in prehistoric Florida circa 20,000 BC. Instead of facing off against the Columbus and his colonial followers, Tawny is caught between the megafauna, a community of Paleo-Indians and Solutreans (Europeans who traveled across pack ice) while she searches for her children. In many ways it is just as brutal a the 1490s, but much more blood is spilled here.
And without the same time and effort to master language and the era as the main charachter of volume 1 did, Tawny continues to speak English and has to survive by her wits. At various points she is captured and imprisoned by different factions.
We then journey back to some of the present, switching between 2099 and later revealing more of the backstory from Volume 1 and how everyone came together. The one wearing glasses is desperate to get off planet, but instead is left beaten and ground bound. He finds the cave and forces Tawny's children to explore the possibilities of the time travel cave before they attack him and flee into the cave. The cave, where native Americans have always found safety under threat of attack.
While the story flows a little easier in volume 2, the weaknesses of the narrative remains. It is frustrating when the summary on the back of the book makes the events more clear than actually reading the issues. The keys to Tawny's journey are highlighted with key panels or important archeological discoveries, but even though we are at first just as lost as Tawny, she has the advantage of the author's mind while we are left to piece it together. What works in the script doesn't always translate well into the graphics.
Still, it's an interesting enough twist to the time travel canon that I'm interested to see where it goes from here, even if it might need lots of notes and to be ordered chronologically in story to make full sense.
I received a free digital version of this EBook via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
March 5, 2024
Slightly underwhelmed based on how much I enjoyed volume 1. The story was a bit harder to follow and I would have liked more story about how the future world is changing based on the character's interference with the past. I plan to keep going with this series though. The art work is fab and the storyline is still intriguing.
December 21, 2025
My biggest takeaway is that there is more unsaid, than said, here. Every idea, thought, and premise is designed to make you think: What if?
This is a story that makes you wonder about your own identity, how who you are right now, has been shaped by history. Do you carry all of your ancestors, and everyone they ever knew? They say that experience is encoded in our genes, everything that ever happened, generations before. What if the violence we see now is just an extension of the violence of the past, of a people, of *all* peoples? What is our role, and is there any way to step out of it, to take control of the historical narrative? There could be no greater power, to captain the ship of time.
This is a story that makes you wonder about your own identity, how who you are right now, has been shaped by history. Do you carry all of your ancestors, and everyone they ever knew? They say that experience is encoded in our genes, everything that ever happened, generations before. What if the violence we see now is just an extension of the violence of the past, of a people, of *all* peoples? What is our role, and is there any way to step out of it, to take control of the historical narrative? There could be no greater power, to captain the ship of time.
January 27, 2025
so in volume 1, tad went through the cave to kill columbus, but also emily sent a group of four (five?) into the cave so they wouldn't think she killed the kids of two of them (not even sure who the others are). martin learned how to use the cave to get with a second wife, came back around to 2112, then left back to the second wife's deathbed - he knew his kids were dead and honestly didn't seem that pressed. (if this sounds confusing, imagine it accompanied by confusing art).
now we join martin's first wife tawny (sent through in the group of four by emily, but the only one carrying an artifact to guide the cave) go to the ice age. even the way she gets the artifact is confusing. another in the group, sam, has tossed it to her - it's not clear what it is - and she's protesting him throwing something and he's like no it's that old shit you like. doing it like this makes it all confusing. why not have him squatting down and picking something up and her being like, is it something of the kids'? and him saying no, it's an old spearpoint like that stuff you're so interested in. this isn't a book, where the whole sequence could have been described ("suddenly sam turned around and tossed something at me. I caught it one handed but was like wtf sam, why are you throwing rocks at me?? he said no no, it's one of those old artifacts you like! I looked down at my hand, sure enough it was a spearpoint, a clovis point, maybe circa 20000 BC") or a movie, where we can see the action and have the dialogue. in a comic book it's all one panel with a close up inset of the spearpoint (that looks more like a scrap of armadillo hide to me) - I don't know if other panels got edited out or what, but it's just not clear when you do it that way.
I've read other reviews complaining about the rapid artist changes in this volume - which is a pet peeve of mine in comic books, I prefer something like saga where we stick with an author and an artist throughout. buffy comic books switch up all the time and honestly sometimes it makes it hard to recognize characters. however, I didn't even notice the art changes in this but I did notice that the art was confusing. there's a two page spread of a fight scene that's super unclear. basically, she is with an indigenous tribe but they get massacred by european invaders and then she tries to kill off all the invaders with her future germs but she saves two people with bread mold even though bread is an anachronism. and then we see more backstory of her and martin and the kids and yellow kidney and the group with emily, sosh, and tad.
comic books are not the easiest thing for me to read. there's something about action panels being static that often makes me miss the emphasis of what panel something important is happening in. in the last volume there's a struggle between tad and columbus and something breaks. well, turns out it was his sextant, but I didn't get that until columbus says so a few panels later. that problem is exacerbated in this comic because I feel like it just could have used more explication. she understands that she's between two groups of people, indigenous "americans" and people from, apparently, what will be france. it is not that clear to me who is who! I guess they maybe dress differently but not so I really noticed, particularly because tawny has a sabertooth tiger skin she wears as a cape that someone else takes. honestly, for the ice age no one seems particularly cold even though she is definitely underdressed.
jones is continuing with his themes of do the ends justify the means (and do the means even create the ends you want?) and here he is talking about well, here's an indigenous woman who knows how her ancestors were killed off by smallbox infected blankets, and she's turning around and using that same tactic to kill off invaders from europe - even though, are the races really that differentiated at that point? these people - solutreans - are apparently the ones who brought the clovis spearpoint technology to the US, so they have some advances but it's not differentiated as much as it will be in 1492. she seems very determined to pick a side though - which is a lot muddier than the invasion of columbus. presumably the solutreans DID come and spread their spear tech but she seems to be acting on the premise that she has to repel this invasion so that indigenous americans can at least have peace until columbus gets there - but didn't they, anyway?
I'm definitely interested in the story but yeah, as far as comic books go, this series is more confusing than a lot of other ones I've read.
now we join martin's first wife tawny (sent through in the group of four by emily, but the only one carrying an artifact to guide the cave) go to the ice age. even the way she gets the artifact is confusing. another in the group, sam, has tossed it to her - it's not clear what it is - and she's protesting him throwing something and he's like no it's that old shit you like. doing it like this makes it all confusing. why not have him squatting down and picking something up and her being like, is it something of the kids'? and him saying no, it's an old spearpoint like that stuff you're so interested in. this isn't a book, where the whole sequence could have been described ("suddenly sam turned around and tossed something at me. I caught it one handed but was like wtf sam, why are you throwing rocks at me?? he said no no, it's one of those old artifacts you like! I looked down at my hand, sure enough it was a spearpoint, a clovis point, maybe circa 20000 BC") or a movie, where we can see the action and have the dialogue. in a comic book it's all one panel with a close up inset of the spearpoint (that looks more like a scrap of armadillo hide to me) - I don't know if other panels got edited out or what, but it's just not clear when you do it that way.
I've read other reviews complaining about the rapid artist changes in this volume - which is a pet peeve of mine in comic books, I prefer something like saga where we stick with an author and an artist throughout. buffy comic books switch up all the time and honestly sometimes it makes it hard to recognize characters. however, I didn't even notice the art changes in this but I did notice that the art was confusing. there's a two page spread of a fight scene that's super unclear. basically, she is with an indigenous tribe but they get massacred by european invaders and then she tries to kill off all the invaders with her future germs but she saves two people with bread mold even though bread is an anachronism. and then we see more backstory of her and martin and the kids and yellow kidney and the group with emily, sosh, and tad.
comic books are not the easiest thing for me to read. there's something about action panels being static that often makes me miss the emphasis of what panel something important is happening in. in the last volume there's a struggle between tad and columbus and something breaks. well, turns out it was his sextant, but I didn't get that until columbus says so a few panels later. that problem is exacerbated in this comic because I feel like it just could have used more explication. she understands that she's between two groups of people, indigenous "americans" and people from, apparently, what will be france. it is not that clear to me who is who! I guess they maybe dress differently but not so I really noticed, particularly because tawny has a sabertooth tiger skin she wears as a cape that someone else takes. honestly, for the ice age no one seems particularly cold even though she is definitely underdressed.
jones is continuing with his themes of do the ends justify the means (and do the means even create the ends you want?) and here he is talking about well, here's an indigenous woman who knows how her ancestors were killed off by smallbox infected blankets, and she's turning around and using that same tactic to kill off invaders from europe - even though, are the races really that differentiated at that point? these people - solutreans - are apparently the ones who brought the clovis spearpoint technology to the US, so they have some advances but it's not differentiated as much as it will be in 1492. she seems very determined to pick a side though - which is a lot muddier than the invasion of columbus. presumably the solutreans DID come and spread their spear tech but she seems to be acting on the premise that she has to repel this invasion so that indigenous americans can at least have peace until columbus gets there - but didn't they, anyway?
I'm definitely interested in the story but yeah, as far as comic books go, this series is more confusing than a lot of other ones I've read.
November 2, 2023
Earthdivers is my newest obsession!
From the great mind of Stephen Graham Jones, comes the next thrilling installment of my newest favorite graphic novel series; Earthdivers. The first volume of this series grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't relent until I read the last panel. Earthdivers Vol. 2 Ice Age was just thrilling and had some of the most beautiful renderings that I have seen. In addition to this, it is some of my favorite and creative story telling. This is truly a harrowing thrill ride from start to finish. It is told in a way that keeps me hooked and on the edge of my seat while also highlighting Indigenous history and giving a voice to it in the best way.
I cannot wait for more in this universe and cannot wait to see what this creative powerhouse of a team comes out with next. Check it out!
From the great mind of Stephen Graham Jones, comes the next thrilling installment of my newest favorite graphic novel series; Earthdivers. The first volume of this series grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't relent until I read the last panel. Earthdivers Vol. 2 Ice Age was just thrilling and had some of the most beautiful renderings that I have seen. In addition to this, it is some of my favorite and creative story telling. This is truly a harrowing thrill ride from start to finish. It is told in a way that keeps me hooked and on the edge of my seat while also highlighting Indigenous history and giving a voice to it in the best way.
I cannot wait for more in this universe and cannot wait to see what this creative powerhouse of a team comes out with next. Check it out!
October 28, 2023
I have to preface my review by stating up front that I'm reading this series out of order, and now that I have read this second volume I really want to back up and read the earlier material, not just to make better sense of the story, but because it sounds so freaking amazing! In this volume encompassing books 7-11, a mother named Tawney finds herself transported through a time cave where she lands in 20,000 BCE Paleo America, desperate to find her missing children. In a twist that echoes future violent colonization, a group of Europeans called the Solutreans have invaded the land inhabited by Indigenous people, and Tawney is caught in the midst of the conflict. Unable to speak or understand the languages of the others, she tries to navigate this world and the human and animal dangers it poses. I admit that not knowing all of the backstory made it a little harder to piece together the narrative at first, but between the opening exposition and the pictorial context I quickly got up to speed and thoroughly enjoyed the story. I loved the main character Tawney, and her dedication, compassion, resourcefulness, and general badassery. The story is full of action and twists, and extremely engaging. The artwork is stunning - expressive, full of movement, it tells a story in its own right. How have I not read this series yet????? I'm obsessed, and need to start the whole thing from the beginning IMMEDIATELY.
Thank you to the author, illustrators, and publisher, and to Netgalley, for providing me with an advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to the author, illustrators, and publisher, and to Netgalley, for providing me with an advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
January 29, 2026
For me this was not on the level of the first volume. I mean, it wasn't bad but so forgettable. The first one was layered and there was always something happening, here the majority of the story we are with one character that travels back to the stone age (as the cover implies) and since no one can understand her we get no dialogue. She basically narrates everything to us (though she sort of talks to the people around her) and with that often overexplains everything. While I admit the first one was a bit confusing I also found it very interesting, was curious where it was going, found the moral dilemmas that were introduced fascinating. Vol. 2 is extremely straight forward, particularly for a SGJ.
I believe I finished this in 15 min because there was nothing I wanted to sink my teeth into. The writing itself was full of little edges and even some lines to stop for, here nothing stood out for me.
Though the last part flipped it all on its head and suddenly seemed unnecessarily convoluted to me, yet the closer we came to the end the more I realized I do not care. Which is the death sentence of any story. Not even the art style offered enough to keep me invested, no matter how cool the cover seems at first glance. Overall I really recommend the first volume even though I'd also recommend to read it slow in order to take it all in. But I don't think I am going to stick around for whenever volume 3 happens.
I believe I finished this in 15 min because there was nothing I wanted to sink my teeth into. The writing itself was full of little edges and even some lines to stop for, here nothing stood out for me.
Though the last part flipped it all on its head and suddenly seemed unnecessarily convoluted to me, yet the closer we came to the end the more I realized I do not care. Which is the death sentence of any story. Not even the art style offered enough to keep me invested, no matter how cool the cover seems at first glance. Overall I really recommend the first volume even though I'd also recommend to read it slow in order to take it all in. But I don't think I am going to stick around for whenever volume 3 happens.
December 14, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this graphic novel!
Stephen Graham Jones continues this super creative Sci-Fi/Fantasy time travel series, and this time we are going back to the Ice Age with a new protagonist, but some similar problems. I really enjoyed following Tawney this time around, as in the previous Volume she was a bit of a side character who was looking for her missing children, only to be sent into the time portal cave as an act of self defense from Emily. I hope that we continue seeing different characters going through the portal into other moments of American history, honestly, because she was a fascinating and completely new perspective. I really enjoyed how she interacted not only with the animals and place of the Ice Age, but how her own backstory and motivations affected how she interacted with the people she met back then (specifically how she connected with a young Salutrean boy because of her mourning the loss of her own children, which set up an inner conflict all on its own given the Salutreans are European invaders in and of themselves).
I cannot wait to see where Jones takes us next! "Earthdivers: Ice Age" was so creative, and has made this world more expansive and intriguing.
Stephen Graham Jones continues this super creative Sci-Fi/Fantasy time travel series, and this time we are going back to the Ice Age with a new protagonist, but some similar problems. I really enjoyed following Tawney this time around, as in the previous Volume she was a bit of a side character who was looking for her missing children, only to be sent into the time portal cave as an act of self defense from Emily. I hope that we continue seeing different characters going through the portal into other moments of American history, honestly, because she was a fascinating and completely new perspective. I really enjoyed how she interacted not only with the animals and place of the Ice Age, but how her own backstory and motivations affected how she interacted with the people she met back then (specifically how she connected with a young Salutrean boy because of her mourning the loss of her own children, which set up an inner conflict all on its own given the Salutreans are European invaders in and of themselves).
I cannot wait to see where Jones takes us next! "Earthdivers: Ice Age" was so creative, and has made this world more expansive and intriguing.
November 21, 2025
Unfortunately, this entire volume made very little sense to me. I just read the first volume like at most 1 month ago and liked it well enough to order the next two volumes (public library, glad I didn't pay)... But, no, I didn't really get what was happening here. I got the general idea, I guess, but sometimes getting from panel to panel didn't even make sense. They weren't out of order or in a difficult layout, but... Content itself just didn't work for me. Kinda all over the place.
Glad I tried the first volume because I do like and appreciate Stephen Graham Jones, but I'm just going to return the next volume.
Glad I tried the first volume because I do like and appreciate Stephen Graham Jones, but I'm just going to return the next volume.
December 31, 2025
2 stars
I am so disappointed by this volume. Volume 1 was such a great start. It was intense, bloody, excellently paced, and chock full of commentary on racism and colonialism. This just didn't work in continuing the narrative. It didn't pick up at the end of volume 1, and after reading volume 3, I can confidently say that if you skip reading this volume, you will not have missed anything important. I think SGJ wanted to write a story set in the Ice Age, which is fair, but this was messy. The art was poor, and I was bored.
I am so disappointed by this volume. Volume 1 was such a great start. It was intense, bloody, excellently paced, and chock full of commentary on racism and colonialism. This just didn't work in continuing the narrative. It didn't pick up at the end of volume 1, and after reading volume 3, I can confidently say that if you skip reading this volume, you will not have missed anything important. I think SGJ wanted to write a story set in the Ice Age, which is fair, but this was messy. The art was poor, and I was bored.
March 16, 2024
3.5 stars
Tawny's story was pretty cool, but it didn't hold the same level of excitement as the story from first volume, and I had a hard time figuring out what was happening in some of the more action-packed panels. Chapter 4 was rather confusing to me, but it also had some good review of the first book. When the next comes out, I think I'll need to have volumes 1 and 2 on hand for reference. I'm eager to see where this goes!
Tawny's story was pretty cool, but it didn't hold the same level of excitement as the story from first volume, and I had a hard time figuring out what was happening in some of the more action-packed panels. Chapter 4 was rather confusing to me, but it also had some good review of the first book. When the next comes out, I think I'll need to have volumes 1 and 2 on hand for reference. I'm eager to see where this goes!
May 22, 2024
Such a disappointment after the first volume. Cool ideas and storytelling, but too many artists (4 in this case) merging into one volume makes the story lose its cohesiveness. I really wish this was a novel now because the story is being let down by the art work.
September 29, 2024
And this second volume I'm afraid really didn't work for me.
January 23, 2025
Very hard to follow and confusing. The illustrations were hard to make out/understand what was happening.
Overall, a very underwhelming volume.
Overall, a very underwhelming volume.
April 18, 2025
This "continuation" of earthdivers Vol 1 is now in the way, way past, the Ice Age. And boy was it scary being pursued by both Indigenous people and Europeans?! Our earthdiver is different on this journey, a mother looking for her lost twins finds instead a sick boy that his tribe has left for dead.
Animals and people clash for much drama and of course, death.
Animals and people clash for much drama and of course, death.
July 30, 2025
Rod Brown here on goodreads explains things much better than I can. I was just confused. I’m still pressing on with this series, as I need to know what happens next.
3 stars.
3 stars.
December 27, 2025
2. Not as good as the first, but the artwork is still very nice.
October 29, 2023
Vol. 1 really set a high by for this series, and this second run took a turn by focusing on another time period and a different goal. However, this one still feels like a complete story that gripped me and gave my heart strings something to echo. I don’t think the premise was as cool as Vol. 1, but I think the story was just as powerful. It also taught me some cool history stuff. Definitely worth reading if you checked out Vol. 1.
Read
October 17, 2023Initially this felt like a distraction from the first volume's killer pitch (Indian travels back in time to assassinate Columbus), with another character going into the mysterious cave in search of her children, and emerging - well, look at the title. But, y'know, prehistoric megafauna makes for pretty cool comics too, and when it becomes apparent that an earlier wave of European invaders have made it across the Atlantic ice, the parallels become more apparent. There's also a welcome awareness that, whatever the grand currents of history, murdering children is not a good look - a theme I would have considered uncontroversial a couple of weeks ago, but here we are.
(Netgalley ARC)
(Netgalley ARC)
December 26, 2025
Una de las nativas americanas que aparecían en el primer volumen retrocede en el tiempo hasta la época glaciar, solo para encontrarse con su tierra amenazada por una tribu europea que han llegado cruzando el atlántico en sus canoas. En plena era glaciar. Y que, por supuesto, tiene aviesas intenciones y su único interés parece estar en exterminar a los pacíficos pobladores nativos.
La premisa en sí ya te deja algo descolocado, pero es que la narración en sí es un completo caos. No es que la historia sea confusa, es que a veces no tienes claro ni lo que pasa de una viñeta a la siguiente. Aunque quizás fuera porque llegó un momento en que me importaba tan poco lo que le pasara a la protagonista que me limitaba a leer en diagonal por ver si aquello llegaba a algún desenlace coherente.
No.
La premisa en sí ya te deja algo descolocado, pero es que la narración en sí es un completo caos. No es que la historia sea confusa, es que a veces no tienes claro ni lo que pasa de una viñeta a la siguiente. Aunque quizás fuera porque llegó un momento en que me importaba tan poco lo que le pasara a la protagonista que me limitaba a leer en diagonal por ver si aquello llegaba a algún desenlace coherente.
No.
December 16, 2023
I received an eARC from NetGallery. Thank you! So fans of Stephen Graham Jones will love these volumes. I was taken back by how gory the comic was. I loved it! The storyline was a bit confusing, I think that's because I honestly haven't read the first volume. I'll pick it up and the re-read this and I might re-do my rating if I like it more at that time.
November 19, 2023
Summary:
Martin and Tawny's children have disappeared. One knows the truth of what happened; the other has found herself knee-deep in her own dark adventure. You see, when Tawny tried to search for her children in an ancient cave, she instead found herself transported to another time.
The time of the ice age, more specifically. As a history lover, it wasn't hard for her to pinpoint the time. What was more challenging was believing that any of this was anything more than a dream. Or a nightmare, depending on how you want to look at it.
Review:
Oh! I don't know why, but I was not expecting the ice age to be where Earthdivers went next. I suppose it makes sense, but I needed to read the whole of Earthdivers Vol. 2 for it to really hit home.
Much like the first volume, Earthdivers Vol. 2 finds a balance between horrific and graphic elements and satisfying moments. For example, I loved watching Tawny find new ways to fight back against her enemies while simultaneously being horrified by everything happening around her. It's well done.
The artwork is stunning. Seriously. It's so vibrant and detailed. Admittedly, those details sometimes hit hard, as one might imagine. But I must give the artistic team (Riccardo Burchielli, Patricio Delpeche, Emily Schnall, Joana Lafuente, and Steve Wands) full credit for everything they accomplished here.
While I'm really happy to see Earthdivers follow up on what happened to Tawny, I will admit that I don't think the second volume is quite as strong as the first. That said, it was still highly emotional, compelling, and a series I continue to invest in.
Highlights:
Historical Fiction & Horror
Time Travel
Ice Age
Trigger Warnings
Graphic Elements/Death
Child Death
Thanks to IDW and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
You Can Also Find Me On:
Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks | Quirky Cat's Comics | The Book Review Crew | Monkeys Fighting Robots | Storygraph | Bookhype | Bookstagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Reedsy
Martin and Tawny's children have disappeared. One knows the truth of what happened; the other has found herself knee-deep in her own dark adventure. You see, when Tawny tried to search for her children in an ancient cave, she instead found herself transported to another time.
The time of the ice age, more specifically. As a history lover, it wasn't hard for her to pinpoint the time. What was more challenging was believing that any of this was anything more than a dream. Or a nightmare, depending on how you want to look at it.
Review:
Oh! I don't know why, but I was not expecting the ice age to be where Earthdivers went next. I suppose it makes sense, but I needed to read the whole of Earthdivers Vol. 2 for it to really hit home.
Much like the first volume, Earthdivers Vol. 2 finds a balance between horrific and graphic elements and satisfying moments. For example, I loved watching Tawny find new ways to fight back against her enemies while simultaneously being horrified by everything happening around her. It's well done.
The artwork is stunning. Seriously. It's so vibrant and detailed. Admittedly, those details sometimes hit hard, as one might imagine. But I must give the artistic team (Riccardo Burchielli, Patricio Delpeche, Emily Schnall, Joana Lafuente, and Steve Wands) full credit for everything they accomplished here.
While I'm really happy to see Earthdivers follow up on what happened to Tawny, I will admit that I don't think the second volume is quite as strong as the first. That said, it was still highly emotional, compelling, and a series I continue to invest in.
Highlights:
Historical Fiction & Horror
Time Travel
Ice Age
Trigger Warnings
Graphic Elements/Death
Child Death
Thanks to IDW and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
You Can Also Find Me On:
Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks | Quirky Cat's Comics | The Book Review Crew | Monkeys Fighting Robots | Storygraph | Bookhype | Bookstagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Reedsy
January 20, 2024
(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley. Content warning for racist violence. Caution: this review contains spoilers.)
-- 3.5 stars --
In 2112 A.D., four friends run into a magical cave, in search of Tawny and Martin's missing twins. Tawny emerges alone on the other side, in 20,000 B.C.E. Armed only with her knowledge of the Ice Age, Tawny must brave the Indigenous Americans (who may or may not see her as an ally), invading Solutreans, and all manner of megafauna to stay alive - at least long enough to find and rescue Yazzie and Hochunk.
ICE AGE is an interesting interlude between Volumes 1 and 3 of EARTHDIVERS - when Emily will presumably appear just in time to witness America's birth in 1776 (if Ben Franklin's eyeglasses are any indication. But who gave them to her!?!) At just four single issues, it runs a little shorter than the others, but Graham Jones manages to pack a lot into just 104 pages.
The Solutrean Hypothesis "posits that around 21,000 years ago a group of people from the Solutré region of France, who are historically characterized by their unique lithic technique, migrated to North America along pack ice in the Atlantic Ocean. Once they made it to North America, their lithic technique dispersed around the continent (c. 13,000 years ago) to provide the basis for the later popularization of Clovis lithic technology." (Thanks, Wikipedia.)
In this rendition, the Solutreans are French invaders who immediately massacre the Indigenous American they encounter. Like Tad in KILL COLUMBUS, Tawny has to find a way to divert the European interlopers, this time to guarantee her ancestors the 20,000+ years of freedom history promised them. All while protecting an injured Solutrean child (she is a mom, after all), finding her own kids, and leaving the timeline unaltered.
The ICE AGE story is engaging, though I did sometimes have trouble following the action. In the last issue, there's an abrupt jump to the present day (well, 2112), and that's where I really lost the plot. It seemed like we saw Yellow Kidney, then a lowly tech, kill an astronaut, steal his identity, and assume his place aboard one of the departing space shuttles. But if this is the case, how is he down on Earth, in Arizona, convincing everyone else to risk their lives for the future? I am so confused (but also very much looking forward to Volume 3).
-- 3.5 stars --
In 2112 A.D., four friends run into a magical cave, in search of Tawny and Martin's missing twins. Tawny emerges alone on the other side, in 20,000 B.C.E. Armed only with her knowledge of the Ice Age, Tawny must brave the Indigenous Americans (who may or may not see her as an ally), invading Solutreans, and all manner of megafauna to stay alive - at least long enough to find and rescue Yazzie and Hochunk.
ICE AGE is an interesting interlude between Volumes 1 and 3 of EARTHDIVERS - when Emily will presumably appear just in time to witness America's birth in 1776 (if Ben Franklin's eyeglasses are any indication. But who gave them to her!?!) At just four single issues, it runs a little shorter than the others, but Graham Jones manages to pack a lot into just 104 pages.
The Solutrean Hypothesis "posits that around 21,000 years ago a group of people from the Solutré region of France, who are historically characterized by their unique lithic technique, migrated to North America along pack ice in the Atlantic Ocean. Once they made it to North America, their lithic technique dispersed around the continent (c. 13,000 years ago) to provide the basis for the later popularization of Clovis lithic technology." (Thanks, Wikipedia.)
In this rendition, the Solutreans are French invaders who immediately massacre the Indigenous American they encounter. Like Tad in KILL COLUMBUS, Tawny has to find a way to divert the European interlopers, this time to guarantee her ancestors the 20,000+ years of freedom history promised them. All while protecting an injured Solutrean child (she is a mom, after all), finding her own kids, and leaving the timeline unaltered.
The ICE AGE story is engaging, though I did sometimes have trouble following the action. In the last issue, there's an abrupt jump to the present day (well, 2112), and that's where I really lost the plot. It seemed like we saw Yellow Kidney, then a lowly tech, kill an astronaut, steal his identity, and assume his place aboard one of the departing space shuttles. But if this is the case, how is he down on Earth, in Arizona, convincing everyone else to risk their lives for the future? I am so confused (but also very much looking forward to Volume 3).
August 13, 2024
3.5 stars
ohhhh SGJ i still love you but i'm sorry! i wanted a little more from this, from tawny.
the ice age just seemed a little too far removed without the extra context and details of tawny's daily struggles, nor little tidbits about martin, yazzie, and hochunk. i thought the ice age setting would be more fascinating but after the initial shock of the solutreans, there just wasn't much to hang onto. i liked tawny's attachment to the boy, i LOVED when she poisoned them with her modern day viral load lol, and i loved watching her survive. but the scenes felt too quick, just a montage of thing after thing. i think part of it might be that tawny spends the entire time monologuing to the reader because no one else speaks English in the ice age, and sometimes I feel like it's quite hard to sustain a dynamic narrative pace when the character is just narrating what they're doing so it might be a format thing. there were also some beautiful panels in this volume, but for the most part, I felt like the ice age section was just a little muddier and harder to read. like, I adored the panel when tawny tells the last solutrean to get the fuck off her continent, but I legitimately spent ages looking at that page and trying to figure out what action was happening and I couldn't tell.
things really picked up once the story shifted to Yellow Kidney, I was so excited to learn more about him. he is sooooo morally grey and mysterious, i'm glad to get some more lore about him. it was so JUICY and bloody lol hehe i'm already so invested in what he does next. I felt like we got back to the classic alternating narratives between Yellow Kidney and young Tawny and Martin. so nice to FINALLY meet the twins, YK and the twins' panels together are horrifying to look at and i desperately want more context, but already doubtful that SGJ will give it to me.
i hope we get some definitive answers on how tawny's reign went, bc ngl the transition panels from tawny's victory with mold(?) to 2112 were not the clearest for me. next issues finally follow emily to 1776, and i will patiently await volume 3!
ohhhh SGJ i still love you but i'm sorry! i wanted a little more from this, from tawny.
the ice age just seemed a little too far removed without the extra context and details of tawny's daily struggles, nor little tidbits about martin, yazzie, and hochunk. i thought the ice age setting would be more fascinating but after the initial shock of the solutreans, there just wasn't much to hang onto. i liked tawny's attachment to the boy, i LOVED when she poisoned them with her modern day viral load lol, and i loved watching her survive. but the scenes felt too quick, just a montage of thing after thing. i think part of it might be that tawny spends the entire time monologuing to the reader because no one else speaks English in the ice age, and sometimes I feel like it's quite hard to sustain a dynamic narrative pace when the character is just narrating what they're doing so it might be a format thing. there were also some beautiful panels in this volume, but for the most part, I felt like the ice age section was just a little muddier and harder to read. like, I adored the panel when tawny tells the last solutrean to get the fuck off her continent, but I legitimately spent ages looking at that page and trying to figure out what action was happening and I couldn't tell.
things really picked up once the story shifted to Yellow Kidney, I was so excited to learn more about him. he is sooooo morally grey and mysterious, i'm glad to get some more lore about him. it was so JUICY and bloody lol hehe i'm already so invested in what he does next. I felt like we got back to the classic alternating narratives between Yellow Kidney and young Tawny and Martin. so nice to FINALLY meet the twins, YK and the twins' panels together are horrifying to look at and i desperately want more context, but already doubtful that SGJ will give it to me.
i hope we get some definitive answers on how tawny's reign went, bc ngl the transition panels from tawny's victory with mold(?) to 2112 were not the clearest for me. next issues finally follow emily to 1776, and i will patiently await volume 3!
June 7, 2025
Earthdivers: Volume Two picks up the bold and provocative narrative of its predecessor, continuing the high-concept journey of Indigenous characters using time travel to rewrite history—starting with the assassination of Columbus. This volume shifts gears from the 15th century to the Ice Age, offering a stark and beautiful new backdrop for the story’s time-bending rebellion.
This chapter centers on a new protagonist: a fierce, complex woman who embodies a striking duality—nurturing and maternal in flashbacks involving her twin boys, yet brutal and uncompromising in her survivalist role in the ancient past. I found her character compelling, a unique addition to the series that adds emotional depth and moral ambiguity.
The visual storytelling in this volume is stunning. The Ice Age setting bursts to life with breathtaking full-page spreads that showcase prehistoric landscapes, extinct megafauna, and beautifully detailed flora. The artwork feels not only immersive but reverent, grounding the sci-fi elements in a deep respect for natural and historical authenticity.
However, the narrative momentum does stall a bit here. While the first volume felt urgent and history-defining, this installment zooms in on a narrower, more introspective story. The focus remains tightly on the protagonist, and although I appreciated the intimacy of her journey, the broader series arc didn’t move forward as much as I hoped. The use of flashbacks—especially those involving her husband and sons in a future that serves as her past—became confusing at times, muddying the emotional clarity and timeline transitions.
Despite this, I remain fully invested in the Earthdivers universe. This volume expanded the world in bold and unexpected ways, even if it sidestepped the larger questions introduced in Volume One. I’m looking forward to Volume Three with the hope that it will begin to stitch these parallel stories together and clarify the overarching scope of the series.
In short, Volume Two is haunting, fierce, and visually rich—but narratively a bit murky. Still, it’s a worthy continuation of one of the most ambitious and politically resonant graphic novel series I’ve read in years.
This chapter centers on a new protagonist: a fierce, complex woman who embodies a striking duality—nurturing and maternal in flashbacks involving her twin boys, yet brutal and uncompromising in her survivalist role in the ancient past. I found her character compelling, a unique addition to the series that adds emotional depth and moral ambiguity.
The visual storytelling in this volume is stunning. The Ice Age setting bursts to life with breathtaking full-page spreads that showcase prehistoric landscapes, extinct megafauna, and beautifully detailed flora. The artwork feels not only immersive but reverent, grounding the sci-fi elements in a deep respect for natural and historical authenticity.
However, the narrative momentum does stall a bit here. While the first volume felt urgent and history-defining, this installment zooms in on a narrower, more introspective story. The focus remains tightly on the protagonist, and although I appreciated the intimacy of her journey, the broader series arc didn’t move forward as much as I hoped. The use of flashbacks—especially those involving her husband and sons in a future that serves as her past—became confusing at times, muddying the emotional clarity and timeline transitions.
Despite this, I remain fully invested in the Earthdivers universe. This volume expanded the world in bold and unexpected ways, even if it sidestepped the larger questions introduced in Volume One. I’m looking forward to Volume Three with the hope that it will begin to stitch these parallel stories together and clarify the overarching scope of the series.
In short, Volume Two is haunting, fierce, and visually rich—but narratively a bit murky. Still, it’s a worthy continuation of one of the most ambitious and politically resonant graphic novel series I’ve read in years.
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