The Clone Wars: Cold Snap

"Flanker, things aren't going to well now. Commander Mag and I were inspecting an outer sensor, but our Freeco bikes froze solid."

- Shiv, writing to his hatchmate, Flanker

The Clone Wars: Cold Snap is a six-page comic in The Clone Wars web comic series, posted on StarWars.com on January 29, 2009. Cold Snap leads directly into "Trespass", an episode in The Clone Wars television series. The comic was written by Pablo Hidalgo, illustrated and colored by Jeffery Carlisle, and lettered by Grant Gould. The comic tells the story of a clone cold assault trooper nicknamed Shiv writing a letter to a fellow trooper, Flanker, telling him about the problems Shiv is facing while stationed at Glid Station on the ice planet of Orto Plutonia, including the dangerous and mysterious creatures the clones call the "ice men".

Plot
A clone cold assault trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic nicknamed Shiv is writting a letter on a datapad to a fellow trooper and hatchmate of his, Flanker, telling him about being stationed at Glid Station on the ice world or Orto Plutonia. Shiv jokes about how that he and Flanker always thought that due to all the desert training they got, that the two of them would be stationed on a water world, but instead, Shiv is now on Orto Plutonia, which he believes is even colder than space. Shiv tells Flanker that his squad has been tasked with testing an assortment of subzero gear, and that not all of it works. Also, the clones' food rations were not shipped in insulated canisters, freezing them solid. Now, the clones have to boil their food, taking away what little flavor the rations had to start with. Shiv mentions to Flanker that his squad hasn't come across any Confederate battle droids, but have stayed in fighting shape by building snowmen and using them as target practice.

However, Shiv writes that things got a lot worse when his squad started to encounter a very dangerous and mysterious species, which they nicknamed the "ice men". He says that all the station's partols that have apparently seen the "ice men" were killed. Shiv tells Flanker that thins aren't going well for him right now, while on patrol during the night with his commander, Mag, their CK-6 swoop bikes froze up, leaving the two stranded till dawn, when Glid Station could send out a gunship to pick them up. Shiv and Mag have built a small camp and set a tent, and while Shiv is finishing up his letter in the tent, Mag walks in, wondering why Shiv isn't asleep, resting for when it's his turn to take guard duty. Curious, Mag takes the datapad from Shiv's hands, and after looking it through, asks who Flanker is. Reluctantly, Shiv tells Mag that Flanker died at the Battle of Christophsis. As soon as Shiv says this, "ice men" attack their camp, ripping open the clones' tent and killing Mag. As Shiv reaches for blaster pistol, the "ice men" attack and kill him too, and leave the now destroyed camp, along with Shiv's letter, to be covered up by the snow.

Behind the scenes
The Clone Wars: Cold Snap is a six-page webcomic in The Clone Wars webcomic series, which ties into the The Clone Wars television series. Cold Snap leads directly into "Trespass," an episode in the first season of The Clone Wars television series. The comic establishes the "ice men" and their attacks on Glid Station, which later appear in "Tespass". The episode reveals that the "ice men" are actually a peaceful tribe of Talz that had been attacked by the Separatist battle droid stationed on Orto Plutonia, and in the resulting conflict, the Glid base was caught in the middle.

Development
The comic was posted on Star Wars.com on January 29, 2009, and was written by Pablo Hidalgo, drawn and colored by Jeffery Carlisle, and lettered by Grant Gould. Special thanks were also given to Leland Chee, Sue Rostoni, and Dave Filoni.