What if there were intelligent life in the universe? What if they did not recognize us as intelligent, or even alive?
Trees #1 by Warren Ellis and Image Comics has the potential to be destined for greatness. Not in the way that many other comics are labeled as great, but as a true work showing how the medium of comic books can weave a beautifully dark tale better than any other form of entertainment. Image Comics truly has something special here, one can only hope that they can continue the magic they have sown in this first issue.
Trees takes a very simple and almost cliche premise, the world being invaded by aliens, and spins everything about it around 180 degrees. This isn’t your average origin story, in fact, you could hardly classify this as a normal #1. Ellis does wonders by placing events firmly in what seems to be the middle of the overall arc of this world and in doing so, leaves us with more questions than answers. The writing is sublime, feeding the reader just enough information to start forming ideas in their own mind. Likewise, the artistic stylings from Jason Howard devilishly beautiful, highlighting brutality without the loss of color. Yes, we have questions, but the kind of question that make you want to continue reading, not the kind that leave you frustrated.
What you need to know from the story, without giving too much away, is that some ten years before the start of this book, the world was invaded. As you can imagine, this invasion rocked the world to its very core with giant monolithic pillars slamming into the earth all across the globe. But this is where the traditional “invasion” story ends and where Ellis begins to take us on a true journey of discovery. The reader is the odd man out during the entirety of this issue. It’s written in a way that the characters in the story, while not knowing much themselves, are far more well versed in the situation at hand than the reader.
These so-called “trees” have rooted themselves into the earth and have not initiated any contact in the ten years since their arrival. No messages, no little green men, no anything. It’s this lack of communication after so long that really captures the imagination. Why are they here? Why don’t they talk to us? What do they want? These are questions that the readers and characters are both asking. The only thing we do know is that all weapons are ineffective against these pillars and that, without warning, they spew vast amounts of waste killing anyone nearby.
It’s all beautifully told, not by a single person, but through the eyes of several people all across the globe. We see it from the eyes of a man running for Mayor of New York, a place where the first tree landed, decimating the city, from the eyes of a young artist from a small village, no older than a teenager, heading into one of the blocked off cities that surround a pillar to paint a different world, and from a scientific research station braving the cold in Norway studying a pillar.
Everything flows incredibly smoothly with the art complementing the writing in ways few other books I’ve read lately have. Image Comics is staking out their own territory in the comic book market with their risk taking and exploration in storytelling. In a world filled with untouchable superheroes, it’s nice to see the human element shine through for once.
Where the book really hits home is in the way it shows people reacting to these “trees” years after their appearance. It shows a society perpetuated on the twenty-four hour news cycle, showing how even something as earth shattering as an alien invasion can become something as mundane as yesterdays news. Nothing drives this point home than in the last the bookends our story. Simple red text on a stark white background reading;
“All this is normal”
“Trees” is a beautiful book that is highly recommended. It’s not only a great start to a series, but one of the best and most original books of the year.
STORY BY: Warren Ellis
ART BY: Jason Howard
COLORS BY: Jason Howard
LETTERS BY: Fonografiks
COVER BY: Jason Howard
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $2.99
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