Man is just another insect in the world.
Creative Staff:
Story: Warren Ellis
Art: Jason Howards
What They Say:
Ten years after they landed. All over the world. And they did nothing, standing on the surface of the Earth like trees, exerting their silent pressure on the world, as if there were no-one here and nothing under foot. Ten years since we learned that there is intelligent life in the universe, but that they did not recognize us as intelligent or alive.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
One of the best things about science fiction is the way that it can look at the condition of the world, with mankind, and make engaging stories about it that can make you think and feel in new ways. With good books, it can completely take you into a new mindset with all sorts of races and nudge your own mind to be more empathetic. A lot of science fiction for awhile has been all about the action and adventure, but there’s also been a solid push towards material that’s more a thinking mans game, which is welcome to see. There’s always been a tug of war between the sides over the decades, going back to its origins to be sure, but when we do see more intelligent and introspective pieces out there it becomes a reason to celebrate. Warren Ellis and Jason Howards’ Trees series is on the road to something worthy celebrating.
The series takes place in multiple locations around the world in its opening installment here, showing us some of how the world has changed in the ten years since an alien species came to Earth. Unlike the usual conquest types, they’re simply massive towers that pushed into the planet and have stood still for all that time, only pushing through some waste material along the way that’s very damaging to anything along the wall. We see that incident in Rio de Janeiro at first, where we also get a glimpse of how the police operate there in keeping people under control and cowed. Ten years after such an event with these spires and we’re all still killing each other for the simplest of reasons, even after learning that a much higher intelligence seemingly exists. We do get a look at some of the fallout from their arrival, through the short piece with Vince, a wealthy man from lower Manhattan that is looking to become mayor of New York City as he wants to make a change to how things are working there. When things went down and so much was destroyed, the cops essentially became another gang on the streets. His goal is to change the nature of the police and to remind the rest of the city that the residents there rebuilt what they did without help from anyone else.
Other stories are certainly curious in their own right as there are two other pieces at play that we get the first taste of. One has us following Tian, a young man in China that is setting up residence in the special protectorate of Shu, where some of the Trees seems to be as well. As an artist, it’s interesting to see what’s involved in getting into the zone and doing things there, based on what the entry point guard talks about, as well as Tian’s experiences in there as it’s a vastly different world than the village he came from. There’s not much here beyond that, but it’s all the perspective of a young man entering a much larger world with some naive views on things. The other curious arc at the end has my attention a well as it follows a science team in Spitzbergen, Norway, where they’re doing their mission alongside a Tree and there looks to be changes with some new plants starting to grow around them. There’s a lot of foundation setting here and getting a handle on the cast, and the four stories are all tied together well here, making you want to know more.
In Summary:
I’ve had mixed luck over the years when it comes to Warren Ellis’ work in what actually ends up working for me, but Trees starts off pretty strong for me here with what it’s doing. It’s following a classic structure to be sure, but it works well in doing a lot of establishment on a global situation while personalizing it well. It’s also aided by Jason Howard’s artwork, which is really spot on for what this kind of series wants to do in giving it a rough feeling but also textured in a way that feels earthy where it really needs it. It also gives it an unearthly feeling when it comes to the Trees themselves, especially with the waste disposal moment that we see early on. There’s definitely a lot to be intrigued by here and it left me wanting a lot more to see what the real story is going to be about and what direction it wants to sink its teeth into.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Image Comics
Release Date: May 28th, 2014
MSRP: $2.99