Reviews

Trees, Vol. 1: In Shadow by Warren Ellis

starcrossedstacks's review

5.0

I loved this so much. I absolutely would recommend reading it in volume format, however.

bhookjunkhie's review

3.0

3.5 stars

sarahskorupa's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

geekwayne's review

3.0

'Trees, Vol. 1' is the start of a series, and this volume is mostly just the set up. I liked it for the most part, but felt it got a bit bogged down about 2/3 of the way through. I thought it recovered by the end and think it's an interesting premise.

10 years ago large columns came from outer space landed on our planet. They are different sizes and groups. They are nicknamed trees, and for 10 years they have just stood silently with no indication why they are there. The story takes place in different places on the globe with different ways of approaching these strange trees. Some are artists, or scientists, or people on the fringes of their societies. An over-obsessed scientist finds strange black flowers growing near a tree in the Arctic, and they may lead to a breakthrough. Just as the story winds up again, the volume ends.

I like the premise. I liked the global aspect and the characters that were introduced. The stories don't connect at this point, but it's possible they might. Some of the fringe folks and their stories didn't seem to advance the story at this point, and I wanted to get back to what was happening with the scientists. I liked it, and I'd like to see where it's going to end up going.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Image Comics, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

lsparrow's review

3.0

I enjoyed the different stories and characters in this future dystopian world - so many questions about what these 'trees' are and who will survive

pacifickat's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I don't know if this was brilliant or a giant mess of storytelling, but I liked it and would like to read more in the series to find out what happens next. This volume contains far more questions than answers, and has a pretty bleak trajectory from start to finish. The artwork is great, the various storylines distinct and interesting, and the sci-fi premise suitably dark and mysterious. Also, that cover art? Just excellent.

The biggest thing that struck me with this book is that the trees themselves did very little. They are a slow-moving, ever-present kind of threat. It reminds me of old zombie movies where the zombies are extremely slow, the worst threat arising more from the slow degradation of human morality into violence and chaos amongst the surviving population. It turns out the primary threat was a bit of a red herring in this graphic novel as well, the true monsters revealed to be humans sinking into their worst impulses once fear and panic allow for them to be expressed unhindered. Basically, in Trees: Vol. 1, humans simply do more of what humans were already doing to each other, just in more extreme and radical ways: 

 
 

•  
  The scientists do science that screws everyone over 
   
•  
  The communists build a commune, which then gets annihilated by the big “C” Communist government in China once it's deemed a failed social experiment 
   
•  
  The dictator in Africa commits genocide against a civilian population after dehumanizing them in the media 
   
•  
  The Americans turn to politics and military might, trying to solve their problems with election rhetoric and WMD’s 
   
•  
  Organized crime bosses in Italy organize crime as they fight each other for power and money on a local scale 
   
•  
  Marginalized communities continue to be demonized and targeted for violence and oppression regardless of location 
   
•  
  Power continues to corrupt, and the masses suffer for it 
   

 

In short, humans in general behave in pretty predictable patterns.

  I’ll be curious to see if we learn more about the trees themselves in later volumes of this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse and Incest

Gang violence, organized crime, bombings, war crimes, civilian casualties

unladylike's review

5.0

I loved almost everything about this book. For starters, it was probably the most original sci-fi story I've seen in a while. The pacing is incredible: considering it's Warren Ellis writing another book about first contact with alien life, I thought it would be a slow, heady series of interlocutors used by Ellis as pawns. Instead, we're eased into the world in a way that allows for intrigue, real characters with depth, possibly untrustworthy narrators, and by the end of the thing, we get to really see the shit hitting the fan.

Also, a big draw to this comic is for anyone like me who's been demanding more diverse representation in comics for years. Rather than just checking off some boxes on a [usually singular, minor] character (gay? sure. trans? i guess that's what they want. why not black too? now where's my Ally Award?), Ellis gives us not one, not two, but an explicitly unknown, larger number of trans and queer characters (at least in the Chinese plotline). And we get explicit but fitting conversations about men's historical exploitation and oppression of women! And how a healthy world embraces gender on a continuum and heteronormativity has been holding us back in so many ways, and, and, and by the last page, there are going to be some sad and devastating things.

So far, Ellis has flipped a sufficient number of tropes with style, and I eagerly await the progression of this series.

patchworkbunny's review

5.0

Trees by Warren Ellis and Jason Howard has very mixed reviews over on Goodreads but I found much to love in it. I believe it’s one of those comics definitely better read as a trade (new term learned at the weekend, that’s what I’d been calling a volume or bind-up) rather than individual issues as it has a lot of storylines going on.

Trees is set ten years after an alien invasion. Giant tree-like structures came down from the sky, landing on cities around the world, but the aliens never made any attempt to communicate. Or do anything much. The trees are a mystery. The stories follow different groups of people living in the shadow of these alien structures, exploring how life has changed, and in some ways everything’s the same.

Some of the stories are quite intimate in feeling and I had definite moments of shock near the end of this first volume. I will definitely be picking up the second volume later this year.

abookabookabook's review

Cool interesting start.

Some possible loose threads still, but I love the themes.
Shadowy areas being a gathering place for "the Other."
Impending doom and creeping dread.

aiight's review

2.0

Can't recommend because it is likely an abandoned series.  Art was adequate; a couple of characters were initially hard to distinguish from each other.  Had the abbreviated feeling that so many comics have and makes it feel rushed.  Middle has a preachy section that, while nominally admirable in intention, feels very shoehorned.