Trees

Warren Ellis (writer)
Jason Howard (artist)
Image Comics

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 recognise us as intelligent or alive.
Trees looks at a near-future world where life goes on in the shadows of the Trees: in China, where a young painter arrives in the “special cultural zone” of a city under a Tree; in Italy, where a young woman under the menacing protection of a fascist gang meets an old man who wants to teach her terrible skills; and in Svalbard, where a research team is discovering, by accident, that the Trees may not be dormant after all, and the awful threat they truly represent.

I'm writing this two months after I read the book with an operation and an ongoing morphine riddled recuperation in the intervening time so my memories may be a little addled but it's a good excuse to go back and reread.

'Trees' tells the beginning of the story of the arrival of the titulat 'Trees'; huge, great towering pillars that have smashed into the Earth and then proceeded to do almost absolutely nothing whatsoever except, sort of, occasionally pee on those nearby (see image).

Now though, 10 years on, we join the various narratives of several people living in the shadows of these inscrutable towers.  A scientist monitoring a new breed of black flower, a young woman escaping an abusive boyfriend with the help of an enigmatic stranger, an ambitious New York politician and an artist discovering himself in a walled city in China.

As is often the case with Warren's work he begins his story with a focus on world building and an overview of his characters.  You get to meet them and are offered a glimpse of who, where and what they are with the rest to be filled in as and when it suits the story rather than the breathless headlong rush into the story that comic writers are often guilty of.

Howard has a lovely eye for both detail and features and has successfully translated the various people and locales featured without any of them  looking like they are drawn from a template (in the case of the former) or a guide book (the latter).  His artwork, even at this early day, feels at home within the demands of the story and I'm very much looking forward to more.

I'm always excited by a new Ellis book particularly when it's the beginning of a longer series and this shows bags of promise for a very entertaining ride so hopefully volume 2 won't be long in coming.