Warren Ellis has a new book this month, from Image. Trees, written by Ellis and illustrated by Jason Howard with flats coloured by Dee Cunniffe, takes place in Russia, in a small rural community named Toska.

Giant tree trunks, as high as the Eiffel Tower, descended to earth from the sky 11 years ago, and embedded themselves in the ground. Cool! And the tree trunk nearest our characters has alien-looking markings on it.

Yes, it’s cool, but things are happening very slowly in issue 1. There is something sneaky going on, and not just that giant tree trunks have descended from the sky.

The art is fine, the story is interesting, but good golly, let’s get going. On with it, I want my $4 bucks worth. And what’s with the Russians not sounding like Russians, more like North Americans? The world is getting smaller, but Russians still talk with a different cadence than non-Russians, and use different expressions too.
Let’s check in again in issue two, to see whether the Trees train is growing roots or losing leaves.

Image, Trees: Three Fates #1, $3.99 for 22 pages of content. Rated Mature, but more like Teen, except that one guy shows up in his underwear.

By Alan Spinney

After a career of graphic design, art direction and copywriting, I still have a passion for words and pictures. I love it when a comic book comes together; the story is tight, and the drawings lead me forward. Art with words... the toughest storytelling technique to get right. Was this comic book worth your money? Let's see!!