''Trees'' is a science fiction comic book series by

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including '' Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), '' Global Frequency'' ...

and

Jason Howard ''Jason Howard'' is an American comic book artist known for such comics as '' Trees'' with Warren Ellis and ''The Astounding Wolf-Man'' with Robert Kirkman Robert Kirkman (; born November 30, 1978)Löchel, Ingo"The Walking Dead: Die Comic- ...

, published by American company

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-o ...

. The first issue was published May 28, 2014. The narrative begins ten years after the arrival of massive and silent alien presences who stand on the surface of the earth like the "Trees" of the title, not moving and seeming to take no account of human life and society. While a high concept science fiction story, the series also concerns itself with a cross-section of social and cultural issues as experienced by the characters, including police states,

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, economic disparity, and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

identity. A second series titled ''Trees: Three Fates'' was published starting in September 2019. These issues were originally intended to be published as issues 15-19 of volume 1.

Plot

The narrative is divided into several points of view, all centered on the landing site of one of the Trees. Such locations include

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, "The City of Shu",

Cefalù Cefalù (), classically known as Cephaloedium (), is a city and comune in the Italian Metropolitan City of Palermo, located on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily about east of the provincial capital and west of Messina. The town, with its popula ...

, and

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern N ...

. The individual stories, while featuring the Tree sites as settings, having varying degrees of explicit storytelling related to the Trees themselves. The first volume, ''In Shadows'', divides attention between an Italian woman involved reluctantly with a group of neo-fascists, an African leader hoping to use the Trees as a source of military leverage over neighboring nations, and a young Chinese artist from rural farmland joining an eclectic urban art collective. Finally, as a sort of core narrative, a science team researching a Tree in Norway finds mysterious black flowers growing near the base of the object, culminating in unexpected activity from the seemingly dormant Trees. The second volume ''Two Forests'', also splits attention between narratives, primarily between a newly christened Mayor of

who has a personal subversive plan to take revenge on the city's establishment that nearly cost him his life when the Trees first touched down, and secondly, the sole survivor of the Norway science expedition from the first volume is tasked by the British government to follow up on leads that the mysterious black flowers could be appearing at another Tree landing site. The third volume ''Three Fates'' focuses on Klara Voranova, a police sergeant in the small Russian town of Toska. A murdered body found at the base of a Tree sets off an investigation into the forces and corruption that control the isolated town. At the same time, a ghost from Klara's past gives some clues to the purpose of the Trees.

Reception

The series has been positively reviewed.

TV Adaptation

In 2016, Tom Hardy and

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primaril ...

announced a television series adaptation is in early development.

Collected editions

References

Comics by Warren Ellis Image Comics titles Science fiction comics {{Image-comics-stub