Trees vol.3: Three Fates

Warren Ellis
Jason Howard
Image Comics

The acclaimed TREES series, currently being adapted for television, returns with a brand new story of murder and ghosts.
In the remote Russian village of Toska, there's a dead body by the leg of the Tree that landed eleven years ago. Police sergeant Klara Voranova, still haunted by that day, has no idea how this murder will change everything, nor what awaits her in the Tree's shadow.

And so with this low key third act Warren Ellis' 'Trees' comes to a close, for now at least.

Set in a world caught between apocalypses these have been some of the stories of those people who are rebuilding their lives in the shadows cast by the Trees, monolithic and enigmatic alien craft that arrived on Earth .

As with the other two the Tree itself is almost irrelevant to the story possibly playing an enigmatic game of it's own whilst the little humans scuttle about around it's feet.  'Three Fates' is perhaps the most complete story told over the course of the three volumes; a murder mystery in the arse end of Russia filled with petty crime, murder and ghosts and it's the kind of lovely human tale that Warren does so well.

So, my hopes are that Image realise how good this concept is and keep it on their books.  Maybe open the world up and we see other writers take on this world on hiatus as happened with Garth Ennis' 'Crossed', that Ellis and Howard return to the world every couple of years and give us another mini series fix like this or we get an Ellis Trees novel - which personally I'd love - or we walk away whistling a jaunty tune and leave this world suspended in amber whilst we are left to our own imaginings.  I personally don't mind any which way and I'm happy with what we have although I really would like to know where Doctor Creasy's and Zhen's stories take them.

Buy it here - UK / US

..........................................................................................

If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much appreciate a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain

Trees Vol 2: Two Forests

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

A survivor of the Blindhail Event looks for signs of imminent global disaster among the megaliths and relics of Orkney, while the new mayor of New York plans to extract his revenge for the awful thing that happened the day the Tree landed on Manhattan.

The first volume of Trees was a multinational sort of beast slipping between Europe, China, the Arctic Circle, Africa, and New York as we are introduced to some of the players and the idea of a world where giant, inscrutable alien monoliths have planted themselves in the Earth and then proceeded to not do much of anything except occasionally leak toxic waste.

Volume 2 is considerably less frenetic and for much of it's time tells of only 2  characters; sleazy New York mayor-elect and his attempts to clean house and Dr. Jo Creasy the sole survivor of the whatever it was at Svalbard in the previous volume.

The mayor's story plays out as a more straightforward action piece of political sci-fi filled with camouflage cloth and drone strikes.  The Dr. Creasy story on the other hand rings all manner of Wyrd Britain bells as she is packed off to the Orkney Islands to look for black flowers where she meets an archaeologist and things get very 'Quatermass Conclusion' which to my mind is always a good thing.

As much as I enjoyed the first book it was a little hyperactive for my sedate tastes but this is much more settled set that really opened out the storyworld in all manner of interesting ways and was an absolute joy to read.

Buy it here -  UK  / US

..........................................................................................

If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much appreciate a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain
 

Trees Vol 1: In Shadow

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.

Trees tells the stories of human existence after the arrival of extraterrestrials in the form of giant cylindrical 'Trees' that smashed into various points around the globe - including the middle of New York, rural Sicily, the arctic tundra, China -  and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing, except occasionally vent toxic waste.

Now though, many years on we join the stories of several people living in the shadow of the Trees whose lives are being profoundly impacted by their presence; a scientist monitoring a new breed of flowers, a young woman finding the teacher who can help her find her way to owning her own life, ambitious New York and Somali politicians and an artist discovering himself amongst like minded souls 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 as seen through the eyes of the protagonists where we're offered a glimpse of who, where and what they are with the rest to be filled in as and when it suits.  I love this people centred approach,  too much science fiction is concerned with the idea over the people and whilst like the rest of you I love a big bold idea - and I think the benignly malevolent Trees are a great idea - it's the stories of the people that are the most interesting.

I'm always excited by a new Ellis book and whilst his Injection books have got me besotted this proved to be prime Warren full of invention and sass and I'm very much looking forward to the next volume.

Buy it here - UK / US

..........................................................................................

If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much appreciate a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain

Injection (vol.3)

Warren Ellis (writer)
Declan Shalvey (artist)
Jordie Bellaire (colours)
Image Comics

An archaeological dig in Cornwall has gone very wrong, very quickly. And Maria Kilbride has her hands full already, as the effects of the Injection begin to dig in. So Brigid Roth, her old comrade from the CCCU, gets hired to go to a stone circle in the middle of a moor, under a granite tor, to find out why a ritual murder might have torn a hole in the world. What is the Cold House?

The first two volumes of this series quickly established themselves as being amongst my favourite books.  Taking it's inspiration from various Wyrd Britain faves such as Quatermass, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Thomas Carnacki and Doctor Who it certainly rings all our bells.

After the Maria Kilbride (Quatermass) and the Viv Headland (Sherlock) stories of the first two volumes for this third one Irish computer type Brigid Roth does her Doctor Who thing and goes visiting a stone circle in Cornwall that has both a dead body and Maria's attention.  Upon her unorthodox arrival Brigid finds the circle to be very interesting indeed and there's a mysterious old professor with two students who seem suspiciously like henchmen hanging around.  When things inevitably go wrong it does so with almost apocalyptic effect.

As ever Warren has crafted a witty, immersive and downright exciting tale this time melding modern and ancient technologies in the manner of the best Nigel Kneale scripts.  There's a little bit of 'The Stone Tape' in there along with some 'Quatermass Conclusion' and a tiny smattering of Kneale's short story 'Minuke'.

The art team are on fire here particularly on the latter parts of the book when things start to kick off - just check out that image to the left there - although I did wonder why a newly unearthed stone circle would be so grassy.

As I said earlier, by the end of book 1 this was already a favourite and the two subsequent volumes have confirmed and strengthened this opinion and I'm only sorry that with only two books left in the series we are now past the halfway mark.

Buy it here - Injection Volume 3

..........................................................................................

If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain

Injection (vol.2)

Warren Ellis (writer)
Declan Shalvey (artist)
Jordie Bellaire (colours)
Image Comics

Consulting detective Vivek Headland tackles a case involving a stolen ghost, but when human deli meat causes him to call for help the details of his investigation reveal a new battleground between humanity and The Injection.

In the first Injection collection we briefly met the various folks who made up the 'Cultural Cross-Contamination Unit' in the run-up to doing something, if not necessarily bad then definitely ill-conceived.  we also meet them some years down the line having had time to experience the repercussions of their actions and to know that the new surge of activity is a very bad thing.

Warren Ellis

Concentrating for the most part on Professor Maria Kilbride and 'cunning-man' Robin Morei volume one was a thoroughly Quatermassy experience filled with British folk legends, crusading scientists and embittered magicians - all the things that make Wyrd Britain feel all warm inside.  This time we're across the Atlantic and in the company of consulting detective Vivek Headland for an entirely Sherlockian ride as Headland is hired by a high flying financier to investigate the disappearance of a photograph containing the ghost of his mistress.  Into the mix are thrown a European esoteric militia called 'Rubedo' who want something the financier has - and it isn't his photo.

Declan Shalvey & Jordie Bellaire
(photo by Pat Loika)

At first Headland seems a cold sort of chap but over the course of the story we get to see the humanity in him and with the arrival of the other two ex-CCCU members we get to see the love he has for his friends and just how much values them.  Of those other two ex-colleagues, Simeon and Brigid, they are very much supporting cast here but there is a big, beautiful splash page - massive kudos to the art team here who are strong throughout but here they excel - that tells us, in no uncertain terms, down which Wyrd Britain road we'll be travelling next - happily it's my favourite.

So, two volumes in with hopefully many more to come and this is already the book I look forward to the most each year.  I do love it when Warren gets stuck into an idea and starts to take his time to wander around, grows his world and allow each of his characters space to do their thing in their own way.  It's something so few writers, especially in comics, take the time to do and it's one of the things that makes his work just so damn good.

Buy it here: Injection Volume 2

Injection (vol. 1)

Warren Ellis (writer)
Declan Shalvey (artist)
Jordie Bellaire (colourist)
Image Comics

A few years ago, a public/private partnership between the British Government and a multinational company saw five clever people placed in university-owned offices and allowed to do whatever they liked. It was called the Cultural Cross-Contamination Unit, and the idea was that it would hothouse new thinking and new patents. Five actual geniuses, all probably crazy, very eccentric, put in one place and given carte blanche to think about ways to approach and change the future. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
They did A Crazy Thing, which was referred to as The Injection. A mysterious Thing that they did in order to make the 21st Century better and stranger. It got out. It got loose into the fabric of the 21st Century, whatever it was, and now things are getting weird and ugly, faster and faster.  
So a few years have passed. They've all gone their separate ways, into separate "jobs" that allow them to follow and sometimes deal with the repercussions of The Injection. We are in the period where the toxic load of The Injection is at such a level that events that are essentially paranormal in nature are coming faster and faster, headed towards a point where humanity won't easily be able to live on the planet any more. Not a Singularity of glory, but an irretrievable constant blare of horror coming too thick and fast for anything to deal with.

Warren Ellis

I love Warren's work.  I gave up on comics in the early 90s, sold off the majority of my collection and blew the money on... well, let's just say I blew the money.  About 10 years later having cleaned up considerably I picked up a copy of the first 'Transmetropolitan' book in a HMV in Cardiff.  After standing there reading for 10 minutes (it's quite short) I left with it and the next 2 volumes in hand.  It brought me back, somewhat, into the fold and I will sing his praises to anyone who'll sit still long enough to listen.  So, pull up a chair and let me tell you why this book is an absolute must for all fans of Wyrd Britain storytelling.

Those of you familiar with Warren's work, in particular, 'Planetary' (and perhaps 'Global Frequency') will recognise in 'Injection' his love of playing with genre archetypes, making them dance to the subtly different tune that the current zeitgeist is playing.

Declan Shalvey

What we have is a team book which is, of course, a staple of comics and is a trope that Warren very much re-invigorated with his 'widescreen' superheroics on 'Stormwatch' and 'The Authority'.  Here though, as I mentioned earlier, it's his other, non spandex, team book that springs most readily to mind.  In that previous series his characters were dealing with the events and consequences of the 'fictions' of the 20th century.  They were investigating the genre staples that have defined modern tastes such as the superhero - both the pulpy variety and the grim and grrr version of the late 80s / early 90s - monster movies, noir, etc.  Here, his characters are concerned with an older and more deeply fundamental and, so far at least, decidedly British folkloric fictions;  they are accessing the stories behind the stories and are dealing with the impacts these stories are having on their lives and the country as a whole.

Maria Kilbride

'Injection' tells of a 'team' of four very distinct people who make up the 'Cultural Cross-Contamination Unit', a governmental think-tank that takes it upon itself to avoid the predicted death of innovation and the entropic decay of the 21st century by injecting a non-biological consciousness into the physics of the world to "make the 21st century more interesting".  Part spell, part AI the consciousness or 'injection' begins to serve it's purpose accessing and utilising the folklore of the British Isles to add that extra spice that the CCCU were so keen on stimulating especially at the point we join the story as it starts communicating with it's creators.

Robin Morei

The core (no longer a) team make for a pretty intriguing prospect.  A Holmes-esque investigator named Vivek Headland - immaculate, aloof and seemingly an utter control freak watching over his former comrades from his ultra-minimalist New York penthouse furnished with only a phone, a white devil, a very tall chair, a folding table and an inedible sandwich - Simeon Winters - a gadget laden super spy / assassin - Brigid Roth - computer whizz and creator of the aforementioned A.I. - Robin Morei - who is absolutely "not a fucking wizard" but is descended from a long line of cunning folk - and heading it all is "the only authentic genius most people will ever meet", Maria Kilbride who is trying very hard "to make up for a terrible thing she did".  They make for a very interesting quintet with Robin and Maria showing themselves to be, for me at least, fascinating characters as I'm always a sucker for an anarchic magician and a hard as nails rampaging scientist.

Obviously this is only the first 5 issues of a brand new series and Warren excels at teasing out his stories and keeping you guessing, hoping, wondering and hankering in equal measures.  As I said earlier I am a fan and I'll happily follow wherever he happens to take a story and this time out it's started in a place that rings every single one of my Wyrd Britain bells.  Like it's author, 'Injection' is steeped in the stories of the British Isles; the stories both ancient and modern that define that very British sense of the fantastical from the creatures of legend to the type of nightmares conjured up by an Etonian schoolmaster, from the detective fantasies of a Scottish physician to the pioneering scientist with his own Experimental Rocket Group and of an entire generation of post-war British authors who destroyed the world again and again and again.  This book bleeds them all but does so in a way that mixes them with Warren's voracious appetite for the new, the unique and the unorthodox and presents them alongside Shalvey and Bellaire's breathtaking artwork as a bold and beautiful re-invigoration that makes for an enthralling read.

Buy it here:  Injection Volume 1 (Injection Tp)