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Ms. Tree (Hard Case Crime) #6
Ms Tree: Fallen Tree
The sixth sensational instalment in the Hard Case Crime books of Ms. Tree, private detective, from famed Hard Case Crime author Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition).
Fans of pulp noir and hard-boiled detective crime fiction will love this seminal collection of classic comics.
From the minds of award-winning author Max Allan Collins and artist Terry Beatty, comes the sixth collection of classic Ms. Tree stories, collected together for the first time!
Join Michael Tree, the 6ft, 9mm carrying private detective on her thrilling adventures. No case is too small, no violence too extreme, just as long as it gets the job done.
Fans of hard-boiled detective and crime fiction will get a thrill from these “Fallen Tree!”; “Like Father”; “Murder Cruise”; “New Years Evil”; “Coming of Rage”; and more!
Fans of pulp noir and hard-boiled detective crime fiction will love this seminal collection of classic comics.
From the minds of award-winning author Max Allan Collins and artist Terry Beatty, comes the sixth collection of classic Ms. Tree stories, collected together for the first time!
Join Michael Tree, the 6ft, 9mm carrying private detective on her thrilling adventures. No case is too small, no violence too extreme, just as long as it gets the job done.
Fans of hard-boiled detective and crime fiction will get a thrill from these “Fallen Tree!”; “Like Father”; “Murder Cruise”; “New Years Evil”; “Coming of Rage”; and more!
224 pages, Paperback
Published December 31, 2024
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Max Allan Collins
808 books1,323 followersReceived the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 2006.
He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.
Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black
Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ
He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.
Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black
Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 23, 2025
If you appreciate detective stories, I cannot recommend Ms. Tree enough.
Some of you might be worried that I'm recommending some shitty comic with a soft-hearted woman trying to save her clients or a fem fatale who crusades for justice and sees the best in people.
Not so much.
She's a volatile dick who shoots first and asks questions as the blood congeals on the floor.
This is the stuff that hardboiled noir dreams are made of.
Highly recommended.
Some of you might be worried that I'm recommending some shitty comic with a soft-hearted woman trying to save her clients or a fem fatale who crusades for justice and sees the best in people.
Not so much.
She's a volatile dick who shoots first and asks questions as the blood congeals on the floor.
This is the stuff that hardboiled noir dreams are made of.
Highly recommended.
January 21, 2025
...and so ends my reading journey with Michael Tree, the pistol packing Chicago lady Private Eye who sent more creeps to the morgue than Judge Dredd on a good day.
She gets violent. On occasion.
Story-wise I don't think the ones included here rank as my favourites (though given recent scandalous events the over-the-top one about a guy trying to murder a health insurance CEO over a denial of coverage scenario feels a little prophetic) but they do serve to tie a nice bow on the stories of the title character and some of the long-running secondary ones like Mike Mist, Mike Jr., and Roger Fremont.
The lurid near-death interlude featuring Michael in Hell was a little pulpy, even for this title.
In another, more interesting universe the TV project in the '80s starring Raquel Welch would have gotten off the ground, but in this one (barring the acquisition of the one Ms. Tree prose novel Collins published) it's so long for me!
What could have been...
She gets violent. On occasion.
Story-wise I don't think the ones included here rank as my favourites (though given recent scandalous events the over-the-top one about a guy trying to murder a health insurance CEO over a denial of coverage scenario feels a little prophetic) but they do serve to tie a nice bow on the stories of the title character and some of the long-running secondary ones like Mike Mist, Mike Jr., and Roger Fremont.
The lurid near-death interlude featuring Michael in Hell was a little pulpy, even for this title.
In another, more interesting universe the TV project in the '80s starring Raquel Welch would have gotten off the ground, but in this one (barring the acquisition of the one Ms. Tree prose novel Collins published) it's so long for me!
What could have been...
January 7, 2025
Ms. Tree Vol. 6 Fallen Tree collects issues Ms. Tree #35, 37-50 originally released by Renegades Press written by Max Allan Collins with art by Terry Beatty. The comics have been collected and published by Titan Comics under the Hard Case Crime imprint.
Hardboiled private Detective Ms. Tree tackles a hostage takeover, the murder of her police detective father, a murder mystery aboard a Caribbean cruise, the kidnapping and ransom of her stepson, and more.
This is the final release of reprints of the Ms. Tree comic series which saw issues originally released by 4 different comic publishers from 1981-1993. These archival editions didn’t collect the series chronologically which I think was a misstep. It made some of the later volumes not as exciting, because you knew some characters were safe and you already know how the story eventually wraps up. Another misstep was that these Hard Case Crime reprints are published in a smaller size, approximately 6in by 9in instead of the full-sized, approximately 6.6in by 10.25in. It may not sound like much, but in the comic book world, that is a lot of art real estate.
Overall, I really enjoyed the full series of Ms. Tree comic series. One issue that I have is that the issues all resolve pretty much the same way: Ms. Tree kills the arc’s bad guy instead of sending them to jail. If you take an objective look at our protagonist, she has a death sheet a mile long with more blood on her hands than a small country. You could easily argue she should be behind bars more than some of the arc’s antagonists. Still, I enjoyed the noir mysteries with the simple yet very effective pulp art.
Hardboiled private Detective Ms. Tree tackles a hostage takeover, the murder of her police detective father, a murder mystery aboard a Caribbean cruise, the kidnapping and ransom of her stepson, and more.
This is the final release of reprints of the Ms. Tree comic series which saw issues originally released by 4 different comic publishers from 1981-1993. These archival editions didn’t collect the series chronologically which I think was a misstep. It made some of the later volumes not as exciting, because you knew some characters were safe and you already know how the story eventually wraps up. Another misstep was that these Hard Case Crime reprints are published in a smaller size, approximately 6in by 9in instead of the full-sized, approximately 6.6in by 10.25in. It may not sound like much, but in the comic book world, that is a lot of art real estate.
Overall, I really enjoyed the full series of Ms. Tree comic series. One issue that I have is that the issues all resolve pretty much the same way: Ms. Tree kills the arc’s bad guy instead of sending them to jail. If you take an objective look at our protagonist, she has a death sheet a mile long with more blood on her hands than a small country. You could easily argue she should be behind bars more than some of the arc’s antagonists. Still, I enjoyed the noir mysteries with the simple yet very effective pulp art.
January 15, 2025
Love this series. Ms. Tree is a badass private eye on the level of Ellen Ripley from the Aliens franchise. Smart, tough, and brutal when required. When baddies deserve hot lead, Ms. Tree is happy to oblige. This series is a reprint of the originals from the 80s and I’m sad to say I finished them all. Recommended for anyone who enjoys private eye noir and graphic novels.
March 9, 2025
It’s been wonderful to see all the Ms. Tree comics from writer Max Allan Collins and artist Terry Beatty come together as published by Hard Case Crime in six beautiful volumes. This final volume brings all the noir storylines and danger-filled plots that we’ve come to expect along with the sheer badassery of Ms. Michael Tree herself.
Max Allan Collins (MAC) is well known as the literary inheritor and completer of Mickey Spillane’s rather lengthy set of incomplete manuscripts as well as the creator of iconic giants in the crime/mystery genre such as Quarry, Nolan, Mallory, and Nathan Heller. Looking for TV Tie-in novels? Readers could do far worse than MAC’s CSI, Dark Angel, and NYPD Blue books. But he also has deep roots in the world of comics to include a long run on Dick Tracy, and of course, his Road to Perdition is one of the all-time best comics-to-screen adaptations ever.
So, of course, these Ms. Tree books are good. The stories are tight and move quickly. The artwork, as always, tends toward the more minimalist ideals, perfect for the themes it depicts. The colors really add to the settings and stories. Even just in this volume, we can see how Ms. Tree, as a character, has evolved as she tries to find her place in the world. Is she a vigilante? A private detective? Is she anti-violence or is she a straight-forward pistol-packing bitch that shoots first and asks questions later?
Each story can be read entirely on its own, although there are sometimes threads that connect it to the previous entry or all the way back to the beginning. Hard Case Crime has chosen to publish these out of chronological order, choosing the most popular first (perhaps not certain they would print the entire run when they started out?) and so the connecting threads don’t matter too much. The final story presented here, the titular “Fallen Tree”, is an appropriate story to end on although I do hold out hope that more will someday be created and produced.
Max Allan Collins (MAC) is well known as the literary inheritor and completer of Mickey Spillane’s rather lengthy set of incomplete manuscripts as well as the creator of iconic giants in the crime/mystery genre such as Quarry, Nolan, Mallory, and Nathan Heller. Looking for TV Tie-in novels? Readers could do far worse than MAC’s CSI, Dark Angel, and NYPD Blue books. But he also has deep roots in the world of comics to include a long run on Dick Tracy, and of course, his Road to Perdition is one of the all-time best comics-to-screen adaptations ever.
So, of course, these Ms. Tree books are good. The stories are tight and move quickly. The artwork, as always, tends toward the more minimalist ideals, perfect for the themes it depicts. The colors really add to the settings and stories. Even just in this volume, we can see how Ms. Tree, as a character, has evolved as she tries to find her place in the world. Is she a vigilante? A private detective? Is she anti-violence or is she a straight-forward pistol-packing bitch that shoots first and asks questions later?
Each story can be read entirely on its own, although there are sometimes threads that connect it to the previous entry or all the way back to the beginning. Hard Case Crime has chosen to publish these out of chronological order, choosing the most popular first (perhaps not certain they would print the entire run when they started out?) and so the connecting threads don’t matter too much. The final story presented here, the titular “Fallen Tree”, is an appropriate story to end on although I do hold out hope that more will someday be created and produced.
April 25, 2025
The final collection of Ms. Tree comics features: New Year’s Evil, Like Fater, Coming of Rage, Murder Cruise, Music to Murder By, and Fallen Tree.
"Michael Tree, private investigator, pistol-packing mama at large..."
"In this city of millions, people die every day. It's as common as birth, but the odds are better: It's a long shot being born, but dying? That's a sure thing."
-Max Allan Collins
"Michael Tree, private investigator, pistol-packing mama at large..."
"In this city of millions, people die every day. It's as common as birth, but the odds are better: It's a long shot being born, but dying? That's a sure thing."
-Max Allan Collins
January 19, 2025
Hate to see her go.
January 8, 2025
Hard-boiled crime comic so hard-boiled it verges on parody. The sort of noir where actions have consequences but those consequences can usually be resolved by shooting them three or four times in the chest (purely in self-defense, of course). In the 1980's, when crime comics were scarce, this book stood out. In hindsight, it possesses the sort of cynicism which poses as a realistic view of human nature and which is actually almost willfully shallow. The art and storytelling are sufficiently ambitious that it still holds up, but if it weren't for the lure of nostalgia I would probably knock another star off my rating.
February 13, 2025
Fallen Tree collects the final stretch of issues of the Renegade Press run of Ms. Tree. Contained here are five stories: "New Year's Evil" (Ms. Tree #35), "Like Father" (#37-40), "Coming of Rage" (#41-44), "Murder Cruise" (#45-48) and "Fallen Tree" (#49-50). In Heroine Withdrawal, Ms. Tree emerges victorious against an array of criminal elements, which for the case of this series, means they are all dead. So new villains are needed, and the final few mysteries undertaken by Ms. Tree introduce new players.
The opening story features a hostage situation whereby an aggrieved customer of health insurance wants to take out the president of the insurance company for denying coverage for his wife's medical treatment (bizarrely relevant timing). Ms. Tree's date at this party where the hostage situation takes place happens to the vice president of the company, and as such adds a personal stake to the story. A fine teaser into the more substantial stories that follow - "Like Father", "Coming of Rage" and "Murder Cruise" - all of which form the bulk of this collection. These cases aren't nearly as subversive or inventive as the earlier cases (or the later cases in the DC Quarterly issues), but are overall solid. "Like Father" is a bit of a standout here, as we follow Ms. Tree's investigation into her father's murder which leads to some suggestions that he may have been a crooked cop.
The collection ends with "Fallen Tree", which is one of the shorter stories in this volume. It's the most outlandish of all the Ms. Tree stories thus far as it takes our heroine to the depths of Hell itself. Terry Beatty's artwork has steadily evolved over the years of Ms. Tree comics, and "Fallen Tree" is up there with some of his best illustrated works. The story, despite being quite out there, is something not all that interesting by its end. Beatty's use of bold spot reds makes it one of the more eye-catching entries, though the story comes as a rather anti-climactic end for Ms. Tree.
Overall, Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty produced a fantastic crime comic series that sustained a great amount of consistency over a decade. Though Hard Case Crime published the stories out of order with these new trades, I found the re-ordering to form a rather smooth reading experience. The first volume, One Mean Mother, would be my recommendation for a good starting point even though it contains the later stories from Collins and Beatty.
The opening story features a hostage situation whereby an aggrieved customer of health insurance wants to take out the president of the insurance company for denying coverage for his wife's medical treatment (bizarrely relevant timing). Ms. Tree's date at this party where the hostage situation takes place happens to the vice president of the company, and as such adds a personal stake to the story. A fine teaser into the more substantial stories that follow - "Like Father", "Coming of Rage" and "Murder Cruise" - all of which form the bulk of this collection. These cases aren't nearly as subversive or inventive as the earlier cases (or the later cases in the DC Quarterly issues), but are overall solid. "Like Father" is a bit of a standout here, as we follow Ms. Tree's investigation into her father's murder which leads to some suggestions that he may have been a crooked cop.
The collection ends with "Fallen Tree", which is one of the shorter stories in this volume. It's the most outlandish of all the Ms. Tree stories thus far as it takes our heroine to the depths of Hell itself. Terry Beatty's artwork has steadily evolved over the years of Ms. Tree comics, and "Fallen Tree" is up there with some of his best illustrated works. The story, despite being quite out there, is something not all that interesting by its end. Beatty's use of bold spot reds makes it one of the more eye-catching entries, though the story comes as a rather anti-climactic end for Ms. Tree.
Overall, Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty produced a fantastic crime comic series that sustained a great amount of consistency over a decade. Though Hard Case Crime published the stories out of order with these new trades, I found the re-ordering to form a rather smooth reading experience. The first volume, One Mean Mother, would be my recommendation for a good starting point even though it contains the later stories from Collins and Beatty.
March 13, 2025
A wonderful collection of Ms. Tree tales, some of the best comics from the 1980's.
Very well put together, and looks great on a bookshelf!
Very well put together, and looks great on a bookshelf!
February 12, 2025
Finally, after all the delays, the final volume of Ms. Tree. Round of applause, everyone! It’s been a wicked, wicked long 6 years.
In this volume’s foreword writer Max Allan Collins takes the blame for the god-awful, messed up mapping of this entire series as collected by Titan Comics and Hard Case Crime in these tiny, little paperbacks. SLAP!
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
More SLAPS!!!
MAC’s (criminally misguided) intention was to lead the series with the most mature stuff. Which came later. Okay. But that wasn’t the only dicking around he did. The first two volumes of the allegedly maturer material ping pong the issues out of sequence, for no good reason. Some issues are mis-collected to the point where they contain literal spoilers, for absolutely no good reason. Some volumes contain issues not even listed in the indica, and there’s no excuse for that.
I guess all this mucking about does excuse the lack of volume numbers. There aren’t any on the spines or the front or back covers. But how would they even have numbered them? (I guess they could have released v5 and v6, then backtracked to the early stuff, similar to but not exactly like how Fantagraphics released The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library: the last of which, v1 of 28, finally comes out in 2025. And, hey, they mucked about with publication order, too. Not to mention all the censorship…. So it goes.)
I won’t harp on this too much. If Ms. Tree desired to escape the notice of new and casual readers, then Collins did a fine job aiding and abetting her. Just take a look at the table below to see how. It’s madness, it’s haphazard. MAC, what the hell were you smoking? Tree is already a hidden gem, stop hiding her. Casual readers don’t want to do a lot of legwork to figure out where a story starts and finishes. One thing that set Tree apart from convoluted mainstream American superhero comics was its (relative) simplicity. Not anymore!
As near as I can tell, because keeping track of all this is so silly my brain is feeling extra Play-Dohy today, this final volume collects Ms. Tree #35-50 and Ms. Tree - Rock & Roll Summer Special. Not including #36, which is a story about Ms. Tree and Mike Mist meeting another private detective named Johnny Dynamite. (I wish it was included but there is a continuity error that’s solved by skipping it. Another solution could have been simply adding an extra narrative caption that read “Not long ago…” under the issue’s title.)
In brief: Johnny Dynamite is a comic book PI from the 1950s, and at one point—for economical reasons—Ms. Tree split the page count of her own book with old Dynamite strips, freeing artist Terry Beatty to pursue other work that paid better. (See the letters in the original issues to see how this was received by contemporary Michael Tree fans.) But Collins and Beatty deserve credit for trying to keep the book afloat. Same as they were doing with the experiments in color.
Overall, this is a great volume but not the best. The bulk of the stories: we learn more about the Tree family as Michael flies to LA to investigate the murder of her father (Dragnet!), the book returns to its main plot as we find teenage Mike Jr. necking with the enemy, and Tree and friends try for a little R&R on a Caribbean cruise but get a fun whodunnit instead. The stories are solid if not Tree-defining and the art is top notch. I’m not sure if the transferral process changed but it looks beautiful here for whatever reason.
For the last time, I’ll say: I wish the books were oversized instead of undersized and I wish the Mike Mist minute mysteries were included. (Mike Mist does at least appear here plenty, in any case.) I hope this series of books manages to spread Tree’s fame. I’m skeptical but maybe MAC’s schizo sequence has already paid dividends. Regardless, the creators of this series often were doing pragmatic things on the business end to the displeasure of the fans but for the good of the book. And I’m a fan, so….
I especially hope we get all of these issues published sequentially in a couple omnis at some point. Also, I wonder if the orphaned Tree material (PIs Michael Mauser and Ms. Tree, most notably) will ever see the light of day.
Thank you Mr. Max Allan Collins, Mr. Terry Beatty, and also Mr. Gary Kato. You did incredible work with Ms. Tree and now the character is more accessible than ever. Though she can stand to be a hell of a lot more accessible, so next time don’t over think it. SWAK!
New readers! If you’re new to Ms. Tree don’t start with this volume. It’s the last. Or the fourth. Depending on how you count. If you want to read the story as it was originally published, as it makes the most sense, and doesn’t spoil itself, I recommend you read v3-v6, then v1-v2. Just keep in mind there will be a few instances you’ll have to pause and read a few issues of another volume. Pay attention now because nowhere in the book does it tell you which issue you’re reading! Oh, and for the last two issues (aka v1-v2) you’ll want to use the table below to get the order right. Gee, that’s easy!
THE AMAZING MS. TREE’S INCREDIBLE BUT UNCANNILY CONFUSINGLY COLLECTED SAGA:
v1 Ms. Tree: One Mean Mother: Ms. Tree Quarterly/Special #1, 4, 7, 8, 9.
v2 Ms. Tree: Skeleton in the Closet: Ms. Tree Quarterly Special #2, 3, 5, 6, 10, and Ms. Tree #28.
v3 Ms. Tree: The Cold Dish: Ms. Tree black-and-white shorts from Eclipse Magazine (previously collected as The Files of Ms. Tree v1), and Ms. Tree #1-9.
v4 Ms. Tree: Deadline: Ms. Tree #10-17, #32-34, and Ms. Tree 3D.
v5 Ms. Tree: Heroine Withdrawal: Ms. Tree #18-31 (not counting #28 which appears in v2.)
v6 Ms. Tree: Fallen Tree: Ms. Tree #35-50 (not counting #36, which doesn’t appear anywhere), Ms. Tree - Rock & Roll Summer Special.
ADDITIONAL, BELATED THOUGHT:
I’ve been thinking about Ms. Tree all day. I think MAC has fallen in the same exact trap as Marvel and DC. In their quest to cast as wide a net as possible to entice new readers, they lose what attracts readers old and new. I think that phenomenon is self-explanatory at this point. But I think it’s true regarding the prose novel, too. I remember being so disappointed in that. I think Collins, to appeal to as wide a readership as possible, essentially neutered (spayed) his character. The Tree from the book was like a Tree from a boring parallel universe completely disconnected from what some might call baggage and others might call her entire world, her cast of characters, and her history. As we know, these kinds of lessons are very, very hard to learn. Just look how much crap Marvel keeps putting out to appeal to people who don’t even go to comic shops and only know the characters from the shitty movies. More weirdos read and react to comic book news than actual comic books, I bet.
In this volume’s foreword writer Max Allan Collins takes the blame for the god-awful, messed up mapping of this entire series as collected by Titan Comics and Hard Case Crime in these tiny, little paperbacks. SLAP!
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
More SLAPS!!!
MAC’s (criminally misguided) intention was to lead the series with the most mature stuff. Which came later. Okay. But that wasn’t the only dicking around he did. The first two volumes of the allegedly maturer material ping pong the issues out of sequence, for no good reason. Some issues are mis-collected to the point where they contain literal spoilers, for absolutely no good reason. Some volumes contain issues not even listed in the indica, and there’s no excuse for that.
I guess all this mucking about does excuse the lack of volume numbers. There aren’t any on the spines or the front or back covers. But how would they even have numbered them? (I guess they could have released v5 and v6, then backtracked to the early stuff, similar to but not exactly like how Fantagraphics released The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library: the last of which, v1 of 28, finally comes out in 2025. And, hey, they mucked about with publication order, too. Not to mention all the censorship…. So it goes.)
I won’t harp on this too much. If Ms. Tree desired to escape the notice of new and casual readers, then Collins did a fine job aiding and abetting her. Just take a look at the table below to see how. It’s madness, it’s haphazard. MAC, what the hell were you smoking? Tree is already a hidden gem, stop hiding her. Casual readers don’t want to do a lot of legwork to figure out where a story starts and finishes. One thing that set Tree apart from convoluted mainstream American superhero comics was its (relative) simplicity. Not anymore!
As near as I can tell, because keeping track of all this is so silly my brain is feeling extra Play-Dohy today, this final volume collects Ms. Tree #35-50 and Ms. Tree - Rock & Roll Summer Special. Not including #36, which is a story about Ms. Tree and Mike Mist meeting another private detective named Johnny Dynamite. (I wish it was included but there is a continuity error that’s solved by skipping it. Another solution could have been simply adding an extra narrative caption that read “Not long ago…” under the issue’s title.)
In brief: Johnny Dynamite is a comic book PI from the 1950s, and at one point—for economical reasons—Ms. Tree split the page count of her own book with old Dynamite strips, freeing artist Terry Beatty to pursue other work that paid better. (See the letters in the original issues to see how this was received by contemporary Michael Tree fans.) But Collins and Beatty deserve credit for trying to keep the book afloat. Same as they were doing with the experiments in color.
Overall, this is a great volume but not the best. The bulk of the stories: we learn more about the Tree family as Michael flies to LA to investigate the murder of her father (Dragnet!), the book returns to its main plot as we find teenage Mike Jr. necking with the enemy, and Tree and friends try for a little R&R on a Caribbean cruise but get a fun whodunnit instead. The stories are solid if not Tree-defining and the art is top notch. I’m not sure if the transferral process changed but it looks beautiful here for whatever reason.
For the last time, I’ll say: I wish the books were oversized instead of undersized and I wish the Mike Mist minute mysteries were included. (Mike Mist does at least appear here plenty, in any case.) I hope this series of books manages to spread Tree’s fame. I’m skeptical but maybe MAC’s schizo sequence has already paid dividends. Regardless, the creators of this series often were doing pragmatic things on the business end to the displeasure of the fans but for the good of the book. And I’m a fan, so….
I especially hope we get all of these issues published sequentially in a couple omnis at some point. Also, I wonder if the orphaned Tree material (PIs Michael Mauser and Ms. Tree, most notably) will ever see the light of day.
Thank you Mr. Max Allan Collins, Mr. Terry Beatty, and also Mr. Gary Kato. You did incredible work with Ms. Tree and now the character is more accessible than ever. Though she can stand to be a hell of a lot more accessible, so next time don’t over think it. SWAK!
New readers! If you’re new to Ms. Tree don’t start with this volume. It’s the last. Or the fourth. Depending on how you count. If you want to read the story as it was originally published, as it makes the most sense, and doesn’t spoil itself, I recommend you read v3-v6, then v1-v2. Just keep in mind there will be a few instances you’ll have to pause and read a few issues of another volume. Pay attention now because nowhere in the book does it tell you which issue you’re reading! Oh, and for the last two issues (aka v1-v2) you’ll want to use the table below to get the order right. Gee, that’s easy!
THE AMAZING MS. TREE’S INCREDIBLE BUT UNCANNILY CONFUSINGLY COLLECTED SAGA:
v1 Ms. Tree: One Mean Mother: Ms. Tree Quarterly/Special #1, 4, 7, 8, 9.
v2 Ms. Tree: Skeleton in the Closet: Ms. Tree Quarterly Special #2, 3, 5, 6, 10, and Ms. Tree #28.
v3 Ms. Tree: The Cold Dish: Ms. Tree black-and-white shorts from Eclipse Magazine (previously collected as The Files of Ms. Tree v1), and Ms. Tree #1-9.
v4 Ms. Tree: Deadline: Ms. Tree #10-17, #32-34, and Ms. Tree 3D.
v5 Ms. Tree: Heroine Withdrawal: Ms. Tree #18-31 (not counting #28 which appears in v2.)
v6 Ms. Tree: Fallen Tree: Ms. Tree #35-50 (not counting #36, which doesn’t appear anywhere), Ms. Tree - Rock & Roll Summer Special.
ADDITIONAL, BELATED THOUGHT:
I’ve been thinking about Ms. Tree all day. I think MAC has fallen in the same exact trap as Marvel and DC. In their quest to cast as wide a net as possible to entice new readers, they lose what attracts readers old and new. I think that phenomenon is self-explanatory at this point. But I think it’s true regarding the prose novel, too. I remember being so disappointed in that. I think Collins, to appeal to as wide a readership as possible, essentially neutered (spayed) his character. The Tree from the book was like a Tree from a boring parallel universe completely disconnected from what some might call baggage and others might call her entire world, her cast of characters, and her history. As we know, these kinds of lessons are very, very hard to learn. Just look how much crap Marvel keeps putting out to appeal to people who don’t even go to comic shops and only know the characters from the shitty movies. More weirdos read and react to comic book news than actual comic books, I bet.
January 16, 2026
"In this city of millions, people die every day. It’s as common as birth, but the odds are better: it’s a long shot being born, but death? It’s a sure thing."
Ms. Tree is the first and longest running female private eye in comics. Max Allan Collins' stories are a unique blend of 1950's hardboiled action mixed with 1980's social issues. Terry Beatty's art is clean and retro, using two-tone panels and spot colors to add a distinct visual flair.
Ms. Tree: Final Tree collects six story arcs:
"New Year’s Evil" (1986) -- Ms. Tree #35. An active shooter disrupts Ms. Tree’s New Year’s Eve gala before the stroke of midnight. She rings in the New Year with the sounds of bullets and the moans of the dying…
"Like Father" (1987) -- Ms. Tree #37-40. When her father is killed by a dirty cop, Ms. Tree heads to glittering Las Angelos with a gun in her purse and revenge in her heart…
"Coming of Rage” (1987) -- Ms. Tree #41-44. Three hapless kidnappers nab Mike Jr. and his new girlfriend Lisa, who happens to be the daughter of mob boss Dominique Muerta. The two mothers set aside their feud long enough to kill the bad guys. This story is played for broad humor. The Mike Jr.-Lisa romance sets up the future arcs “Gift of Death” and “The Family Way”.
"Murder Cruise” (1988) -- Ms. Tree #45-48. The staff of Tree Investigations, Inc. take a seven-day Caribbean cruise. Mike Mist tags along because the cruise line figures into one of his ongoing investigations. Soon more bodies begin to pile up in paradise. A waiter drowns in St Lucia; a passenger is run down by an automobile in St. Maarten…
“Music to Murder By” (1986) – Ms. Tree Rock & Roll Summer Special. Another crossover with Mike Mist. This time, the Mist-Tree detective team investigates the death of an aging one-hit-wonder rock star.
"Fallen Tree" (1989) -- Ms. Tree #49-50. Ms. Tree is shot by an angry widow. Her soul descends into Hell, where she meets her old nemesis Dominic Muerta in the guise of Satan. Cheeky and irreverent…
This collection wraps up the six-volumes of Ms. Tree reprints from Hard Case Crime. They have been a lot of fun. It is a shame the character’s crossovers are not all included. An archival edition should make every effort to be as complete as possible for serious collectors. The missing Ms. Tree appearances are:
• Issue #36 - a crossover with Johnny Dynamite and Mike Mist that is included in the recent Johnny Dynamite retrospective
• The 3-issue 1985 crossover miniseries The P.I.’s: Michael Mauser & Ms. Tree
• Ms. Tree’s 1950 3-D Crime – Ms. Tree makes an appearance to introduce a series of Johnny Dynamite reprints, a Mike Mist story, and a prose story.
• Miscellaneous appearances in Mike Mist comics. The two characters used to pop up every now and then in each other’s stories
4 stars
Ms. Tree is the first and longest running female private eye in comics. Max Allan Collins' stories are a unique blend of 1950's hardboiled action mixed with 1980's social issues. Terry Beatty's art is clean and retro, using two-tone panels and spot colors to add a distinct visual flair.
Ms. Tree: Final Tree collects six story arcs:
"New Year’s Evil" (1986) -- Ms. Tree #35. An active shooter disrupts Ms. Tree’s New Year’s Eve gala before the stroke of midnight. She rings in the New Year with the sounds of bullets and the moans of the dying…
"Like Father" (1987) -- Ms. Tree #37-40. When her father is killed by a dirty cop, Ms. Tree heads to glittering Las Angelos with a gun in her purse and revenge in her heart…
"Coming of Rage” (1987) -- Ms. Tree #41-44. Three hapless kidnappers nab Mike Jr. and his new girlfriend Lisa, who happens to be the daughter of mob boss Dominique Muerta. The two mothers set aside their feud long enough to kill the bad guys. This story is played for broad humor. The Mike Jr.-Lisa romance sets up the future arcs “Gift of Death” and “The Family Way”.
"Murder Cruise” (1988) -- Ms. Tree #45-48. The staff of Tree Investigations, Inc. take a seven-day Caribbean cruise. Mike Mist tags along because the cruise line figures into one of his ongoing investigations. Soon more bodies begin to pile up in paradise. A waiter drowns in St Lucia; a passenger is run down by an automobile in St. Maarten…
“Music to Murder By” (1986) – Ms. Tree Rock & Roll Summer Special. Another crossover with Mike Mist. This time, the Mist-Tree detective team investigates the death of an aging one-hit-wonder rock star.
"Fallen Tree" (1989) -- Ms. Tree #49-50. Ms. Tree is shot by an angry widow. Her soul descends into Hell, where she meets her old nemesis Dominic Muerta in the guise of Satan. Cheeky and irreverent…
This collection wraps up the six-volumes of Ms. Tree reprints from Hard Case Crime. They have been a lot of fun. It is a shame the character’s crossovers are not all included. An archival edition should make every effort to be as complete as possible for serious collectors. The missing Ms. Tree appearances are:
• Issue #36 - a crossover with Johnny Dynamite and Mike Mist that is included in the recent Johnny Dynamite retrospective
• The 3-issue 1985 crossover miniseries The P.I.’s: Michael Mauser & Ms. Tree
• Ms. Tree’s 1950 3-D Crime – Ms. Tree makes an appearance to introduce a series of Johnny Dynamite reprints, a Mike Mist story, and a prose story.
• Miscellaneous appearances in Mike Mist comics. The two characters used to pop up every now and then in each other’s stories
4 stars
January 1, 2025
I've enjoyed rereading the Ms. Tree series and am sad to see this collection come to an end incomplete (issue #36 wasn't reprinted here as it was reprinted in a Johnny Dynamite collection a few years ago). I still have hope for an oversized (Eclipse magazine or larger) collection that reprints Ms. Tree chronologically in the order published.
Still, highly recommended!!!
Still, highly recommended!!!
March 10, 2025
This is a well made, beautiful collection of Ms. Tree stories, the final Hard Case Crime collection of a six volume graphic novel originally published in comic book form in the 1980's and early 90's. You don't really need the other 5 volumes to enjoy this one, but why would you not? Fun, exciting, fast-paced Private eye action.
May 7, 2025
Review is for all 6 Hard case collected volumes read back to back.
Hardboiled sensibility and unflinching un-sentimentality combined with ripped-from-the-headlines tales long before Law and Order made the phrase a trope, MAC shows why he is a master in whatever format he chooses to work.
Hardboiled sensibility and unflinching un-sentimentality combined with ripped-from-the-headlines tales long before Law and Order made the phrase a trope, MAC shows why he is a master in whatever format he chooses to work.
January 11, 2026
Michael Tree encara el último tramo de su serie original en una encrucijada que no le ofrece salidas fáciles. Collins y Beatty consiguen remontar el atractivo de los mejores tramos con un cierre satisfactorio, al menos para los leales del título.
June 1, 2025
Great read! Loved the fast pace and furious stories of old school gumshoe violence.
January 21, 2025
More noirish tales of the badass female private detective, Ms. Tree. This starts off real strong with a tale that we've seen in recent headlines. A disgruntled person wants revenge on the president of an insurance firm for denying his wife's coverage and hijacks a New Years party. Then Ms. Tree's police detective father is killed and framed leaving her to find out who murdered him. The case on the cruise ship with Mike Mist wasn't as thrilling as most of her cases. Then there's a couple other smaller stories. I'm going to be sorry to see this series go now that Titan has reprinted all of it. Thankfully, I still have the prose Ms. Tree novel Collins wrote sitting here to read.
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