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Trees (Single Issues)
Trees #2
An Arctic research station. An Italian coastal town with an occult legacy. A new city in China. The future is being written in these places, in the shadow of a strange alien invasion that has become a historical mystery.
23 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 25, 2014
2 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Warren Ellis
1,971 books5,765 followersWarren Ellis is the award-winning writer of graphic novels like TRANSMETROPOLITAN, FELL, MINISTRY OF SPACE and PLANETARY, and the author of the NYT-bestselling GUN MACHINE and the “underground classic” novel CROOKED LITTLE VEIN, as well as the digital short-story single DEAD PIG COLLECTOR. His newest book is the novella NORMAL, from FSG Originals, listed as one of Amazon’s Best 100 Books Of 2016.
The movie RED is based on his graphic novel of the same name, its sequel having been released in summer 2013. IRON MAN 3 is based on his Marvel Comics graphic novel IRON MAN: EXTREMIS. He is currently developing his graphic novel sequence with Jason Howard, TREES, for television, in concert with HardySonBaker and NBCU, and continues to work as a screenwriter and producer in film and television, represented by Angela Cheng Caplan and Cheng Caplan Company. He is the creator, writer and co-producer of the Netflix series CASTLEVANIA, recently renewed for its third season, and of the recently-announced Netflix series HEAVEN’S FOREST.
He’s written extensively for VICE, WIRED UK and Reuters on technological and cultural matters, and given keynote speeches and lectures at events like dConstruct, ThingsCon, Improving Reality, SxSW, How The Light Gets In, Haunted Machines and Cognitive Cities.
Warren Ellis has recently developed and curated the revival of the Wildstorm creative library for DC Entertainment with the series THE WILD STORM, and is currently working on the serialising of new graphic novel works TREES: THREE FATES and INJECTION at Image Comics, and the serialised graphic novel THE BATMAN’S GRAVE for DC Comics, while working as a Consulting Producer on another television series.
A documentary about his work, CAPTURED GHOSTS, was released in 2012.
Recognitions include the NUIG Literary and Debating Society’s President’s Medal for service to freedom of speech, the EAGLE AWARDS Roll Of Honour for lifetime achievement in the field of comics & graphic novels, the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2010, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History and the International Horror Guild Award for illustrated narrative. He is a Patron of Humanists UK. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.
Warren Ellis lives outside London, on the south-east coast of England, in case he needs to make a quick getaway.
The movie RED is based on his graphic novel of the same name, its sequel having been released in summer 2013. IRON MAN 3 is based on his Marvel Comics graphic novel IRON MAN: EXTREMIS. He is currently developing his graphic novel sequence with Jason Howard, TREES, for television, in concert with HardySonBaker and NBCU, and continues to work as a screenwriter and producer in film and television, represented by Angela Cheng Caplan and Cheng Caplan Company. He is the creator, writer and co-producer of the Netflix series CASTLEVANIA, recently renewed for its third season, and of the recently-announced Netflix series HEAVEN’S FOREST.
He’s written extensively for VICE, WIRED UK and Reuters on technological and cultural matters, and given keynote speeches and lectures at events like dConstruct, ThingsCon, Improving Reality, SxSW, How The Light Gets In, Haunted Machines and Cognitive Cities.
Warren Ellis has recently developed and curated the revival of the Wildstorm creative library for DC Entertainment with the series THE WILD STORM, and is currently working on the serialising of new graphic novel works TREES: THREE FATES and INJECTION at Image Comics, and the serialised graphic novel THE BATMAN’S GRAVE for DC Comics, while working as a Consulting Producer on another television series.
A documentary about his work, CAPTURED GHOSTS, was released in 2012.
Recognitions include the NUIG Literary and Debating Society’s President’s Medal for service to freedom of speech, the EAGLE AWARDS Roll Of Honour for lifetime achievement in the field of comics & graphic novels, the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2010, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History and the International Horror Guild Award for illustrated narrative. He is a Patron of Humanists UK. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.
Warren Ellis lives outside London, on the south-east coast of England, in case he needs to make a quick getaway.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 2, 2014
If I weren’t reading his Moon Knight series, which are self-contained stories in each issue, I’d say that Warren Ellis has forgotten how to write comics, based on Trees. His recent forays into novels seems to have bled over to his and Jason Howard’s Image series with the second issue feeling like it doesn’t so much as begin and end as it’s a piece of a larger story arbitrarily separated from the main and presented as an awkward single issue.
Not a whole lot happens in Trees #2. The researchers in Norway have a look at the black poppies their drone Napoleon collected before spending the rest of the issue making fun of each other and their tinned rations. Har har, future food is crap!
Then we’ve jumped to Cefalu, Italy, where a weird old man sits on a cliff sketching some trees before suddenly disappearing. Then it’s off to Mogadishu, Somalia, where the first sign of weakness in the aliens’ trees emerges.
… yeah?
I kept waiting for this issue to wow me – take the concept set out in the first issue and take it up a notch. But instead the series has already hit a wall and it’s only the second issue!
If it weren’t for the occasional biting Ellis line of dialogue to keep me awake, I’d have drifted off entirely – this comic is sooo boring! There are aliens, giant tubes reaching up into the sky, the world has changed irrevocably, and the fight back seems to be on the verge of erupting… and yet most of the issue takes place in a sterile lab where scientists talk about plants.
Sigh.
I wish this series was amazing - maybe it will still be - but this second issue is not. It is profoundly boring, like an episode of Bones.
Get better, Warren Ellis!
Not a whole lot happens in Trees #2. The researchers in Norway have a look at the black poppies their drone Napoleon collected before spending the rest of the issue making fun of each other and their tinned rations. Har har, future food is crap!
Then we’ve jumped to Cefalu, Italy, where a weird old man sits on a cliff sketching some trees before suddenly disappearing. Then it’s off to Mogadishu, Somalia, where the first sign of weakness in the aliens’ trees emerges.
… yeah?
I kept waiting for this issue to wow me – take the concept set out in the first issue and take it up a notch. But instead the series has already hit a wall and it’s only the second issue!
If it weren’t for the occasional biting Ellis line of dialogue to keep me awake, I’d have drifted off entirely – this comic is sooo boring! There are aliens, giant tubes reaching up into the sky, the world has changed irrevocably, and the fight back seems to be on the verge of erupting… and yet most of the issue takes place in a sterile lab where scientists talk about plants.
Sigh.
I wish this series was amazing - maybe it will still be - but this second issue is not. It is profoundly boring, like an episode of Bones.
Get better, Warren Ellis!
August 7, 2014
Look at that cover! Look at it! This was the cover that caught my eye and why I picked up this series in the first place. So, imagine my surprise when it was my least favorite of the three current issues. Because the cover is amazing!
I think that this story is going to be epic, but because there are so many plots, subplots, characters, places, etc. going on, these beginning issues may suffer a bit, until the world is fully developed, and Warren Ellis is able to get into the meat of the story. It doesn’t happen in Issue #2 though, but the world is being fleshed out.
We see the scientists more fully, and Marsh is concerned about flowers now growing around the Tree at their arctic station. We don’t learn why they’re growing, but if I had to guess, black flowers aren’t really native to the arctic, or even to the world. Or, at least, I’ve never seen a black flower. So my guess - the Trees are branching out and growing these alien flowers. <--That’s not confirmed, but I think it’s right.
They (the aliens) don’t believe Earth is populated anyway, so it would make sense if they are enhancing our planet for their benefit.
It was great meeting the rest of the research team, and I can’t wait to learn what they’ve learned about the Trees and these new flowers.
We’re also introduced to a couple new characters. In a small town in Italy, we meet Elgia and Tito. Tito is the leader of a local gang, and Elgia is his arm candy. We also meet the President of Somalia I believe, Caleb Rahim. His part is pretty small, but I think there’s going to be major conflict in future issues revolving around him and the Tree he lives near.
Again, this wasn’t my favorite, but it seemed to focus on introducing more characters, while also bringing about more plots and subplots that will most likely have importance later on.
I’m definitely going to continue with this series, and I am looking forward to reading more!
July 6, 2014
This issue was not as good as the first. I think it was due to too much skipping around the world instead of concentrating on the most interesting characters and setting, the scientists in Siberia. I understand that the author wants the reader to understand the gravity of the situation but I think that it is important for us to get to know a handful of characters first so that we feel connected and invested.
July 15, 2021
Meine Meinung
In der Fortsetzung des vielversprechenden Science-Fiction-Werkes »Trees« geht es um eine ganz besondere außerirdische Invasion, die sich durch dystopische Züge und Spannung auszeichnet. Warren Ellis greift in »Trees: Zwei Wälder« jedoch nicht alle Handlungsstränge des ersten Bandes »Trees: Ein Feind« auf, sondern spinnt die Geschichte erstmal auf zwei Ebenen weiter.
Wissenschaftlerin Joanne (›Joe‹) Creasy findet sich als einzige Überlebende einer Expedition, nach ihrer Genesung, in einer bedrohlichen Lebenswelt wieder und wird auf die Orkney Inseln entsandt, um einen Fund zu begutachten, der als Vorbote für weitere Katastrophen in Frage kommt. Die Schrecken der Vergangenheit begleiten sie dabei in ihren Alpträumen und tragen zu einer bedrückenden Stimmung bei, die die Bedrohung durch die Baumschiffe subtil mitklingen lässt und Gänsehaut beschert.
Während sich Jo Creasy mit den seltsamen Inselbewohnern auseinandersetzten muss und ihrer Forschung nachgeht, treibt Vince, der aufstrebende Politiker und designierter Bürgermeister von New York sein undurchsichtiges Spiel und den Kampf gegen die drohenden Gefahren voran. Außerdem bekommt man einen kleinen Einblick auf seinen Hintergrund und einiges an Action geboten.
»In Trees 2: Zwei Wälder« wird die Story zwar nur langsam vorangetrieben und an manchen Stellen hätte man sich mehr Input gewünscht, aber man kann jetzt schon erahnen, dass in der Serie noch Großes auf einen wartet. Ich hoffe sehr, dass das schlummernde Potenzial in der nächsten Ausgabe mit »Trees 3: Drei Schicksale« erwacht.
Fazit
In dieser Fortsetzung werden zwar nicht alle offenen Handlungsstränge weitergeführt, Warren Ellis und Jason Howard gelingt es aber dennoch mit spannenden Entwicklungen, die vom Leben und der Politik um die unheimlichen Baumriesen erzählen, aufzuwarten.
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© Bellas Wonderworld; Rezension vom 14.06.2021
In der Fortsetzung des vielversprechenden Science-Fiction-Werkes »Trees« geht es um eine ganz besondere außerirdische Invasion, die sich durch dystopische Züge und Spannung auszeichnet. Warren Ellis greift in »Trees: Zwei Wälder« jedoch nicht alle Handlungsstränge des ersten Bandes »Trees: Ein Feind« auf, sondern spinnt die Geschichte erstmal auf zwei Ebenen weiter.
Wissenschaftlerin Joanne (›Joe‹) Creasy findet sich als einzige Überlebende einer Expedition, nach ihrer Genesung, in einer bedrohlichen Lebenswelt wieder und wird auf die Orkney Inseln entsandt, um einen Fund zu begutachten, der als Vorbote für weitere Katastrophen in Frage kommt. Die Schrecken der Vergangenheit begleiten sie dabei in ihren Alpträumen und tragen zu einer bedrückenden Stimmung bei, die die Bedrohung durch die Baumschiffe subtil mitklingen lässt und Gänsehaut beschert.
Während sich Jo Creasy mit den seltsamen Inselbewohnern auseinandersetzten muss und ihrer Forschung nachgeht, treibt Vince, der aufstrebende Politiker und designierter Bürgermeister von New York sein undurchsichtiges Spiel und den Kampf gegen die drohenden Gefahren voran. Außerdem bekommt man einen kleinen Einblick auf seinen Hintergrund und einiges an Action geboten.
»In Trees 2: Zwei Wälder« wird die Story zwar nur langsam vorangetrieben und an manchen Stellen hätte man sich mehr Input gewünscht, aber man kann jetzt schon erahnen, dass in der Serie noch Großes auf einen wartet. Ich hoffe sehr, dass das schlummernde Potenzial in der nächsten Ausgabe mit »Trees 3: Drei Schicksale« erwacht.
Fazit
In dieser Fortsetzung werden zwar nicht alle offenen Handlungsstränge weitergeführt, Warren Ellis und Jason Howard gelingt es aber dennoch mit spannenden Entwicklungen, die vom Leben und der Politik um die unheimlichen Baumriesen erzählen, aufzuwarten.
--------------------------------
© Bellas Wonderworld; Rezension vom 14.06.2021
November 18, 2017
2.5. Art is wonderful, but I'm finding it difficult to get into this one. Not a fan of multiple POV /anthropological viewpoint. Harder to see the flesh of the characters this way.
November 2, 2022
Sadly, the story is all over the place and sometimes you don‘t know where you are. Besides that, it has some nice detail.
November 10, 2014
Glad I stuck with this after being slightly underwhelmed by issue 1. After issue 2, I'm much more interested. Even though it still focuses on multiple (currently unconnected) plot lines, I saw more cohesiveness in this issue. Everything I read makes me want to know more about the Trees. My favorite plot line so far is the group of researchers stationed at the base of a Tree. I'm hoping to see more on them soon. The focus on some of the characters there helped me feel more grounded in the story.
August 28, 2014
Not much happening here, apart from people talking about things we still don't fully understand. At this point, the story feels too fractured and directionless to build any kind of momentum or suspense, and I am increasingly getting the impression that it was forced into the single-issue format.
I am still curious about those trees, though, so here's hoping things start falling into place soon.
I am still curious about those trees, though, so here's hoping things start falling into place soon.
January 11, 2015
عدد وحش قوي قوي قوي
ممل للغاية كلام كتير فارغ مالهوش اي معني ملو بصورة كبيرة
حتي لو بيفرش لحدث قدام مش كدا
مفيش اي تطور للاحداث حقيقي
مفيش اي حاجة عدد معملش اي اضافة باي صورة غير حبة كادرات كويسة وشكرا
مش هكملها الا لما تكمل لو قدرت
ممل للغاية كلام كتير فارغ مالهوش اي معني ملو بصورة كبيرة
حتي لو بيفرش لحدث قدام مش كدا
مفيش اي تطور للاحداث حقيقي
مفيش اي حاجة عدد معملش اي اضافة باي صورة غير حبة كادرات كويسة وشكرا
مش هكملها الا لما تكمل لو قدرت
January 11, 2015
I read all eight of the comics in one sitting. Partly as I have not read a comic for far too long but also because the story is interesting. Now I am excited in which direction this will go. I have to admit that this can go awry in a number of ways. But so far I enjoyed everything by Ellis very much. I have confidence.
January 18, 2017
Really enjoy Marsh, the plot gets interesting at the snow station.
Not really into Eligia's character as I found her quite provocative and annoying. Thought the chat between the press and the President of Somalia was quite an interesting bit in the story.
The art makes me want to stop reading and see how well the different places are drawn!
Not really into Eligia's character as I found her quite provocative and annoying. Thought the chat between the press and the President of Somalia was quite an interesting bit in the story.
The art makes me want to stop reading and see how well the different places are drawn!
June 30, 2014
Hm got to reread the setup together with this again.
Warren Ellis can really get a sf premise across, though. This book has a tone unlike others, and that's why I follow. The artist, with whom I am unfamiliar, really rocks, too.
Recommended.
Warren Ellis can really get a sf premise across, though. This book has a tone unlike others, and that's why I follow. The artist, with whom I am unfamiliar, really rocks, too.
Recommended.
January 6, 2016
This issue isn't easy to follow as the characters talk about things the reader likely isn't going to fully understand.
It's a lot of research, some politics and unspoken personal issues brought up in this issue but it's hard to discern a plot or tell where it is supposed to be going.
It's a lot of research, some politics and unspoken personal issues brought up in this issue but it's hard to discern a plot or tell where it is supposed to be going.
July 27, 2014
Insanely curious about the poppies now.
August 8, 2014
Trees #2 is lacking. It lacks action, it lacks compelling characters, even the plotline lacked in progression. Read more at http://boundingintocomics.blogspot.co...
September 15, 2014
Really awesome comic...can't wait to see where it goes...
June 3, 2015
This was a good developing issue---I'm definitely starting to get excited about this comic. Marsh. Eligia. I'm so intrigued.
November 16, 2014
Not so much going on in this episode - the Trees are still ignoring us.
November 14, 2016
La trama sigue, los personajes y lugares se asientan. El misterio sigue, y así también la lectura.
Vamos por el tomo 3.
Vamos por el tomo 3.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews