Welcome one and all to the next installment of my Books ‘N Tunes Reading Challenge!

I wanted to get this one in before the end of the month, so here we go! Hope y’all enjoy~ ❤

Trees (Volume #1)
by Warren Ellis & Jason Howard

Publisher: Image Publishing
Publication Date: February 2015
Format: ebook, ARC
Pages: 160
Genre: Graphic Novel, Comics, Fiction, Fantasy,
LGBTQUIA / QUILTBAG, Science Fiction,
Dystopian, Belonging, Aliens, Paranoia, Social
Collapse, Military, Gender and Sexual Identity,
Dark Fiction, Social Constructs, Morality,
(Self) Identity, Corruption

Age: YA / Adult
Reviewer: AMS (amomentsilence)
Source: Provided by NetGalley
Challenges: 2015 Good Reads Reading Challenge (62),
52 Books in 52 Weeks, You Read How Many Books?,
2015 LGBT Reading Challenge (VARIOUS),
Read A Million Pages, Books N Tunes,
105 Reading Challenge (Category: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10),
2015 New To You Reading Challenge (Brand New
Series), NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge,
2015 Graphic Novel and Comic Reading Challenge

SUMMARY

(synopsis taken from GoodReads)

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 recognize us as intelligent or alive.

Summarize in a word?:
ZEFUCK.

RATING
4 / 4.5 STARS!

THOUGHTS & REVIEW

Oh… that was so messed up, but DAMN was it good!

Okay, so this one collects issues 1-8 in a single volume, and THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT. I don’t think I would have understood a single thing if I had to read it piece by pieces.

Tress takes place all over the world: militant China, a research facility in Svalbard, Somalia, the slums of Italy, what’s left of New York, and so much more. Each place has its own set of problems and unique characters that all add to the overall story and the cryptic message.

Why are the Trees here? Are they alive? Do they think? And if they do… what do they think of us pathetic humans scurrying around beneath them?

Another question: Can they communicate with us? And if they can… have they been doing so all along? Were we just too deaf, dumb, and blind to see… to listen… to respond back? And what will they do if we take too long to respond?

My biggest issue with Trees was the pacing — which is SLOW AS FUCK. You’ll have to have patience while reading this one, but by the end of the 8th issue, you’ll definitely being gasping for some of the twisted turn of events that take place. It also leaves us on one HECK of a cliffhanger, so this is my main reasoning for only giving the comic 4, MAYBE 4.5 Stars.

Also some seriously depressing shit happens towards the end that had my mouth hanging open for days because of how… graphic and heart-wrenching it was.

SO ONCE AGAIN – NOT A PERFECT 5.

As to any warnings I would give…

Some sexual content, vulgar language, violent imagery and the like. You know… the usual. Some major character deaths as well. :<

Would I recommend?

Oh yeah. Although I still hold to the belief that it would be better if whoever reads it was able to do so along with volume 2 (which I haven’t read yet, but anticipate to be just as good if not better than the first).

SONG & LYRICS

1. System of a Down – Toxicity

~LYRICS IN THE SONG THAT RESONATE STRONGEST~
( Pfft~ You mean, all of them? XD )

Conversion, software version 7.0
Looking at life through the eyes of a tire hub

Eating seeds as a pastime activity
The toxicity of our city, of our city

New, what do you own the world?
How do you own disorder, disorder
Now, somewhere between the sacred silence, sacred silence and sleep
Somewhere between the sacred silence and sleep
Disorder, disorder, disorder

More wood for their fires, loud neighbours
Flashlight reveries caught in the headlights of a truck

Eating seeds as a pastime activity
The toxicity of our city, of our city

New, what do you own the world?
How do you own disorder
Now, somewhere between the sacred silence, sacred silence and sleep
Somewhere between the sacred silence and sleep
Disorder, disorder, disorder

When I became the sun
I shone life into the man’s hearts
When I became the sun
I shone life into the man’s hearts

Reason for choosing this song

System of a Down’s, Toxicity just seemed to capture the corruption and disorder of the world at large after the landing of the “Trees.”

I wouldn’t say the song is from the POV of any one character. I think it can be split between the different POVs that we see in the comic… The different cities, and the different states and levels of disarray, confusion, and disorder that’s proliferating the many cities’ walls, and furthermore corrupting the people within.