Welcome to the latest installment of Preview Reviews. This is where we give advanced glimpses at some of the comics that will be coming out this Wednesday.
A reminder for you. Here at Pop Culture Squad, we are decidedly Anti-Spoiler. We feel that ruining someone’s experience with something for the sake of getting a scoop or clicks is the wrong thing to do. Therefore, we have decided to publish this column, as necessary, with mostly spoiler-free reviews of upcoming issues. Hopefully, the information that we share with you will increase your excitement for these books.
This week we feature a new book from Image Comics. It is Family Tree #1 by Jeff Lemire and Phil Hester with Eric Gapstur, Ryan Cody, and Steve Wands. This book is featured in our New Number Ones column for November. You might want to see what else we are looking forward to there.
You can find Family Tree at your LCS on November 13, 2019.
Family Tree #1
Image Comics
Written by Jeff Lemire
Pencils by Phil Hester
Inks by Eric Gapstur
Colors by Ryan Cody
Letters by Steve Wands
Cover Art by Hester, Gapstur, & Cody
Original Solicitation:
SERIES PREMIERE! When an eight-year-old girl literally begins to transform into a tree, her single mom, troubled brother, and possibly insane grandfather embark on a bizarre and heart-wrenching odyssey across the back roads of America in a desperate search for a way to cure her horrifying transformation before it’s too late.
But the farther they get from home, the more forces threaten to tear the family apart as fanatical cults, mercenaries, and tabloid Paparazzi close in, determined to destroy the girl-or use her for their own ends.
A new genre-defying series written by New York Times bestselling author JEFF LEMIRE and illustrated by acclaimed artist PHIL HESTER, FAMILY TREE combines mystery, action, and horror into an epic story about the lengths a mother will go to in order to keep her children safe.
PCS Review:
This is an intense, foreboding, dark book, and it is wonderful. The story that is set up in this opening issue is both captivating and frightening. The dialogue and narration by Lemire is excellent. The voices are organic, and while there is a bit of narration, it complements the art without becoming repetitive.
The art team does a fantastic job all around. Hester’s layouts and style choice are excellent choices. The facial expressions in this book are particularly interesting. Cody’s colors in this issue are sublimely executed. The limited and muted palette give the right feel of solemn anticipation of what is to come.
We really enjoyed this book. The family aspect of the story, as reflected in the name, is really what makes this a terrific read.
