Tree of Life

Trees #2

Strange things are going on — even for a world where aliens have planted impossibly gigantic columns — called trees by almost everyone — all over the world. In the arctic, scientists at a research station have discovered black poppies growing out of one of their research robots. A mysterious old man appears and then disappears outside Cefalu, Sicily. And the new president of Somalia hopes to use one of the trees for his military advantage.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Lots of different locations, lots of different things happening — and seemingly no connection between them. I’m not even sure if we need a connection between them or not — it’s interesting enough just seeing the changes that have been made on this world because of these completely indifferent aliens. It’s interesting that there’s only one location repeated from the previous issue — the Arctic. Does that mean the only constant in this series will be the Arctic setting, with all the other locations being brand new every time? That alone might make it a pretty entertaining comic.

Ms. Marvel #5

Kamala Khan has the save her friend Bruno’s brother, Vick, who’s run afoul of some guy called the Inventor and is being held captive in the basement of the house of some punk called Doyle. So it’s Doyle’s rayguns and robots vs. Kamala’s shapeshifting — and Kamala loses pretty hard, having to shrink and run away to survive. She gets home, ravenously hungry, and gets caught by her furious mother and her much more calm father, who gives her a mild talking-to and a pep talk. Kamala gets together with Bruno and they do some serious training so she can get her powers working at their peak. But will it be enough to help her against a house full of laser-shooting robots?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Great writing and art and hugely appealing characters. Kamala’s talk with her parents is definitely a high point — not just for this comic, but for comics in general. I can’t remember liking a superhero’s family this much since Jaime Reyes in “Blue Beetle.”

Today’s Cool Links:

• Here’s a really nice essay about race — and race-flipping — in comics and superhero movies.
• Cool article on film trends and predictions, and how Disney made “Frozen” into a giant hit by subverting everyone’s expectations.
• A lot of folks have periodic air conditioning troubles during the summer months. This looks like a decent and cheap stopgap A/C, if you can handle the power tools…