The White Trees #1 Review

by Nathan Koffler on August 14, 2019

Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artists: Kris Anka
Colorist: Matt Wilson
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Image Comics


I’m not sure if you know this, but Chip Zdarsky is really good at writing comic books. Even if you’ve never heard of him before, if you picked up this first issue of The White Trees, I am positive you’d immediately also agree with me that he is a very good writer. 

There are so many adjectives that I want to use to describe this incredible first issue, but the word that I keep thinking the most is “strong.” This issue is solid from beginning to end. The characters immediately had my interest as soon as I met them and I was completely invested as the first scene ended. The story is similar to other fantasy stories in tiny ways but Zdarsky has definitely created a unique and exciting world. There is not an ounce of anything missing from The White Trees #1. 

When I read the description of this issue before it was released, I remember thinking it may be really action-packed. To my surprise, there is only one battle scene in this first issue, and that is totally fine with me, especially because it is such a great scene. Zdarsky’s writing in this issue shows us that a slightly longer issue about war legends in a fantasy world doesn’t need several battle scenes to make the story exciting. If there are a lot of battle scenes in the next issue, I’m absolutely sure that the issue will still be good because Zdarsky could make that happen. But the excitement that I felt in this issue was less from the action and more from the story’s themes and the characters’ emotions.

In praising this issue, I absolutely can’t just talk about the writing, because as amazing as the writing is, the artwork is just as much so. The team handling visuals for this issue, illustrator Kris Anka, colorist Matt Wilson, and letterer Aditya Bidikar have blown me away with their work. I admit, I often use words like “gorgeous” and “beautiful” when describing artwork, and when I do, I mean it. But my goodness, this issue's artwork is maybe one of the most gorgeous and beautiful issues I have ever read. 

Breaking it down, the illustrations are amazing and imaginative. The creativity of Anka’s work here is remarkable and the vivid emotions that he captures are so easily felt through the page. In addition, Wilson’s color art is absolutely perfect. The dark tone his colors set is exactly what the story and illustrations need and all of the interesting brighter colors really make the whole issue shine with originality. And last, but not least, Bidikar’s letters help to even further the wonderful uniqueness of the issue.

Basically, The White Trees #1 is a fantastic comic book in every way and I am very excited to see more of this story from this team. I already feel like I am on this journey with the characters and I can’t wait to head with them further into this battle.

Our Score:

10/10

A Look Inside