Graphic Novel Review: Family Tree Volume 1: Sapling

When you hear the term “Family Tree”, what comes to mind? A complicated version of your family history you made using ancestry software? Maybe a school project you or your child worked on? A long shot, but maybe you thought of a tree you planted as a family? Whatever that term means to you, I doubt you would ever consider it meaning that a member of your family inherits the genetic ability to change into a tree person. But… this is where we begin with FAMILY TREE.

In March of 1997, Loretta, a grocery store cashier, gets a call from her son’s school about needing to be picked up from the principal’s office. Leaving work and quickly stopping to pick up her daughter Meg, she sees the rash on her daughter’s arm, but blows it off. Later that night though, Meg is not only having parts of her skin turn to bark, but also a leafy branch grows out of the center of her back. To top it all off, a gang attacks them on the way to the hospital! No wonder Loretta refers to this as “the beginning of the end of the world”.

Jeff Lemire (SWEET TOOTH, DESCENDER, OLD MAN LOGAN), who takes the reins of some of the most creatively odd comics in the business, has an epic gem here in FAMILY TREE. The action is swift and unexpected at times, the characters are very easy to relate to, and the art style of Phil Hester (GREEN ARROW, SWAMP THING, WONDER WOMAN) creates just enough uniqueness that I found myself looking deeper into the artwork to see if I missed anything. I will be anxiously waiting for the next Volume. Ages 14+