Trillium #3 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (story & art), José Villarrubia (colors)

The Story: Never screw around with a scientist and her research, especially if she has a ray gun.

The Review: Much as I enjoyed last month’s issue, it occurred to me afterward that once Nika arrived in the past and saw the bounty of trillium growing there, the whole point of the series had sort of been met, right?  If the whole purpose of Nika’s mission is to find and gather a whole mess of the white flowers to save the human race, then there doesn’t seem to be much left to do other than to grab as much as she can and start working on that cure.

Obviously, that can’t be the whole of Lemire’s story because that would just be anticlimactic, to say the least.  Some other obstacle has to get in the way between the humans and salvation, though at the moment, you don’t see very many.  The Atabithians have been very cooperative so far, and even in the face of impending genocide, they offer no resistance.  There is some bigger picture here that they see and we don’t, though where Nika, William, and the trillium fit into it remains unclear.

The Atabithians’ urgent statements don’t tell us much: “The end is about to begin.  We will not run.  Death brings new life.  The forbidden one is about to cross.  It is time.  It is always time.”*  They’re resigned to their fate, but to what purpose?  And why the special treatment for Nika?  When they called her “the great destroyer” back in #1,** were they referencing their own doom or that of something else altogether?  How is she connected to the “unraveling of worlds” they foresaw?***  These are exactly the kind of questions that are meant to be answered across a long series, and to keep you occupied for the same duration.

But in this great tapestry of fate, there comes a snag.  Lemire throws a curve ball not only at us but at the aliens as well when Clayton unexpectedly exchanges places with Nika.  The Atabithians regard his appearance with dismay: “This is not right.  You should not be here!”

“[Nika] was meant to cross over alone!  It is forbidden.  He was not consecrated.”

And that’s true, isn’t it?  How did Clayton, who never ingested the trillium as Nika or even William did, manage to get through?  If this goes against anything the Atabithians foresaw, what will the consequences be, and do they have anything to do with the sight of several of Commander Pohl’s security ships flying into William’s time period from the top of the temple?

This is all intriguing long and short-range plotting here, but Lemire keeps the character work steady as well.  Pohl and Nika’s argument over the decision to forcefully extract the trillium from the Atabithians boils down to your usual militant-versus-scholar debate, but it’s just plain refreshing to see two women in those roles.  How often do you get two ladies in powerful positions passionately and intelligently discussing something that doesn’t have to do with relationships?  Best of all, Lemire gives them dimension beyond their archetypes; the moral difficulties of her actions are not lost on Pohl, and Nika is not above resorting to some violence of her own to do the right thing.

You know what I find kind of endearing about Lemire’s art?  He clearly has an innovative, artistic vision for how a page should look—otherwise we wouldn’t have these radical flips in perspective—and boldly goes for it, even though the actual aesthetics of his art are not all that impressive.  His taste is such that he can cover up the infirmities of his linework.  His coloring choices are quite memorable as well; the solid hues in the past sequences and the thinner washes in the future almost reflect how grounded each period is.

Conclusion: Lemire sure knows how to write for the long haul.  With so many mysteries teasing out from the plot, how can you resist staying on?

Grade: B+

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: * Translated from the Atabithian language.  And yes, I actually did set up my own index key to figure out what they’re saying.  For those curious about the stuff the Atabithian leader said to Nika in #1, here is her speech in its entirety:

“We know who you are.  We have been waiting for you.  You are the daughter.  You are the one who will undo all.  You are the great destroyer.  You are the voice of the Mouth.  You are the tongue.  …It is time to once again begin the unraveling of worlds.  You must eat before you enter the Mouth of God.  …Now it is your turn.”

** See above.

*** Ditto.

– I do like that Essie finds that the more pressing issue before her and Nika is not the treason they’re about to commit, but, “first…what happened to your hair, Nika?”