By: Jeff Lemire (story & art), José Villarrubia (colors)
The Story: Reunited and it feels so good—until the uncurable sentient virus arrives.
The Review: It’s almost unnecessary at this point for me to mention how disappointed I am with this series, right? As impressed as I was with the concepts he revealed in the first issue, it seems as if Lemire really doesn’t know where to go beyond the premise itself. Six issues later, we’re still rehashing the same basic points over and over, as if Lemire has nothing better to offer. He promised us a time-traveling romance and he delivered, but he hasn’t done much more than that.
Nika and William’s constant reunions and partings, all their pining in between, is rather reminiscent of the romances in Korean dramas, actually. Don’t get me wrong; I’m as big a fan of Harvard Love Story or Save the Last Dance for Me as much as anyone else, but these shows can get away with the perpetual angst in ways that comics usually can’t. The commitment Korean actors have to nightly crying has something to do with it, but more than that, TV dramas simply can afford to spend more time developing the chemistry and connection between love interests than comics do.
Even now, Nika and William’s attachment to each other comes more from shared circumstance than a truly convincing passion. I hate to say it, but maybe the blandness has something to do with the fact that Lemire’s a dude. The way our two lovebirds clutch each other after Nika manages to return to the future, murmuring sweet nothings (“I was starting to think I’d gone mad. That I imagined you.”), seems rather cliché, as if Lemire conceived it with only a vague idea of what a romantic scene should look like.
There’s little here for the diehard shippers, but there’s not much more for the sci-fi enthusiasts either. Besides the revelation that the temples which have allowed Nika and William to traverse time and space are actually highly advanced machines, not supernatural relics, we get no further development of the story’s ways and means. The problem, of course, is that Trillium started out being about one thing, then became another thing entirely. That’s usually a good thing in fiction, but not when the second thing turns out to be less interesting than the first.
Frankly, I’m still way more intrigued by the thing with the Caul than all this unnecessary time-traveling business. Up to this point, Lemire has done nothing to make you think that Nika and William’s sojourns through the Atabithian temples were anything other than distractions from the real threat to humanity. Indeed, the arrival of the Caul brings home the fact that after all the history alterations and time-space switcheroos, neither Nika nor William have anything to show for it. That leaves them with few options except to send the last colonists escaping through time themselves—which would be a game-changer for the series, but only if Lemire chooses to do it.
As I said last issue, the twisting and turning of the book is now an annoying hindrance rather than a helpful storytelling device. Unfortunately, now that Lemire’s stuck to it for so long, it’s a little hard to get out, though you hope he will, anyway. Aside from that, Lemire’s art is the ungainly beast it’s always been. I liken it to the monkfish, ugly in looks, but very serviceable in substance.
Conclusion: An issue that confirms that romance truly ain’t what it used to be, though things look more hopeful on the sci-fi side of things.
Grade: C+
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – Nika apparently got the short end of the stick when it comes to companions. Pohl has done nothing except wig out and betray her at every turn, while Clayton has been a most trusty, helpful brother to William. Toodles.
Grade
Conclusion