Writer/Artist: Nick Gonzo

The latest offering from Nick Gonzo, the artist behind Harvey Spig in “The Dead of Night”, The Tree is a short story with an interesting hook.  Clocking in at just nine pages, the story delves into the world of myths and legends, their origins, and examines just how they effect the people who hear about them.

There’s something faintly unnerving about Gonzo’s black and white, almost sketch-like artwork, as well as his somewhat bleak depiction of the tree itself.  And while there’s an undeniable roughness to the book’s visuals, this approach actually works fairly well, playing into the almost ‘urban legend’ vibe that Gonzo is clearly going for.  In fact, the only thing that I felt let the book down slightly was the lettering, which seemed unpolished and – as a result – more than a little jarring.  As I’ve said before, lettering – for the most part – is something you only really become aware of when it’s done poorly, and unfortunately, the Tree (like Harvey Spig before it) falls into that category.

Overall though, Gonzo’s writing is undeniably solid, and that fact that he has managed to weave such an intriguing tale with such a relatively modest page count is definitely something to be applauded.  He also manages to deliver a poigniant, almost haunting message in the book’s final couple of pages that definitely left an impression on me.

I’m sad to say I’m not familiar with much of Gonzo’s other work, Harvey Spig aside, but after reading this, I’d definitely be keen to see what he could accomplish as a writer in a full-length comic.  The creativity is definitely there, and I’d love the opportunity to see what else he’s capable of.

The Tree is currently available from DriveThru Comics.

The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson (aka Ceej)
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