Trillium #2 – Review

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

The Story: Damn—where’s that Jazz Age English phrasebook?

The Review: Maybe my former students will disagree, but I see myself as a very compassionate sort of grader.  Usually, if I sense a minimum of effort towards a decent product, I can figure out a way to give the result a pass.  And if there’s some attempt to challenge oneself in there, I will really go out of my way to give the benefit of the doubt.  That’s why, for all my criticisms of Lemire, I still very much admire the guy; he is definitely not afraid of thinking outside the box.

With his first issue, Lemire took on a big challenge in writing Nika and William’s parallel storylines from each cover then having them meet in the middle.  It was a significant test of his abilities as a storyteller and artist, and by and large, he passed with flying colors.  Here, he takes on a different, equally tricky obstacle in two characters who must interact without the help of their words.  The first issue displayed Lemire’s foresight as a plotter; this issue makes demands on his grasp of character and human behavior.