Interestingly, I’ve been reading a lot of independent comics from the 80’s. I’m not sure why but I saw a few in a dollar bin and I had no idea what they were. It’s mainly stuff from Eclipse and one of the series that grabbed me was Ms. Tree, or rather Ms. Tree’s Thrilling Detective Adventures from Max Collins and Terry Beatty.
Ms. Tree is beautiful comic book storytelling. The stories and art are not simple by any means although when you first look at it you might think that way. But then you get into it and you realize damn…this is why the comic book medium can be so powerful.
Ms. Tree starts off with a bang and we join her after her husband was recently murdered. She’s a private eye and has to take up the effort and run the business while also figure out who was responsible for his murder. That is the basic premise and of course things become complicated and very shocking.
I don’t want to say it’s a slow burn, because each issue does have a purpose and it helps move the overall story-arc along. What really makes the book stand out is not only Beatty’s beautiful artwork, but also Max Collins’ storytelling. Collins created some really interesting and intriguing supporting characters and the world feels real. What’s also great about this series is you can easily find them and they will not burn a hole in your wallet. Plus, right in the beginning the issues moved to a deluxe format and they preserved quite well.
I do want to say Ms. Tree is probably one of my favorite characters. Not just because she is a strong female lead, navigating very much a man’s world in the 1980’s, but also because she is just so damn interesting and vulnerable. This forces you to be firmly on her side and you don’t want to see any harm done to her. So when it happens or is about to happen, you literally gasp.
Here’s some Ms. Tree fan-art. I can’t help but wonder if she actually looks like me!
Bis bald,
-Franka