The Caul is coming. What is The Caul? No idea. I do know there is a plague that is wiping out the human race, and while the battle to save our species continues, two people are caught in the middle of a story bending time and space. William and Nika, the heroes of Jeff Lemire’s Trillium, are caught in a whirlwind of madness, driven to try to find each other across the very make-up of reality. Lemire is stepping into some heady stuff with his sci-fi epic.
Trillium #7 moves all the characters into play for Lemire’s final issue. Nothing short of spectacular, Trillium has defied not only the traditional narrative structure of comics, but even the way we read them. Upside-down pages, half an issue facing one way and the other half facing another, Lemire has made sure to push readers to think – a rarity in the world of comic books. Issue #7 is the reunion issue, the chance for Nika and William to stand against rational thought and find each other.
As issue #6 drew to a close, Nika and William were facing their own ruined temples. The destruction ended their journey, and it looked as though they would never join together and never figure out what this had to do with saving the human race. William, currently existing in the future, is jamming up his brother, the commander of Earth’s forces, who is trying to get a salvation ark of humanity ready for flight. Meanwhile, Nika, who has been stuck in Earth’s past, has made contact with one the aliens she befriended before her life was swapped with William’s. The alien shows her the secret of getting to William. The Temples are portals, and she must walk through the outer rim of space and time to get to him.
The final issue looks to be a battle against The Caul, whatever it turns out to be. Lemire has left several loose ends dangling. How can Nika and William exist in the same time? Will they end up together? What does this have to do with the aliens, trillium and The Caul? There is a lot to be finished up in Trillium #8. Lemire has put a lot of pressure on himself to deliver in the final pages. Hopefully, it’ll work out. Trillium has been a great read, and something very different for comic book fans.
Once again, I tip my hat to Lemire’s artwork. In anyone else’s hands, this story becomes just another huge sci-fi epic. Lemire’s pencils are much more delicate, some might even say crude. It’s a style that works uniquely for what Lemire does. It’s not for his other titles, like Green Arrow – this style works only for his creator owned properties. There is something as jarring and odd in Lemire’s art as in his storytelling.
(4 Art, 4.5 Story)
