We have reached the end of the line. This is the final issue of Jeff Lemire’s mini-series, Trillium. It started off strongly but has been having some troubles as it approaches its end. Can it recover and rise to new heights with its ending, or will it sadly stumble and fall? Is it good?
Trillium #8 (Vertigo)
It is the end of times as the Caul is coming straight for the remains of the human race. William, Nika, and Clay have to save the survivors in the Ark, who are all currently in cryosleep, or everything is dead. How will it all end?
Just keep thinking happy thoughts and we’ll be able to do it.
This is the big finale for the mini-series and as such, I will not spoil anything too big. I’ll just explain my thoughts without going into details. To sum up my feelings on this, I will say that once I read the ending, my initial thoughts were: “Wait what?” Reading it again, my reaction became: “That’s it? Seriously?”
So in other words, I am rather disappointed. The ending feels rushed and the last minute choices the characters reached (especially the thought process) were bizarre and really confusing. It felt like Lemire reached a point in the story and realized he had nowhere else to go, so he went kind of nuts. There are also lots of questions left dangling at the end that could really benefit from some more explanation (maybe another issue or two to dive into some explanation about what was going with the blue alien creatures, the cosmic reality changing, etc.). Also, the romance angle… just never went anywhere, even at the ending. You just could never buy them as a couple throughout the story and the moments the characters spend together here still doesn’t convince you. Again, you could see them as friends, but nothing more. Ultimately, the ending isn’t satisfying at all and feels strangely similar to the ending of Uzumaki in a way as well.
I will say that there were some strong elements to this and that the finale didn’t completely fall apart. The goodbye scenes between some of the characters were rather strong and emotional. We watched them throughout the entire mini-series and even if some didn’t grow as much as others, you still ended up growing attached to them and caring about what happens. So seeing what happens to them here and their goodbyes, it’s honestly heartbreaking and emotionally powerful. Dialogue is still pretty decent, even if the decisions made and the characters’ overall thought processes are still a bit baffling at the end. Pacing was good up until the ending pages as well. Frankly, this issue could have been fixed with even just a couple of more pages, even if the writer didn’t want to do some more issues.
The artwork by Lemire is as good as it always has been with the comic. The characters are good, along with the emotions and sci-fi aspect. Sadly though, unlike the previous issues that were creative with the layouts and how the issue was to be read, this one went for the more traditional route. Nothing shocking or surprising, just normal, which feels like a step back after all the issues that came before. A real shame, honestly.
Is It Good?
Trillium #8 is a rather disappointing and weak finish for this mini-series. Where Lemire’s finale to Animal Man was amazing and fulfilling, this felt underwhelming and flat in areas. While it had strong parts to it, for me to see the last issue of what I thought was one of the year’s best comics, it really breaks my heart and probably many others. I wish the best of luck for Lemire on his next original project and hope it wraps up better than this.
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