Ghost Tree: Story Synopsis

A young boy makes a promise, but he doesn’t know what that promise entails in Ghost Tree #1.

Brandt was a young boy playing outside in front of the house of his grandfather, Ojii-Chan.  While Brandt was deep in his imaginary world fighting Mind Melders, Ojii-Chan gets up from watching him and walked into the forest.  This ended Brandt’s game and he followed his grandfather into the forest.

The pair eventually arrived at a tree in the heart of the forest.  Ojii-Chan made Brandt promise two things. The first was for him to cherish his childhood, but the second promise was a more important promise.  10 years after Ojii-Chan dies Brandt must come back to the tree.

Many years had passed since that conversation.  Brandt is an adult and Ojii-Chan had died. A tough relationship had forced Brandt to go back to his home in Japan.  He made his way to see his grandmother and her home. While smoking a cigarette he saw something in the forest. As he made his way to the heart of the forest he came across the tree from his childhood.  He was told the name of the tree was the Ghost Tree.

Ghost Tree Hit Me In The Feels

I found this first issue pretty heartwarming.  When I first started reading this issue I thought it would be a horror comic.  However, I was wrong because at the core of the story so far it is about the relationship between a boy and his grandfather.  I really needed this kind of comic in my life right now. In further issues I hope it follows this heartwarming tone.

This story has a lot of places it can go.  It will be interesting to see what the Ghost Tree is, what power it has and why it has it.  However, what I am really hoping for is to see more about the relationship between Brandt and his grandfather.  Those scenes in this issue were by far my favorite.

Unsure Of Ghost Tree’s Intended Audience

I am not sure what age range this comic is going for.  On Comixology it says 15+, but aside from some slightly scary panels with a ghost it seems pretty family friendly.  This comic seems like it is made to be read with a young child who is starting to learn about death. It has a slow and simple story progression with easy to understand ideas.  This kind of comic seems perfect for a young child.

However, I fully expect this comic to get crazy gory and scary in the next issue.  It is always my luck that a comic starts amazing and I love the tone and pacing but then changes dramatically.

This is a comic I will keep my eye on.  It has the start of an excellent little comic which pokes you right smack dab in the heart.  I am very interested to see if it keeps going in that direction in future issues.

Rating:

5/5

Written by: Bobby Curnow

Art by:  Simon Gane, Ian Herring and Becka Kinzie

Cover by: Gane, Herring and Kinzie

Release: 4/24/19

Issue: 1

Publisher: IDW Publishing