Moon In The Trees is an anthology collection of writer Ronald Montgomery‘s short comics, of which there are five stories contained within the 38 page (including covers) comic. Montgomery is joined in this endeavour by several different artists, and his stories range across several different genres, making this anthology comic an interesting proposition.

Four of the five comics included within Moon In The Trees have been published elsewhere, but this marks the first time that Montgomery‘s work has been collected by Inverse Press.

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when I opened the comic, and I wondered whether the stories would compliment each other without feeling as if they were forced together into a collection, or whether there would be some jarring transitions between style and tone, or even if you would be hard pressed to discern when one story ended and the other began.

Thankfully, these stories flow together very, very well. The transitions are never jarring, nor are they soft enough that you would miss them entirely.

Of the five stories included, some are in colour, some are black and white, and one is an interesting mix between the two, and that is something that certainly helps the reader as you move from the opening story, a very touching tale of a farm dog on the Russian Front during the second World War (The Most Dangerous Place For Children), to the second (The Halycon’s Song) which takes place in the Middle East during the Crusades.

As with any collection of comics there are going to be some that stand out far more than the others; the afore mentioned The Most Dangerous Place For Children being one of them along with the tale of a soldier returned from war in The Cold Country. Those stories are, for me, two of the stand outs from Moon In The Trees; that’s not to say that the others are bad, because they’re not, I just found that they resonated with me more than the other stories within the collection – obviously you may have your own favourites.

Moon In The Trees‘ greatest strength is that each of Montgomery‘s stories have a unique voice and style. Part of that can obviously be attributed to the differing artists and the colour (or lack there of) present for each comic, but you’ve also got to credit the writing here as well; Montgomery never feels as if he’s treading old ground, or as if he’s stuck for an idea. No not every story wowed me blew my socks off, but there is quality here that deserves your attention.

Moon In The Trees will be available on September 30th from Inverse Press.

 Writer: Ronald Montgomery Artists: James Giar, Tim Switalski, Lars Kramhoft, Wendell Cavalcanti, Jasen Smith 
Stories: 7.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Inverse Press provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review