This book has everything: action, suspense, romance, Daddies.
The White Trees: A Blacksand Tale is a comic mini-series written by Chip Zdarsky, illustrated by Kris Anka, and colored by Matt Wilson.
In the land of Blacksand, three warriors reside, having fought for peace for against the Trilonians twenty years prior. But when their children go missing and with war on the horizon, the three warriors are called into action again. The warriors must put aside their difference to go on one last adventure, to avoid war and hopefully bring their children home.
The White Trees is a two-comic mini-series, with further Blacksand tales promised in the future. In 2024, the sequel The Whisper Queen was released, five years after The White Trees.
This series contains the following tropes:
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Krylos's skin as a deep shade of pink, with King Pherack's skin having a purple tint.
- Amicable Exes: Dahvlan and Milola, who were together for a time and had a daughter named Windlo. Milola doesn't even mind that Dahvlan is now with Scotiar.
- Bittersweet Ending: The children are rescued, but it's discovered they were being held hostage by the Blacksand king, so that the protagonists would instigate war with Trilonia. Krylos kills the king to stop the plot but is executed in return; and the fate of Blacksands' relations with its neighbors is left uncertain.
- Cat Folk: Dahvlan and his race are anthropomorphic cats.
- Everyone Is Bi: Opposite-sex and same-sex relationships aren't uncommon in Blacksand. Dahvlan used to be with Milola (female Cat Folk) and is now with Scotair (human male). During a some sort of vision/hallucination during the night, all three warriors are tempted with visions of both men and women.
- Heroic Fantasy: Sits between this and Low Fantasy as the conflict is driven mainly by the heroes' personal relationships with one another.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Krylos's eyes are bright blue, indicating his distant and isolated nature. He also has black sclera, which may indicate that his time from fighting in the war has really messed with his mental state.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Both Dahvlan and Scotiar bare it all in the first issue, along with the some of the apparitions in the forest are male and bare all.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Krylos, who lost his wife during the war and since then laid down his sword and became a farmer. Even after hearing his son Chal-kra was kidnapped, he wants to leave the situation up to the king, refusing to take up arms.
