A Sweet Year

Before Jeff Lemire had a DC exclusive contract, before he was writing the Atom, before he was handed Superboy, there was Sweet Tooth. Even before that there was The Nobody, and way back in the past (ancient history, by now) was the modern classic Essex County- a trilogy that received just as much press for its rural setting as it did for its moody inks and deeply beautiful characters- but those things are, right now, unimportant. All that matters right now is Sweet Tooth, because it seems that Vertigo is at something of a crossroads: several relatively popular and incredibly well-regarded titles from the imprint are about to disappear. There are no apparent replacements and, thus, Lemire's story about a deer boy named Gus in a post-apocalyptic world is one of the few young titles left in the imprint's stable.

Long time readers will remember that one of my first reviews for this site (almost a year ago, if you can believe that!) was the series' first issue. Yesterday, it completed the full circuit around the Sun with the release of issue #12. It's a mostly silent stand alone, punctuated only by supporting character Dr. Singh's narration at the bottom of each page, and it details the history of the plague, fills in some blanks, and suggests that Gus, good old Gus, is the cause of everything that has been wrought. It's a pretty effective technique, particularly because it allows Lemire to tie up some ends from the book's first year as well as remind us of exactly who Gus is, of what drives him. It's almost refreshing, after an arc that brought Jeppard's tragic past to the fore, to see that little glint of hope, tempered as it is by Singh's speculation. It's a little terrifying, too, because it doesn't really suggest anything about the book's future, and thus allows Lemire to be wildly unpredictable, inventive in a way he has not been, as of yet.

That's mostly been Sweet Tooth's problem, up until now- it hasn't blown anyone away. Month in and month out it's good, consistent comics, but it's never anything that you have to share, always sort of a private joy. Issue #12 is no different, but the experimentation with the form as well as the plot's ambiguities suggest that Lemire has something up his sleeve- and I have no idea what that thing might be, which might just be the kick the book needs. As long as he continues to play to his strengths, the book will be solid, month in and month out. He may need something more than that, though, to take his story to its conclusion and, because I believe in Jeff Lemire, because I was as taken by Essex County as I was by Blankets, because I know he has it in him, because of all that I believe in Sweet Tooth and I hope that it, unlike Air or Unknown Soldier, reaches its natural end.

Here's to more years of Gus.

Already Tired of Tuesday...Siege!

Hey guys!

After an extended holiday break, it's good to be back- although I had a nice time sitting around and doing nothing, it's time to get back in the game.

The book of the week is, of course, the first issue of Marvel's new event book- Siege! I'm something of a Marvel fanboy, so it's no surprise that I'm picking this up, particularly because it looks to be the conclusion of the publisher's almost decade long macrostory. Trying to figure out where we go from here (and what exactly the promised Heroic Age is all about) is definitly part of the appeal here. Icing on the cake is the art of Oliver Copiel who, at the very least, drew the best Thor of the decade and is one of the best comic book artists at the House of Ideas. Needless to say, it's going to be a lot of fun, if not necessarily great comics.

I've decided that, although I'm not going to buy all of the tie-ins, Siege: Embedded #1 will be on my pull-list for a couple of issues, at least. I've always liked Ben Urich and, inasmuch as I think Embedded will be able to deal with the consequences of the event for the real people of Broxton, it'll have some interesting stories to tell.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to Sweet Tooth #5, which is the end of the book's first arc.

Finally, I just wanted to thank all of you fine readers for stopping by in the first few months of the site. Hopefully, in the new year, our readership will only continue to grow.

Already Tired of, uh, Monday....

I know I'm way early this week, but I'm procrastinating on a paper, and this seemed like a perfect way to do it. Also, there's a lot of really great stuff coming out this week, stuff I'm really excited for.

First, and foremost (perhaps even foremost of any comic being released this year) is the grand finale of one of the greatest comic stories of all time- Planetary. The long awaited issue #27 of the Warren Ellis penned and John Cassaday illustrated series comes out this week and I'm really, really excited. If you haven't already checked out the preview pages Jon posted about earlier in the week, well, you should. They're pretty fantastic, as is the rest of the series.

And that's just the start of the barrage of the comics on the imprint front this week. From Vertigo we get the second issue of Jeff Lemire's fantastic Sweet Tooth and the Bill Willingham penned Fables novel Peter and Max (although I'm hoping to win a copy through this contest over at Graphic Content). What's really exciting me this week, though, is an imprint release from Icon: Criminal: The Sinners #1. The dynamic duo of Ed Brubaker (who, lets be honest, turns whatever he touches into gold) and Sean Phillips (who, aside from David Aja, might be my favorite illustrator in all of comics) proved themselves once again with the conclusion to Incognito, and I'm ready to return to the tale of Tracy Lawless- and this one sounds like a killer. Brubaker's crime stories are the best in all of comics, which is why I was sad to see him leave Daredevil...

But the new writer, Andy Diggle, seems to be planning some cool stuff- after buying the Daredevil Dark Reign one-shot, I'm convinced that Matt's life is about to get really difficult- and that makes for great Daredevil comics, so I'm pumped for #501 to come out this week. I'm also pumped for the X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas mini to get started- although I was disappointed by the last issue of the AoA ongoing a couple of weeks ago, I think the manic energy that Jeff Parker brings to his work is perfect for a short series like this and I'm curious to see which X-Men he's going to use (hopefully Nightcrawler is going to be one of them; the blue elf has been criminally underused by Matt Fraction in Uncanny). Strange Tales #2 comes out this week too, as does the new issue of The Torch, but I'm not sure if I'll be picking up the latter- I think I might trade-wait it. As for the former, well, I think Jon and I are going to take another shot at reviewing it jointly and seeing what happens. And then, of course, add Batman and Robin #5 to the list and, well, I've got a huge week to make up for last week's tiny little one.

It's going to be a good Wednesday.

Tales From The Forest

Reading Sweet Tooth #1 got me wondering if I'll ever be able to understand Jeff Lemire's work.

My musing isn't because I don't GET Lemire; I do get him. And I love him. The Essex County trilogy is, quite simply, one of the most magnificent pieces of sequential art ever put to paper because he manages to tell such a complex story with such a simple vocabulary. It's rare to come across a story that manages to do so much with so little (in fact, the only example I can really think of is Craig Thompson's Blankets, but that's just so damn long it's hard to put in the same category as Essex County). This is particularly striking because Lemire doesn't seem like a consciously indie cartoonist- instead of denying the superhero tropes that most associate as one and the same with comic books, the first Essex County volume embraces and plays with them. Rather than deconstruction in the Alan Moore and Warren Ellis vein we get deconstruction from an entirely different perspective; that of a young reader of comic books. Instead of putting the realities of superheroes under the magnifying glass we find the realities of reading superhero comics there, and what we come to understand about ourselves as readers of comics is fascinating. Someday, I would like very much to explore this more deeply.

No, it's not that I don't understand Lemire's work because it is incomprehensible or indecipherable, because it isn't; it may be complex but it is also beautifully simple and it works on about a hundred different levels. Instead, I don't understand Lemire because his protagonists are just so unbelievably isolated, so incredibly alone. Sometimes they can find their way out of this loneliness and sometimes they don't but the end result is, unsurprisingly, not as important as the fact that they all, at one point, hit such depths.


It's these depths that make Lemire's work so powerful, so moving, and it's the way his new Vertigo series, Sweet Tooth, gets its start. The series' hero (or, perhaps, simply its protagonist) finds himself alone in a world that is very dangerous, one that he knows absolutely nothing about. And it's terrifying. One wonders what's going to happen to Gus; what horrible things Lemire has planned for the poor boy with deer antlers on his head. This curiosity, on its own, would be enough to bring me back for another issue.

As always with his work, Lemire's artwork is a treat, but it has a whole new dimension with the addition of colorist Jose Villarrubia. Initially, I was worried about this new dimension; Essex County is probably so effective because its in black and white and I actually think color would have taken away from that project. Here, I'm still not convinced its required (or even welcome, really) but it does add a certain flair that I like quite a bit. I'd be interested to see an issue printed in black and white to compare, but, truthfully, this is the only complaint I have with the book. A more perfect piece of sequential art I haven't read in a long time.

---------------------------------------------

In honor of Strange Tales #1 Jon and I are pulling a little switcheroo- I'm reviewing Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth, which is new from Vertigo, and he's reading and reviewing Luke Cage Noir. In the next couple of days you'll see a conversation we'll be having about Strange Tales. If you're a little confused about why "the marvel guy" is reviewing an indie and why the indie guy is dipping his toes into the Marvel Method well, thats why.