By: Jeff Lemire (writer and artist), Jose Villarrubia (colors), Carlos M. Mangual (letters), Gregory Lockard (assistant editor) & Mark Doyle (editor)
The Story: Will Jepperd go back to save his friends in the dam?
Five Things [Light spoilers]:
1. $hit is starting to hit the fan back at the dam. – This is issue 2 of 3 in this story arc, so you know the issue will be relatively climax-free. Thus, most of the issue consists of showing us “how real the danger IS” instead of resolving anything. But, sheesh… Is that dude in the dam creepy!?! He may look like a paunchy middle-aged man, but he’s truly an evil man. Of course, in the real world, evil probably does look like this sometimes, but in comics we are so used to seeing post-apocalyptic evil being personified by someone with a shaved head or mohawk, tattoos, a huge group of followers, etc. This is a nice change of pace and the situation in the dam looks pretty dire. Wonder what that dude did with the wife and kid who were left in there with him years ago?
2. Art is good, but… - I DO still love the art in Sweet Tooth. Lemire’s characters have this haunting quality that is perfect for a tale like Sweet Tooth. They should look sad because this world is sad! When I think of how perfect someone’s art is for a story, I often try to imagine the story as drawn by other artists: Ed McGuinness? Jim Lee? Jim Ballant? When you think of it that way, I really can imagine few artists who can get this emotional reaction from the reader. Others might be able to tell this story differently, but THIS is Lemire’s unique story. Still…. there were a few panels and sequences in this issue that were less than what I’m used to from Lemire (odd transition when the car flips over, the fight in the dam, the way Dr. Singh looked, etc.). I know that Lemire is taking on more and more writing duties in the main DC universe and you have to wonder how he still has time to write and draw Sweet Tooth unless he is working ahead. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I worry that DC is “stealing” one of my favorite creators to do books that I don’t want as much as Sweet Tooth. Sigh….
3. New bad guys? - Who grabs Gus from behind? Who is that dude who appears on the final page? Did he make the car crash? Is he connected to the guy who grabbed Gus? Are these characters connected to some of our classic villains from the series? One of my favorite things about a series like Sweet Tooth is constant sense of newness and mystery. As long as you keep mixing up the story elements, I could read an apocalypse story forever.
4. Hard to watch struggle. - Aw man… Watching that fight in the dam was hard! Bobby? Really? Bobby had to get smashed? The wonderful thing about Lemire’s hybrid children in this future is that they’re even more vulnerable than normal kids. Not only are the all orphans, but they’re weird orphans who are apart from everyone else. It would be heartbreaking enough just to see some normal child get smashed in a regular comic, but seeing it happen to an earnest but emotionally and mentally stunted child like Bobby is AWFUL. But you gotta give Lemire a lot of credit, as he’s able to get this emotional reaction from us without it seeming exploitative in any way.
5. Creepy Bird-boy. - That kid is creepy looking. That is all. Are all the hybrids based on vertebrates? Or is the a squid-child swimming around somewhere? I’d love to see Lemire draw THAT.
Conclusion: A pretty good issue with a lot of solid points. I do feel a little bit like this story could’ve been wrapped with one 30-page issue, so this one felt like it has a little too much stuff in the middle chapter. But that’s comics. Still a great series…
Grade: B
-Dean Stell
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Filed under: Vertigo Tagged: Carlos M. Mangual, Dean Stell, Gregory Lockard, Jeff Lemire, Jose Villarrubia, Mark Doyle, review, Sweet Tooth, Sweet Tooth #30, Sweet Tooth #30 review, Vertigo
