Sweet Tooth #1

by Jeff Lemire

Here's the thing with the comic industry: for every brilliant, hard to peg exactly title that stretches the boundaries of the usual that gets canceled, a new one comes along. It's rare that it happens in the same week, but I feel that Sweet Tooth is going to nicely fill any gap left from the finishing up of Young Liars.

The books aren't exactly similar. They are, however, both created by a single person (which is rare at Vertigo, and DC) with a strongly independent background.

Sweet Tooth is set in some form of post-apocalyptic future, where some children are born as human/animal hybrids. Gus is one such child, having deer ears and antlers. He has lived a secluded life with his father, who is slowly succumbing to an illness. By the end of the issue, Gus is left on his own, and meets the first people other than his father that he has ever seen.

As Lemire himself explains in his text piece, the story is made up mostly of the type of small character moments that his Essex County books excelled at. This is a very different beast from those graphic novels, and his art has a more polished look to it. I have a feeling that this is going to be a very good series, and I wish Lemire a lot of success with it.

Oh, I suppose I would be remiss in not pointing out that this first issue is only one dollar. Everyone should go buy it. If you live in Toronto and would like a signed copy, check at The Beguiling.