The Canadian comic book artist and writer Jeff Lemire has made me cry a number of times—certainly more than any other Canadian comic book artist and writer. It happened once or twice when I first made my way through the final 30 pages of book two in his beautiful and understated Essex County trilogy. As I read Sweet Tooth, the 40-issue monthly series that he brought to a close earlier this year, I probably shed tears once every ten issues or so. And I remember feeling a distinct pressure at the bottom of my throat through much of The Underwater Welder, his spare and mysterious graphic novel from 2012 about fatherhood and, yes, underwater welding.
Lemire’s work is driven by his characters and their emotions. He understands the importance of the quiet moments, and he is not afraid to let his art speak for itself, whether he’s creating a simple story about two brothers growing old together (see: Essex County) or a big post-apocalyptic road adventure about human/animal hybrid children (like Sweet Tooth). Or—as is the case with his newest creator-owned project, Trillium—a large-canvas time travel love story that reads like a slightly psychedelic meld of Avatar and some jungle-set adventure film from the 20s or 30s.
[Read on for an interview with Jeff Lemire]