Sweet Tooth #15 – Review

by Jeff Lemire (writer & artist), Jose Villarrubia (colors), and Pat Brousseau (letters)

The Story: Jepperd and the hybrid cultists prepare for war, Gus makes good his escape, and Singh and Abbott unearth some secrets about Gus’ family.

What’s Good: This is one hell of an issue and the best issue of Sweet Tooth to come around in a while, and that’s saying a lot.  It perfectly mixes big events/reveals with build-up for future issues that, all told, leaves the series at a fever pitch with more momentum and excitement behind it than ever before.  What has often been a slower, quieter, thoughtful series is suddenly transformed, for the time being, into a rollicking and absolutely riveting thriller of a book.

There’s so much to like about this book.  First and foremost is the change in Gus.  While his childhood innocence is still there, he has emerged as a natural leader.  His relationship to his fellow hybrid escapees is sincere and genuine, but he’s also clearly the one they look to.  Gus almost ends up like a weird, dark kind of Peter Pan, leading a band of isolated children through a strange world filled with murderous adult figures.  It’s up to Gus to call the shots, and, more important, instill hope and comfort to his group and the results are a wonderful read.

The big events, however, relate to what Singh and Abbott dig up at Gus’ old home.  It hints at very interesting things to come for the series but, more than that, it lends the book an almost supernatural, or at least speculative, tone.  During these scenes, and the book’s amazingly written montage conclusion, Singh narrates by reading from Gus’ father’s “bible.”  This bizarre book actually reads like a legitimate holy book, written specifically for Sweet Tooth’s world.  It’s filled with the appropriate metaphors and language, but it carries a very eerie prophetic power.  It leads one to wonder whether there were some powers at work in Gus’ father’s work.  Even if not, this narration, and this bible as a whole, lends the book a very, very ominous and downright chilling tone.  More than that, it makes this issue and the events it builds feel important.  The last few pages will have you starving for the next issue, which is not generally something Lemire has focused on in Sweet Tooth.

Sweet Tooth #11 – Review

by Jeff Lemire (writer & artist), Jose Villarrubia (colors), and Pat Brosseau (letters)

The Story: Louise’s death, Jepperd’s imprisonment by the militia, and his ensuing deal with Abbott are recounted.

What’s Good: The trip Lemire has been taking the grizzled, hardened Jeppered on lately has certainly been an interesting one, if only because of how it highlights his vulnerability and consequent deterioration.  That reaches new depths this month and with Lemire having spent so many of Sweet Tooth’s early issues building Jepperd into a tough-as-nails wrecking machine, seeing the guy reduced to such desperation is definitely very effective.

This month, Jepperd is shown at his weakest. He is emotionally destroyed, he is physically trapped, he is reduced to begging, and, for the first time in the series, he is physically beaten to a pulp, fair and square, in a fight we’d expect him to win.  It’s disconcerting stuff and certainly, seeing a guy like Jepperd so completely destroyed in every arena that a human being can be assaulted is just another example of how great Lemire is at writing the traumatic.  Yet, it also makes the last page all the more effective; never before has Jepperd seemed more dangerous and more threatening than now, having come through the flames of such physical and emotional pain.

Much of this issue is spent in the slow, gradual relationship that is forged between Jepperd and his warden, Johnny, who’s a seemingly nice guy.  It’s well written by Lemire; Johnny is the one physically weak presence amidst men like Jepperd and Abbott and is hopelessly stuck between the two of them.  Lemire does well in giving Johnny an affable, vernacular tone that often struggles to deal with the dire subject matter, much like the character himself.

Then there’s Abbott, who Lemire cements as a strong villain after this issue.  Completely cold, weirdly friendly, and always calm, Abbott has a relaxed presence that grows increasingly sinister.  It’s strangely suitable that in a world of hard, intimidating people, the most dangerous guy is also the most unassuming.

Lemire artwork continues to be tremendous for Sweet Tooth.  Backgrounds reflect states of mind and larger panels are perfectly in synch with the book’s emotional tone.  Lemire also makes really cool use of darkness this month in his depiction of Jepperd’s imprisonment.  It shuts down and punctuates the book, much as it shuts down and punctuates the conversations themselves as dialogue ends when the light goes out.  I also continue to enjoy Lemire’s depictions of action, which are always fast, claustrophobic, crushed together, and brutal.

Sweet Tooth #9 – Review

by Jeff Lemire (writer & artist), Jose Villarrubia (colors), and Pat Brosseau (letters)

The Story: The curtain is pulled back a little more on Jepperd’s past, while Singh tries to gain Gus’ trust.

What’s Good: Despite its focus on a small number of characters, it’s become clear that Sweet Tooth is quite often about betrayal.  Lemire once again does a great job of depicting this recurring theme.  A betrayal in Jepperd’s past with his wife Louise is oddly related to his betrayal of Gus, and thus trauma links with, and creates, trauma.  When Louise and Jepperd are betrayed this month, it’s bitterly fitting that the worst moment of Jepperd’s life occurs at exactly the same spot as his betrayal of Gus.  With Jepperd’s flashbacks coming to their climax, the past comes just a little closer to the present in very effective fashion.

With its running theme of betrayal, it’s only natural that this month would also focus quite a bit on trust.  It’s elegant writing on Lemire’s part that both Gus and Jepperd’s portions of the issue treat this subject.  Singh attempts to gain Gus’ trust, while in the past, Abbott tries to gain Jepperd and Louise’s.   Of course, typical of Lemire’s deftness and his dark, post-apocalyptic world, both situations pull in opposite directions:  Gus struggles to trust what seems to be an honest man, while Louise and Jepperd willingly place their trust in the hands of bad men.  It’s very effective plotting for Lemire, particularly with all the characters walking difficult routes.

Detective Comics #856 – Review

by Greg Rucka (writer), J.H. Williams III (art), Cully Hamner (back-up art), Dave Stewart (colors), Laura Martin (back-up colors), Todd Klein (letters), and Jared K. Fletcher (back-up letters)

The Story: Batwoman narrowly escapes the clutches of the Religion of Crime, thanks to some unlikely allies. Meanwhile,  the Question gets away, only to return to deliver a beat-down.

What’s Good: The best thing about this issue is that it gives us a chance to get to know Kate Kane without the cowl.  A flamboyant yet oddly lonely character,  Rucka places her in a formal gathering at which she feels mightily uncomfortable.  It makes her all the more likable while also tastefully approaching her sexuality.  Stuck with a sense of otherness and the never-ending duties of being Batwoman. It’s clear that she feels that she doesn’t belong, but rather than try her best to  mingle, she goes the opposite direction, purposefully making herself stand out.  It’s nuances like this that make for a great, lively character.

We also get a look at Kate’s other familial relationships.  From the stepmother who doesn’t understand her to the tragically ignored cousin, it’s all fairly bittersweet stuff.  It’s hard not to read Kate’s cousin Bette, desperate for Kate’s friendship, and not feel bad for her.

On art, JH Williams continues to put out some of the best work in mainstream comics today.  The fantastic, dynamic, and endlessly creative panel layouts continue, with Williams doing some cool work with the gutters between the panels.  The really impressive thing about Williams’ work this month, however, is his versatility.  With monsters and hallucinogens abounding in the first Batwoman scene, JH Williams takes on angular, pulpy, horror-styled panels and a more blurred/painted feel.  Juxtaposed to this is the Kate Kane formal party scene, where the paneling suddenly becomes less abstract and the painted feel disappears for a more clean, defined, and “graphic” style.  Both sides are clearly and distinctly Williams, but he’s really showing two completely different modes here.

What’s Not So Good: I’m just not really digging the newly introduced characters of Abbott and his fellow “hybrids.”  Somehow, having a gang of Were-animals in a Bat comic just feels a bit too weird.  I feel like Batwoman just melded with an IDW horror comic.  It’s funny, since in human form, Abbott really is a great character and an effective foil to Kate.  But the whole idea of werewolf characters just seems silly and out of place.  The fact that Abbott in wolf form is written terribly doesn’t help.  Does he really have to say “rrrrr” and “grrrr” after every third word?

Rucka’s story also made me feel a bit out of the loop this month with all of Abbott’s references to past storyarcs regarding the Religion of Crime.  Surely I’m not alone.

The back-up story is also suffering a bit due to how good the main feature is.  Cully Hamner puts out his best work yet on the series, but it still feels like a drop after Williams’ work.  Meanwhile, the story is beginning to feel just a little overly straightforward.  It’s just another 8 pages of the Question fighting, proving herself to be a badass, and getting another location.  Again.  Entirely composed of action scenes. It’s also a lightning quick, barely there read.

Conclusion: Still a fantastic book, this time focusing more on charaterization,  making me  love Kate Kane even more.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans