Sweet Tooth #23 – Review

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

The Story: Gus and co. debate whether or not to leave the Dam for Alaska.

What’s Good:  This is the sort of script that really shows off what a strong, ensemble cast Lemire has put together and ends up being all about the character-work.  It’s hard to believe that not long ago, this was entirely a “man and boy” adventure focused tightly on Jepperd and Gus.  Now we’ve got a whole crew of characters, each of them likable and/or compelling in their own unique ways.  Bobby is probably the cutest character in any comic I’m reading right now, so much so that I hope Lemire starts carrying around Bobby plushies at conventions.   Johnny delivers a slight but never forced or over-the-top comic relief to the group.  Meanwhile, Doctor Singh looks more crazy-eyed and conspiratorial by the month, and that’s certainly the case here.

Meanwhile, on the darker side of things, Lucy grows to be an increasingly tragic, hard-luck figure as her condition worsens.  Even more interesting is Walter Fish, who reaches a new high as far as general creepiness is concerned, despite never really doing anything incriminating.  It’s a wonderful balance that Lemire is striking with the character.  Jepperd is, of course, as strong as ever as well, continually moving around the issue with a constant, barely tethered anger.  I also liked how violently Jepperd reacts when his soft side gets rebuked.  The minute he gets rejected, he instantly closes up behind that anger once again.

So all told, it’s strong character-work all around met with Lemire’s excellent, moody artwork, with fun layouts and little adjustments in line-work whenever a particular panel is meant to reflect a mood or emotion.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Scalped #50 – It was a really close call between this and Detective Comics, but ultimately, this milestone issue did a fantastic job in encapsulating the overall spirit of what is among the very best ongoing series around right now.  It also made me reflect a bit on the series’ imminent ending, which was certainly bittersweet. Just a really heartfelt issue with excellent storytelling all-around…

Most Anticipated: Flashpoint #3 – Interesting how yet again, DC and Marvel are releasing their big events on the same Wednesday.With the quicker pacing, not to mention the recent shake-up at DC, Flashpoint is the book to get my interest, particularly with the way last month’s issue ended.  I’m really interested to see where this goes as we reach what should be something of a climax in this five-part series.

Other Picks: Fear Itself #4, Moon Knight #3, Secret Six #35, Sweet Tooth #23

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: American Vampire #16 – This was really a big week for quality comics and a LOT of comics could have won this “award”, but AV get’s the nod.  What is impressive about AV is that even though it is in the middle of a story arc, the issue didn’t get boring.  News Flash: Middle issues don’t have to be boring!!!!!!  Stuff happens and it still manages to set-up more plot points for the conclusion of the arc.  That’s really impressive writing.  Of course, having Rafael Albuquerque doing career-best work on the title doesn’t hurt your chances to be pick-of-the week.  The only “bad” thing about this issue is that it was the first thing I read all week and it was downhill from there.

Most Anticipated: Sweet Tooth #23 – In an attempt to stay spoiler-free, I pay almost zero attention to comic previews on the web and solicits beyond figuring out what I want to pre-order.  So, I don’t know for sure whether we have reached the climax of this particular story arc having to do with Gus and Gang finding a potential sanctuary inside of an old dam.  As with all things Sweet Tooth, you know there won’t be a happy ending and last month’s issue indicated that things were about to get very serious again!

Other Picks: I Zombie #15, That Hellbound Train #2, Blue Estate #2, Elephantmen #32, Fear Itself #4, Hulk #36, Thunderbolts #160