Sweet Tooth #31 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer/artist), Jose Villarrubia (colors), Carlos M. Mangual (letters), Gregory Lockard (assistant editor) & Mark Doyle (editor)

The Story: Danger comes at our protagonists from all sides.

Review: For some reason, this felt issue felt more like the Sweet Tooth that I’ve grown to know and love over the last few years.  Not sure why that was….  Perhaps the excellent Matt Kindt flashback story arc just took me “out of the story” and it’s taken a few issues to back into the flow?  Regardless, this issue had the two BIG elements that I look for in a post-apocalypse story.

Danger: Haggarty is up to some really bad things, huh?  Things look really bleak for the ladies and hybrids back at the damn because you don’t see any good way out of this predicament.  Even though they’re “the good guys” and there will likely be something that comes along to save them, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if we lose a character or two here.  And how about the mess that Jepperd is in?  For all his bellowing about how he’s going to kill his captor, Jepperd is the one who is tied up and being menaced by a guy with an axe!  The scary thing about an apocalypse isn’t the plague or zombies, it’s the breakdown of human society that suddenly allows the “bad guys” to do whatever they please.

Unknown: The other element that apocalypse stories need is a healthy element of the unknown.  We can tell that Haggarty is evil, but how is he evil?  Is he just a garden-variety killer?  Is he creating a cookbook full of recipes for cooking hybrid kids?  Just look at the cover for this issue with Bobby and the pig-girl roasting over a fire!  Or is Haggarty going to be some more sympathetic broken soul who we can understand in some sick sort of way?  And what about the guy holding Jepperd?  One of the things that would be horrid about an apocalypse is not knowing who you can trust and both Jepperd and his captor would be going through this in spades.  I must say that with Jepperd’s behavior, I certainly wouldn’t untie him.  It’d be much safer to smash his head with the axe, take his supplies and move on with life.

WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Orc Stain #7 – It’s been a long time coming, but Orc Stain is such a special comic due to the art and design capabilities of James Stokoe.  It’s hard to even describe the detail that the guy puts into his art.  Just go Google Image search “stokoe orc stain“.  I know that we all want comics to “come out on time” but with art like Stokoe produces, it’s easy to understand why it might take awhile.  And the story is so simple, that you won’t get lost waiting for the next issue.

Most Anticipated:  Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #9 – This is the finale of a series that has taken almost 2 years to come out.  Remember, it began just after Siege!  But, all along it has featured glorious art from Jim Cheung and a catchy story as the Young Avengers go in search of the Scarlet Witch.  Then all of a sudden, shit got real around issue #6 as Scarlet Witch was located and she started giving mutants their powers back.  Who knows, this issue could be a big wet fart.  Or it could feature something that plays heavily into Marvel continuity, like reversing M-Day. Even if you haven’t read the series so far, you should check this one out just to see if something cool happens.

Other Picks: Fairest #1, Sweet Tooth #31, Manhattan Projects #1, Amazing Spider-Man #681, Rachel Rising #6

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Spaceman #4 – Honestly, not a lot happened plot-wise in this book….and yet I didn’t really care.  Azzarello and Risso have created a fully realized world that is a joy to inhabit for 20 pages.  Really, it’s a rare case where the trip, the world, comes first to the plot, leading itself to a unique vision and experience.  This is a really fantastic book that science fiction fans should be sure to pick up in some format.

Most Anticipated: The Manhattan Projects #1 – Jonathan Hickman – creator-owned.  There’s not much more that you need to know.  It’s another big concept with lots of revisionist history, a bizarre melding of Hickman’s brand of science fiction with WWII historical fiction.  If Hickman’s creator-owned work is known for something, it’s blowing your mind.  I’m looking forward to an engrossing, challenging read.

Other Picks: Action Comics #7, Swamp Thing #7, Animal Man #7, Fatale #3, Venom #14, Winter Soldier #3, Wolverine #302