Sweet Tooth #19 – Review

by Jeff Lemire (writer & artist), Nate Powell, Emi Lenox, & Matt Kindt (art), Jose Villarrubia (colors), and Patrick Brosseau (letters)

The Story: Lucy, Becky, and Wendy share their histories with one another as they wander through the forest.

The Review: One certainly can’t fault Jeff Lemire for not taking creative risks with Sweet Tooth.  Last month we got a landscape-styled “storybook” issue and this month we have Lemire bring along three indie cartoonists to help illustrate three separate tales and, much as was the case last month, he makes gold out of what could have been a disaster.

Given that it’s the main attraction this month, the art seems a fitting place to start.  All three guest artists, and Lemire himself, have incredibly different styles.  Yet, it really, really works as each artist was masterfully chosen for each particular story he or she illustrates.  Each artist has a very unique look, but it suits the stories of the particular characters they illustrate beautifully.  Nate Powell’s more mundane, slice-of-life look on Lucy’s previous life as a married nurse, Emi Lenox’s tragic Saturday-morning cartoon take on Becky’s childhood, or Matt Kindt’s dreamy, surreal storybook take on Wendy’s life with Mom.  Each artist brings something unique to the table and each gives a certain life to their part of the issue, what that highlights the tone Lemire that was going for in each little story.