By: Jeff Lemire (story & art), Jose Villarrubia (colors), Carlos M. Mangual (letters), Gregory Lockard (assistent editor) & Mark Doyle (editor)
The Story: After the events in the dam, our motley gang heads back out onto the road.
Recap/Review (with SPOILERS): Whoa! Format change on the comic! Lemire decided to go with a landscape view for this comic – you turn the comic so it is up-and-down instead of the standard orientation. It’s a little unclear why this choice was made and it has it’s advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, it does make the comic stand out and since this is the beginning of a new story segment, and standing out might gain Sweet Tooth a few readers who say, “Oh, what’s that sideways comic book? I’ll try that because I love sideways comic books. Or I’ll at least look twice at it.” The format also seems to give Lemire more flexibility with the opening of the story that is told in more of a storybook format: prose with interspersed images rather than sequential panels with word balloons (the issue shifts to “standard” comics by the end).
The negative to this format probably outweighs the positives. For one thing, fans just aren’t used to holding comics in this way. It’s awkward, we don’t have the muscle memory to quickly turn the pages, if a page slips from your fingers…it falls down (thanks gravity!), there’s no spine to rest on your lap, etc. I personally find it annoying when comics are oriented this way unless I can see an obvious reason for the change. Plus, do you really want reviewers to begin discussions of your comic by talking about the format (as I have done here)?
The story is the strength of this issue. This is the tale of how the group moves on after the death of Lucy and the nasty events at the dam. Lemire does a wonderful job of streamlining the the plotlines. For example, last issue we saw the villain Haggarty disappeared into the snow. Lemire could have chosen to let Haggarty survive and trouble the group again…or leave his fate ambiguous. But nope–we get a fitting endpoint to Haggarty when they find him frozen like a popsicle. That’s a smart choice. Haggarty was a good villain, but he had done his part for the story and it’s nice to see a creator that can let go of a character. Further, if Lemire ever needs a Haggarty-like character again, he can just create a fresh one rather than continually dusting off old an villain. It’s nice to see a creator show confidence in their ability to create new material rather than just milking the old stuff. I wish superhero comics would do this.
Another interesting choice that Lemire makes is splitting the group. By showing us that Dr. Singh is already in Alaska while some of the group is staying behind in the dam, two things happen. One is that the main group become smaller and that should streamline storytelling. Honestly, we’ve had enough characters in this story for the last year that I don’t really remember all of the character’s names. On the other hand, by splitting the characters among three groups the storytelling might become more complex if we have to visit all three settings. We’ll have to see. Of course, Lemire could decide not to show us Singh again until the main group gets to Alaska and perhaps this is the last we’ll ever see of Bobby the groundhog. Everyone loves Bobby, but the comic series isn’t about Bobby…it’s about Sweet Tooth and Jepperd, and that’s the story that needs to progress.
And what a sense of menace knowing that the evil dude from The Preserve (first few story arcs) is back. It was funny, but I remember that image on the final page of Sweet Tooth 4-5 months ago that showed this dude, with his dog-boy hybrids and Jepperd’s son and since then wondering if I had fallen asleep while reading an issue because I didn’t remember that guy showing up to menace out characters. Well, it turns out he is right on their heels and that will make for a clever chase towards Alaska. We should also note that it’s a chase that Jepperd and gang don’t know about. They’re just heading on their way whereas the bad man is actively chasing them (like when Tuco chased Blondie in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly).
Conclusion: Formatting weirdness aside, this issue does a splendid job of wrapping the last year’s worth of action and sets the stage for future stories.
Grade: A-
– Dean Stell
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