Hakim Yusuf
Contributor
Jeff Lemire is no stranger to comic fans these days — especially to Canadian comic enthusiasts. He’s a comic book artist born and raised in Woodslee, Ontario, near Lake Erie, who grew up to be one of the most celebrated Canadian artists around.
Lemire spent most of his early life on the family farm until he left to study film in Toronto. But just as quickly as he had decided to pursue film, he found himself drawing comics instead.
He self-published his first comics through Ashtray Press, going to conventions to promote his work such as one of his more popular books, Lost Boys, which earned him a Xeric Award in 2005.
This got the attention of Top Shelf Productions, a US-based independent book publishing company, which published Lemire’s award winning semi-autobiographical The Essex County Trilogy. Initially released in three separate volumes between 2008 and 2009, it was eventually collected into one book that made it into the top 10 for the annual Canada Reads competition.
The success of Essex got the attention of the folks at Vertigo Comics. There he released The Nobody, which is based on H.G. Wells’ novella The Invisible Man. The 2007 book explored small town life like Essex County, but delved deeper, touching on the issues of prejudice.
His next book, which launched him into the wider comic consciousness, was Sweet Tooth, an ongoing series published by Vertigo Comics. Sweet Tooth is a post-apocalyptic story following a boy with antlers. What’s amazing about this book — besides its universal acclaim and strong sales — was its fast track from pitch to green light.
“[I] think I pitched it on Monday and got the go ahead on Thursday, which never happens,” Lemire said during his DC spotlight at the 2011 FanExpo in Toronto.
The book became a huge success for Lemire, garnering him an Eisner Award nomination — the comic industry’s equivalent of a Grammy or an Oscar — in 2010. It also gave him the opportunity to work on some mainstream DC titles: a one-shot, The Atom #1, and a co-feature in Action Comics #516.
Just when Lemire thought things couldn’t get any better, in November 2011 he launched and wrote his very own Superboy series, with illustration by Pier Gallo. With DC’s big relaunch coming in September 2011, his Eisner-nominated run on Superboy will end, but he’s being given Animal Man as well as Frankenstein to work on.
At this year’s DC panel at FanExpo, Lemire showed sketch pages from his work on Sweet Tooth, as well in-page pencil work by the artist Travel Forman, another trained cartoonist and prolific graphic novelist. Lemire discussed the new experience of writing for artists other than himself, and the influence that had on how he wrote.
He said back when he was still independent, he had to develop the discipline to draw almost every day while still holding down a full-time job, since his comics didn’t pay then.
This sort of dedication is what has radiated through his work. He brings a kind of emotion to the art form that makes his characters intriguing and real. He is taking the comic book world by storm, and he shows no signs of stopping.
