The Essex County trilogy

Arguably Lemire’s breakthrough work, Essex County consists of a trio of stories set in an imaginary version of the Canadian writer’s hometown and is an “intimate study of an eccentric farming community, and a tender meditation on family, memory, grief, secrets, and reconciliation,” according to the Top Shelf website. The series was nominated in the Harvey and Eisner Awards in 2009, and also named as one of the five Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade in 2011.

Sweet Tooth

Nominated for the best new series Eisner Award in 2010, this is a dark post-apocalyptic tale about a world torn apart by a plague that causes newborn babies to be born as animal-human hybrids.

The titular “Sweet Tooth” is a deer/human hybrid boy named Gus, who may hold the key to human beings surviving the plague and is protected by the tough, hulking former hockey player Jeppard. Thanks to Lemire’s distinctly charming artwork and storytelling style, this is a fiercely original character-driven story about survival, family and life.

Sweet Tooth recently concluded its 40-issue run in January, bringing to an end one of Vertigo Comics’ most eccentrically brilliant stories ever.

DC New 52

Lemire has been playing a prominent role in DC’s New 52 relaunch in the past year, writing Frankenstein: Agent of Shade as well as taking over from Peter Milligan on Justice League Dark, which features John Constantine leading a supernaturally-inclined team of heroes that includes Zatanna and Black Orchid.

His most impressive work with DC so far has to be Animal Man. Lemire manages to capture the quirky essense of the hero (who can draw on the abilities of animals around him), build on the family-oriented themes in the character’s previous Vertigo runs, as well as build an impressive mythology around the concept of The Red (the life force of animals).

Animal Man is currently forming a powerful symbiotic relationship with Scott Snyder’s equally impressive Swamp Thing on the epic Rotworld crossover, which is an epic storyline that should not be missed!

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