Scan barcode
albertico66's review against another edition
4.0
Reminded me of Lemire's work on the Essex County - awesome!
dllh's review against another edition
3.5
I expected color based on the cover but grayscale sort of fit. I liked it well enough.
cmb44's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
stopnodont's review against another edition
3.0
Good, not great. Somewhat anticlimactic, and I didn't totally love the art style. Only about a 30-40 minute read, which I maybe should have expected since the other Lemire book I've read (Sweet Tooth) also went quick.
The dark themes I love are there, as is the ever-creepy underwater setting, but it just never quite got there for me personally. That said, it's still well worth reading. Not every book can be stellar.
The dark themes I love are there, as is the ever-creepy underwater setting, but it just never quite got there for me personally. That said, it's still well worth reading. Not every book can be stellar.
aylincoolcat's review against another edition
5.0
I really admire Jeff Lemire's Stories, and this one is adoreable. If you like The Twilight Zone and mysteroius stories with unrelayable but authentic characters and unexpected twists, you'll be crazy about this comic book!
iceberg0's review against another edition
4.0
Very good graphic novel that imagines the internal conflict of preparing to become a father even as the conflict with the narrator's father is laid bare.
ashlikes's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
wam93's review against another edition
5.0
This is a beautiful story that’s written and drawn by Jeff Lemire. I know some people don’t really like his art style. But I think his sketchy art style really works for the story that he’s trying to convey. This is a beautiful story about a man who’s about to become a father and dealing with his past/trauma and looking forward to the future. I love anything Jeff Lemire writes. He almost never misses for me. Highly recommend this short little graphic novel for anybody who is learning how to deal with loss. Great book
abookabookabook's review against another edition
5.0
The story and the art were superb. I like the back and forth between the pencils and the water colors.
The story reminded me of Twilight Zone, or Night Gallery, or any of those morality play types.
Fear of Fatherhood...
The story reminded me of Twilight Zone, or Night Gallery, or any of those morality play types.
Fear of Fatherhood...
_jmrz_'s review against another edition
5.0
http://bibliophileblather.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-underwater-welder-jeff-lemire.html
As an aficionado of Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth series, I was thrilled to learn that he had written a new graphic novel..and The Underwater Welder has made me more of a Lemire aficionado than ever before.
The laugh-out-loud introduction to the novel by Damon Lindelof perhaps says it best - it reads like an episode of The Twilight Zone that was never produced. No plot spoilers, but the tale has a somber, eerie tone that brings on a strong mood of melancholy and a subtle essence of haunting. You are addictively drawn into the plot out of a sense of pity for Jack's (the main character) plight created by his self-constructed missteps but also due an unexplained attraction to spectral nature of his life.
The dialogue and narrative are not over-done, but are, in Hemingway-like fashion, concise, which makes some lines particularly powerful and punchy:
But now I am nothing. And I'm nowhere.
We never get tired of running from ourselves.
I wasted so much time looking back that I haven't let myself look forward...
The Underwater Welder has the same wispy, Dali-esk, unpolished illustration style that is the trademark of Lemire. The characters look frail and gaunt, almost tortured, which makes them instantly worthy of your sympathy and fixed fondness. In short: you care about the characters before you even know them. More than anything, I appreciate the variation of the panel layout. Some spreads are in traditional, sequential squares, but more often a single image will bleed through two cells, or a big spread with a main image will have several other images embedded within, in a seemly sporadic layout that still somehow lends itself to be 'read' in a fluid flow. Some panels, in traditional fashion, focus on a larger scene but Lemire is master of driving storytelling through illustrating the minutia and emphasizing the normally overlooked details (wrinkles around an eye, a droplet of water in sink full of water, etc.)
Anyways, I am biased because I was already a Lemire fan, but I don't believe The Underwater Welder will disappoint anyone who speaks the language of somber storytelling and who understands the haunting nature of memory. Further more, the novel stands as a good reminder of what can be lost if we permit regret or nostalgia to shepherd our present and future.
http://bibliophileblather.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-underwater-welder-jeff-lemire.html
As an aficionado of Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth series, I was thrilled to learn that he had written a new graphic novel..and The Underwater Welder has made me more of a Lemire aficionado than ever before.
The laugh-out-loud introduction to the novel by Damon Lindelof perhaps says it best - it reads like an episode of The Twilight Zone that was never produced. No plot spoilers, but the tale has a somber, eerie tone that brings on a strong mood of melancholy and a subtle essence of haunting. You are addictively drawn into the plot out of a sense of pity for Jack's (the main character) plight created by his self-constructed missteps but also due an unexplained attraction to spectral nature of his life.
The dialogue and narrative are not over-done, but are, in Hemingway-like fashion, concise, which makes some lines particularly powerful and punchy:
But now I am nothing. And I'm nowhere.
We never get tired of running from ourselves.
I wasted so much time looking back that I haven't let myself look forward...
The Underwater Welder has the same wispy, Dali-esk, unpolished illustration style that is the trademark of Lemire. The characters look frail and gaunt, almost tortured, which makes them instantly worthy of your sympathy and fixed fondness. In short: you care about the characters before you even know them. More than anything, I appreciate the variation of the panel layout. Some spreads are in traditional, sequential squares, but more often a single image will bleed through two cells, or a big spread with a main image will have several other images embedded within, in a seemly sporadic layout that still somehow lends itself to be 'read' in a fluid flow. Some panels, in traditional fashion, focus on a larger scene but Lemire is master of driving storytelling through illustrating the minutia and emphasizing the normally overlooked details (wrinkles around an eye, a droplet of water in sink full of water, etc.)
Anyways, I am biased because I was already a Lemire fan, but I don't believe The Underwater Welder will disappoint anyone who speaks the language of somber storytelling and who understands the haunting nature of memory. Further more, the novel stands as a good reminder of what can be lost if we permit regret or nostalgia to shepherd our present and future.
http://bibliophileblather.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-underwater-welder-jeff-lemire.html