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A review by iffer
The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire
4.0
It was refreshing to read a graphic novel that has actually been made by someone who intimately understands graphic storytelling. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, especially since Lemire uses pretty standard rectangular layouts through the novel, but he, at least in my opinion, succeeds beautifully at conveying emotion and story with minimal text. The Underwater Welder is also the first graphic novel that I have read in a while that very successfully uses size, shape and placement of conversation and text bubbles to convey volume, intonation and social dynamics.
Although underwater welder seems like an odd profession for a main character to have, it doesn't feel forced to me. In this graphic novel, Lemire conveys both the soothing solitude and the sharp loneliness of being deep in the ocean, as well as deep in one's own psyche. Although there isn't much "story" or "action," and the book ends a bit neatly, I still found The Underwater Welder to be a meaningful reading experience about a man finally beginning to come to terms with his father's death and start to live in the present and visualize the future.
Although underwater welder seems like an odd profession for a main character to have, it doesn't feel forced to me. In this graphic novel, Lemire conveys both the soothing solitude and the sharp loneliness of being deep in the ocean, as well as deep in one's own psyche. Although there isn't much "story" or "action," and the book ends a bit neatly, I still found The Underwater Welder to be a meaningful reading experience about a man finally beginning to come to terms with his father's death and start to live in the present and visualize the future.