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A review by some_okie_dude27
The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire
5.0
There are many comics that resemble past films or novels or television series' that we love. Koike's Lone Wolf and The Cub is reminiscent of Kurosawa's samurai epics, or Palmiotti and Grey's run on Jonah Hex reminding me of classic westerns in the vein of Leone or Ford, there's also the new Image series Ice Cream Man that is reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, but there is another book out there that also captures the tone and pace of Serling's masterpiece, and it's also written by one of comics' brightest stars today.
While Maxwell Prince catches the tone of The Twilight Zone well, it is Jeff Lemire who manages to master it with his hallucinogenic and dream-like exploration of fatherhood, loneliness, and grief. His writing and storytelling is tight and contained with a minimalistic elegance that makes works of his like Roughneck, Sweet Tooth, and Essex County work so well. We also see his art, which while not perfect, still illustrates his characters and the tone that he wants to go with beautifully, which makes the imperfections of his work seem perfect (as paradoxical as it seems). It is also a comic that is mature, without reducing to laughable morally ambiguous characters or uber-violence, it's mature in the way that it handles the tough subject matter that's talked about and gives his characters the dignity, humanity, and respect that they deserve.
There are many comics that often struggle with character development, in particular with independent comics. While with mainstream superhero runs you could get away with shoddy character development because we've known the characters in those universes for as long as we've existed (unless you're crazy enough to revitalize or redefine these characters), but that excuse isn't acceptable in independent comics. Far too often, I see independent comics struggle with flat characters or even shoddy storytelling, but Lemire, along with other indie giants as Kirkman or Vaughan, has managed to make character development his chief strength and has been his consistent strength since his start in the comics industry. His work with character in Underwater Welder has to be one of his best character driven works asides from Roughneck or Sweet Tooth. His characters in this book feel real and relatable and you grow to care about them, and like I mentioned earlier, doesn't sacrifice their dignity in its mature exploration of its themes.
There's also Lemire's interest in the surreal that is reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, like mentioned earlier (in fact, Damon Lindelof, in his introduction for the book, dubbed it 'The Twilight Zone episode that was never developed.') While the afore mentioned Prince captures The Twilight Zone's penchent for the darkness lurking about in the light, Lemire takes the more personal focus with this book, placing characters in odd situations but letting them come back out of the situations and being a better person for it or being given a much more bittersweet ending, but I'll keep what happens in the book tightly closed, as this book is a book to be experienced.
Jeff Lemire might possibly be one of comics' most versatile and prolific creators still working today, and if you're going to be a creator that I want to check out or even like, than those things are what I look for, as well as a capacity for good storytelling, and Lemire has proven himself to be a creator that is worth following.
While Maxwell Prince catches the tone of The Twilight Zone well, it is Jeff Lemire who manages to master it with his hallucinogenic and dream-like exploration of fatherhood, loneliness, and grief. His writing and storytelling is tight and contained with a minimalistic elegance that makes works of his like Roughneck, Sweet Tooth, and Essex County work so well. We also see his art, which while not perfect, still illustrates his characters and the tone that he wants to go with beautifully, which makes the imperfections of his work seem perfect (as paradoxical as it seems). It is also a comic that is mature, without reducing to laughable morally ambiguous characters or uber-violence, it's mature in the way that it handles the tough subject matter that's talked about and gives his characters the dignity, humanity, and respect that they deserve.
There are many comics that often struggle with character development, in particular with independent comics. While with mainstream superhero runs you could get away with shoddy character development because we've known the characters in those universes for as long as we've existed (unless you're crazy enough to revitalize or redefine these characters), but that excuse isn't acceptable in independent comics. Far too often, I see independent comics struggle with flat characters or even shoddy storytelling, but Lemire, along with other indie giants as Kirkman or Vaughan, has managed to make character development his chief strength and has been his consistent strength since his start in the comics industry. His work with character in Underwater Welder has to be one of his best character driven works asides from Roughneck or Sweet Tooth. His characters in this book feel real and relatable and you grow to care about them, and like I mentioned earlier, doesn't sacrifice their dignity in its mature exploration of its themes.
There's also Lemire's interest in the surreal that is reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, like mentioned earlier (in fact, Damon Lindelof, in his introduction for the book, dubbed it 'The Twilight Zone episode that was never developed.') While the afore mentioned Prince captures The Twilight Zone's penchent for the darkness lurking about in the light, Lemire takes the more personal focus with this book, placing characters in odd situations but letting them come back out of the situations and being a better person for it or being given a much more bittersweet ending, but I'll keep what happens in the book tightly closed, as this book is a book to be experienced.
Jeff Lemire might possibly be one of comics' most versatile and prolific creators still working today, and if you're going to be a creator that I want to check out or even like, than those things are what I look for, as well as a capacity for good storytelling, and Lemire has proven himself to be a creator that is worth following.