Jeff Lemire On Why Superheroes and Boys with Antlers are Equally Great

Eisner and Harvey award nominated comic writer/illustrator Jeff Lemire hails from a small town in Essex County, Ontario and has his surroundings, in part, to thank for his success. Although non-autobiographical, his three-part Essex County series from Top Shelf Comics is set in the farming community where he grew up. Canada Reads has recently named the trilogy one of the Top 5 Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade.

This young man from Canada, who drew much of his inspiration from his native soil, has achieved a great deal of success so far. Vertigo Comics picked up his next graphic novel, The Nobody, in 2009, quickly turning him into a rising star in the comic book world. Lemire’s breakout hit, Sweet Tooth, an ongoing series also published by Vertigo, focuses on a young boy with antlers lost in an apocalyptic world that, in his innocence, he knows very little about. Its success led to Lemire being named writer of one of DC Comics’ newest high-profile titles, Superboy. I spoke with Lemire recently for Publishers Weekly Comics Week about his accolades, the change from his creator-owned characters to DC superheroes and Sweet Tooth Volume Two, in stores now.

Head on over to PW Comics Week for the interview!

One Response to “Jeff Lemire On Why Superheroes and Boys with Antlers are Equally Great”

  1. Mike says:

    Nice interview, Jill! I'm embarassed to say I haven't yet read any of Lemire's work, but now I am feeling motivated to go and catch up on "Sweet Tooth." Anything described as an unconventional fairy tale intrigues me! Also, I had planned to pick up his "Superboy" run, but, alas, budgetary restrictions prevented me from adding it to my pull list. His plan of connected stand-alones does sound interesting, though, so maybe I'll have to relent!