The Complete Essex County

By Jeff Lemire
Top Shelf, $29.95, 512 pages

Lemire’s cartooning has a truth to it, a sad and depressing truth that is at the same time uplifting simply because of how true this truth is. The Complete Essex County is no exception, and in fact, is exemplary of that very truth. Essex County is a simple place with simple happenings, yet with complicated emotion tied to it and its inhabitants. A young and eccentric boy, Lester, is left to Ken, a farmer and rancher, after the boy’s mother dies. Lester’s father, Ken’s old best friend, is alive and lives just in town, but due to injury, is mentally unfit to raise the boy by himself, however much he wants to be a part of Les’s life. The ensuing drama, while outwardly not the most original, is told, expressed, and especially illustrated in a highly original and emotional fashion.

Essex County shows just how emotionally moving and powerful sequential art can be, and even through what seem to be simple plot lines about a simple small town, Lemire is able to tell a deeply affecting and gorgeous story through his sheer talent of conveying the feeling more than the action.

Reviewed by Jordan Dacayanan