Skip to main contentOn Tuesday, October 6th, Jeff Lemire cancelled his Wordstock appearance due to a personal emergency.
You should really read: Tales From Essex County
Canadian cartoonist Jeff Lemire is not just talented with a pen—his line grows thin and tight for sweeping landscapes, bulbous and loose for his teetering homespun characters—he's a hell of a storyteller as well. Lemire's Tales From Essex County trilogy, recently collected by Top Shelf as a single edition, spans countries and generations but leaves readers with a single, haunting truth: Time reduces all of our struggles and accolades to the dust bin of history, whether we accept that or not. Noon Saturday, Oct. 10. McMenamins Stage.
What's your personal writing ritual?
Shower, cup of coffee, check email, play with my baby boy for 10 minutes, then down to the basement to start drawing.
What are your favorite themes to write about?
Small-town life, family, fathers and sons, and little boys with antlers.
The most beautiful word in the English language is: Comics!
What authors made you want to pick up a pen in the first place, and why?
Alan Moore (Saga of the Swamp Thing), John Steinbeck (Cannery Row) and David Lynch (Twin Peaks).
Fight Club time: If you could fight one author (or critic), who would it be and why?
I would definitely fight Charles Bukowski. Getting beaten up by Charles Bukowski would just about be the coolest thing in the world.
Name a book you think is highly overrated. Be honest.
The Essex County trilogy by Jeff Lemire
Dream project:
The Da Vinci Code: The Graphic Novel.
Most recent nightmare:
At least once a week I dream that I'm back in high school. It was a nightmare the first time, now it's just cruel.
Your cure for writer's block:
Read a good comic!
Pessimistic question: Will you keep writing even after people stop reading?
I was writing and drawing comics long before anyone knew who I was, and I'll be doing it till the day I die.
Cautiously optimistic question: Obama? Discuss.
I'm a Canadian…don't drag me into this!
Share one thing you've had to change in your everyday life thanks to our current recession.
Ummm…I hate to say it, but this past year has been my best ever financially, so I just get to buy more expensive hardcover comics.
Please paste a short paragraph from a story you're currently working on:
Here's a three page sequence from my yet-to-be-announced next book from Top Shelf!
WWeek 2015