ddangelico's The Underwater Welder #1 - GN review

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    THE UNDERWATER WELDER

    Jeff Lemire is a master storyteller. I’m just going to get that out there right from the beginning. His runs on ANIMAL MAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK have been (deservedly so) showered with praise. And while he is currently one of the fastest rising stars over at DC, it’s his creator-owned work that really makes him shine. His post-apocalyptic tale SWEET TOOTH at Vertigo is heartwarming yet terrifying. His graphic novel trilogy ESSEX COUNTY is perhaps the best piece of slice of life storytelling the medium has seen since Havey Pekar was at the top of his game. And now with THE UNDERWATER WELDER, Jeff Lemire has done it again.

    THE UNDERWATER WELDER is a story about blue-collar worker Jack Joseph and his commitment to his job as an underwater welder off the shores of Nova Scotia. He has a lonely wife at home with a baby on the way. Ever since his father mysteriously disappeared on Halloween when he was a young boy, Jack has had a mysterious pull to the ocean. The deeper Jack goes, the further he gets from his wife, but the closer he gets to unlocking the mysteries within himself.

    The Good

    It’s obvious that Lemire puts his whole self into his work. The book is dedicated to his son Gus, and what we have here is a powerful promise from a father to his son that he will try his best to be a good father. He will most likely fail at times, but the promise Lemire is making to his son is that he will always be there. And that is the best part of this book. You can feel the passion with every page, every scribble, and every word. This is a story that Lemire needed to tell—which always makes for the best stories.

    In the introduction, Damon Lindelof (LOST, PROMETHEUS) describes this book as “The most spectacular episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE that was never produced.” I can’t help but agree whole heartedly with that statement. The book’s meta-physical aspects, while never overbearing, are strange enough to make you uncomfortable, to give you a bizarre mix of fear and wonderment. These aspects only enhance the human story at the heart of the book. The story never is about the strange happenings around Jack Joseph, but more so the strange happenings in his head and his heart.

    Lemire’s art here is as strong as always. You can almost smell the salty air and hear the sound of the gulls. His coarse style is perfect for this kind of story and only adds to the ambiance. The one thing that has always stood out to me about Lemire’s art is the way he draws his characters’ eyes. They are very simple, sometimes literally just two black dots. But they always seem to convey the perfect emotion, be it sadness or surprise. The splash pages are gorgeous and really do a wonderful job of conveying the depth and darkness of not only the ocean, but the situations in which Jack finds himself.

    The Bad

    The only negative is that sometimes Lemire’s compelling splash pages fall victim to being interrupted by the binding of the book. But this is such a small thing and happens so rarely that I feel strange even noting it.

    The Verdict

    I loved this book with all my heart. I know the year is only a little more than half-way over, but I don’t think that another graphic novel will come out this year that I feel this passionately about. Lemire’s emotional storytelling, matched with his beautiful,craggy art, makes THE UNDERWATER WELDER another masterpiece from one of the best creators working in the medium today.

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