I read book one of this series late last year. This is one of several Jeff Lemire post apocalypse worlds and probably his most famous because of the Netflix series.
The basic set up is that hybrid children started being born, and at the same time a plague started wiping out regular fully human humanity.
We are following Gus- aka Sweet Tooth- who is part boy part deer. In the first book, his father died of the Sick and he left his sheltered cabin in the woods. There he met and travelled with the Big Man who committed an act of complete betrayal.
Book 2 picks up immediately afterwards and delves into the Big Man's past, and the impact of the betrayal on poor Gus. We're also introduced to a brand new set of villains.
I'm not ashamed to say that I was wiping tears away at the end of this series, something no graphic novel series has succeeded in doing to me since Locke and Key. This has a pitch perfect ending, bittersweet, and full of hope. It also seems to negate any possible sequel, but I see that there is another book out called Sweet tooth The return... which I have of course ordered.
I'm still not 100% convinced by the artwork. There are some amazingly well thought out tricks with layout etc and some undeniably beautiful pages, but Lemire's art is not as good for me as his writing. it's frequently quite ugly, which weirdly suits the story so what am I talking about?
The first section of book three has a guest artist, for reasons explained in the afterword. It's probably some of the best art in the entire saga.
I'm not sure if this has knocked Gideon Falls off the top of my list of best Lemire series, but it's close. the section in the Dam is brilliantly plotted. If I was to be exceptionally picky, I'd say that maybe the ending is quite similar to at least one of his other series. But this did come first, so I can't criticise its use in this case.
If you want an emotional rollercoaster, this is the series to read.
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