Essex County Volume 1: Tales From The Farm
(Read this again so I thought I’d stick up the wee post I wrote when I used to do the comics blog.)
Tales From The Farm is the first in a trilogy of graphic novels about the fictional Essex County, Canada written and drawn by Jeff Lemire. It’s about a ten year old boy, Lester, who has to live on his Uncle Ken’s farm after his mother dies of cancer. It’s a moving story that focuses on Lester’s retreat into his imaginary world of superheroes and aliens and Ken’s difficulty in coping with the promise he made to his dying sister to raise Lester. The other main element of Tales From The Farm is Lester’s blossoming relationship with a mentally damaged former ice hockey player, Jimmy LeBeuf, as they put together Essex County’s defence against Lester’s imagined impending alien invasion. It’s a subtle, beautiful and moving piece of work. I will be actively seeking out Essex County Volume 2: Ghost Stories which apparently improves upon this excellent opening.
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