Behind The Scenes of Animal Man and more...

DC's blog THE SOURCE has been running a behind the scenes look at the making of Animal Man #1 in advance of it's September release. Click the link to watch the book evolve from initial pitch to final colored pages... BEHIND THE SCENES OF ANIMAL MAN

There have also been some great new reviews of the new issue of SWEET TOOTH, which features the first fully painted interior art I've ever done in comics, and of the new Superboy which builds up to the final issue in two weeks.

SWEET TOOTH 24 at IGN

SUPERBOY 10 at CBR

And finally tomorrow is the deadline for voting for this years HARVEY AWARDS. I'm nominated for BEST CARTOONIST and a lot of my good friends including SCOTT SNYDER and RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE are nominated as well, so GO VOTE!!

Out This Week: SUPERBOY 10

This Wednesday, Issue #10, the penultimate issue of my Superboy run is out. It's my favorite issue of the series, featuring an all-star cast of guest artists and guest stars. Pete Woods, Cafu and others join me to tell a time spanning tale featuring some of my favorite DC characters from the past including The Viking Prince and Arion.

And don't forget there is double Superboy this month, so in just two weeks #11, the final issue, ships!

In Store Signing, June 8 4-7 pm at Comics and More!

Double Dose of SUPERBOY in August!

SUPERBOY #10-11

Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by PIER GALLO, PETE WOODS and CAFU
Covers by KARL KERSCHL
SUPERBOY ships twice in August!
First, in SUPERBOY #10, learn how the threat currently facing Superboy and Smallville stretches all the way back to the time of ancient Atlantis! Guest-starring Arion and the Viking Prince, with art by Pete Woods and CAFU!

Then, in SUPERBOY #11, Jeff Lemire and Pier Gallo bring the saga of “The Hollow Men” to its explosive conclusion! Superboy, Lori, Simon and Psionic Lad must fight for the very soul of Smallville hundreds of miles beneath the town’s surface!
Issue #10 on sale AUGUST 3
Issue #11 on sale AUGUST 17
32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

SUPERBOY Nominated For An Eisner as BEST NEW SERIES!

Superboy has been nominated for a 2011 EISNER AWARD for Best New Series! Congrats to all my collaborators on the series, Pier Gallo, Jamie Grant, Rafael Albuquerque, Phil Noto, MArco Rudy, John J Hill, Eddy Barrows and Karl Kershl.

SUPERBOY, FRANKENSTEIN AND SWEET TOOTH in JULY!

SWEET TOOTH #22

Written by JEFF LEMIRE

Art and cover by JEFF LEMIRE

“Endangered Species” continues as Gus and Jepperd discover the dam and the amazing secrets it holds. But when Jepperd and Walter Fish butt heads, it threatens to tear the group apart. Meanwhile, Singh and Johnny come face to face with the foot soldiers of the mysterious “Haggarty,” and new secrets of “Project Evergreen” begin to surface.

On sale JUNE 1 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • Mature Readers

SUPERBOY #8 Written by JEFF LEMIRE Art by PIER GALLO Cover by KARL KERSCHL The mystery of the Hollow Men has been on Superboy’s mind ever since the first issue. The Phantom Stranger knows the secrets behind this Smallville legend, and Superboy is determined to get The Stranger to share that knowledge – but such information comes at a price, one Superboy may not be able to pay. Everything so far has been building up to this story, which kicks off here! On sale JUNE 1 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

FLASHPOINT: FRANKENSTEIN AND THE CREATURES OF THE UNKNOWN #1 Written by JEFF LEMIRE Art by IBRAIM ROBERSON Cover by DOUG MAHNKE FLASH FACT! They can’t survive unless they find their maker! Retailers: Please see the Previews Order form for special FLASHPOINT promotional buttons. On sale JUNE 8 • 1 of 3, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

COVER MANIA! Sweet Tooth 19 and Superboy 5

Above the cover for SWEET TOOTH #19 by Emi Lenox (Emi Town), Nate Powell(Swallow Me Whole) and Matt Kindt (Super Spy) as well as myself and Jose Villarubia. It will be a special issue with 3 short stories each focusing on the pasts of one of Sweet Tooth's female characters.

And below the cover to SUPERBOY #5 by Eddy Barrows. This issue will featuer the first ever Superboy/Kid Flash Race!

New Sweet Tooth Art, Superboy Reviewed and more!

A nice review of Superboy 2 over at Newsarama:

Superboy #2 (Published by DC Comics; Review by Teresa Jusino): I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: superhero titles that prominently feature teenagers are superhero titles at their best. The issues of identity and responsibility that come up in superhero comics are perfect metaphors for fumbling one’s way to adulthood. In the second issue of this wonderful new series, Superboy is forced to team up with Poison Ivy to solve the mysterious problem of overgrown plant life devouring Smallville. What makes this issue work is writer Jeff Lemire’s focus on Connor Kent’s relationship with his best friend, Simon, who has been begging Connor to allow him to be of help. When Simon rushes in to save the day by use of “Parasite frogs! Patent pending”, you know that these two boys are an excellent team. Lemire imbues this title with loads of humor, which is a change from his more serious-minded Sweet Tooth, and it’s interesting to watch Connor struggle with his new responsibilities and with wondering whether he should take his friend along for the ride, possibly endangering him. However, it’s clear that Simon’s intelligence is not to be underestimated, and I look forward to watching him and Superboy work together to fix an ailing Smallville.

And also, the first ever North American interview with Superboy artist Pier Gallo over at CBR!

And a brand new SWEET TOOTH interview at CBR as well.

And...A new Sweet Tooth blog with never before seen cover sketches over at GRAPHIC CONTENT.

And finally congrats to Lisa McCarty who won the new SWEET TOOTH drawing, featured above, off of my Twitter feed this morning!

OUT THIS WEEK: SWEET TOOTH VOL.2 and SUPERBOY #2!!

"Jeff Lemire's SWEET TOOTH is as heartbreakingly elegant as it is wholly original. One of the best comics I've ever read." -Damon Lindelof (creator of LOST)

Out this week Sweet Tooth Volume 2: In Captivity collecting issues 6-11 of the Eisner and Harvey nominated series from Vertigo/DC Comics! Also keep an eye on Vertigo's BLOG Graphic Content" for an exclusive blog post each day this week featuring never before seen behind the scenes artwork and info on the series.

Also out this week is the second issue of the new Superboy series!

Written by JEFF LEMIRE; Art by PIER GALLO; Cover by phil noto; 1:10 Variant cover by GUILLEM MARCH

The vegetation of Smallville is out of control, and all evidence points to Poison Ivy as the cause! Superboy's friend Simon thinks there might be more to this than meets the eye, but he'll have a hard time convincing Superboy of that now that he's in the thrall of Ivy!

SUPERBOY #1 Reviewed!

Some early Superboy#1 reviews!

comic book resources

craveonline.com

ign.com

brighthub.com

And and interview over a MTV Geek

Click on the ads for more details and a preview!

FROM ESSEX COUNTY TO SMALLVILLE PART 2.

So here I am. Superboy #1 is out today! It feels like a long time coming. Pier Gallo and I have already been working on the book for the better part of 2010. So let me tell you a bit about what I have planned for Conner Kent and Smallville…

As of typing this I have six full scripts done with a seventh in the outline stage. And, I have the first fifteen issues plotted out. So, this will be a BIG story. A Big story made up of a lot of smaller stories. Most of the run will be only 1 or 2 part arcs that add up to a bigger, badder story I’m weaving in that will culminate around Issue 12 or 13. I don’t want to say too much about it yet, but the first issue has some pretty good clues and teases. It also has THE PHANTOM STRANGER! one of my favorite comic book characters. Seems like an odd fit? Well Smallville really is the ideal American small town. But all small towns have a dark side. And Smallville’s dark side will be slowly creeping to the surface, making Kon-el’s attempts at a “normal life” harder and harder to achieve. What you see in the first two issues will only be the tip of the iceberg. (If you’re interested I suggest picking up THE PHANTOM STRANGER showcase editions…they too will hold clues to coming events!)

Astute readers of my past work will also notice an “homage’ of sorts to Essex County in the first issues opening sequence. It pretty much mirrors the opening pages of Tales From The Farm, with the young character of Lester dreaming of flying away and leaving his troubles behind.

(PS…One more thing. Just a side note…my past work is obviously very Canadian. I’m a proud Canuck, what can I say. But it’s kind of interesting how Canadians have played a big part in Superboy’s life so far. Tom Grummet a fellow Canuck was the Superboy artist through the 90’s. maybe we’ll have to team up for an all Canadian issue?)

One thing I love to do in all my comics is use visual motifs. Re-occurring imagery that slowly reveals a metaphor or draws attention to certain aspects of the plot. I did it a lot in Essex and I do it a lot in Sweet Tooth. But It’s also fun to use these motifs as a way of drawing links, thematic or otherwise between some of my different books. It’s why I made Jepperd a hockey player in Sweet Tooth and had him being followed by crows as he trekked across the post-apocalyptic world. And it’s why I used this opening sequence to Superboy. Kon-el and Lester have a lot in common, and at the same time, they’re very different. Lester used his imagination to escape the small town he was stuck in and the hard realities f his life. He dreamed of being a superhero and flying away to great adventure. Conner is trying to use the normalcy of small town life to escape being a superhero. But he can’t. Like Lester he is who he is, and he’ll have to accept it sooner or later.

Now all this talk about my past work and hoe Essex County led to Superboy is probably a bit misleading. Any of my readers expecting to pick up Superboy and read “Essex County with Capes” will be disappointed. EC was a indie book through and through, both aesthetically and in its pacing and execution. Superboy is not Essex County. It can never be that kind of book. It’s a superhero comic. A DC superhero comic, and it celebrates it. It’s big and fun and full of action. But if I do my job right, all of that action a will mean something. And it will be balanced with real characters…real people living in small town America trying to figure themselves, and their lives out. And finding the answers within each other.

What else can I tell you about the book? Let’s see…There is a great first issue cover by Rafael Albequerque (American Vampire) and great covers to issues 2-5 by the awesome Phil Noto. There are a few new characters like Psionic Lad and The Spawn of Smallville. And of course there’s always KRYPTO! So that’s about it for now. That’s all I got. I hope you like the first issue. If you do, stick around and come back for more. If not, that’s cool too. Thanks for trying it out.

I can’t wait for #2 and #3 and beyond to come out, to share the stories I’ve been cooking up with Pier Gallo and the rest of Superman team up at DC! Thanks for reading.

FROM ESSEX COUNTY TO SMALLVILLE PART 1.

This Wednesday, Nov.3, my first issue of DC Comic's new SUPERBOY series launches. In a way the release of Superboy marks a sort of milestone in my career, one I never saw coming. But, when I look back at how I got here, the path seems clear and natural.

It's been quite a journey for me both creatively and personally over the last 3 or 4 years. Four years ago...2006. I was still working full-time as a line cook at La Hacienda restaurant on Queen Street West in Toronto. I'd work night shifts and then get up early to draw all day before I had to go back in for my next shift.

I'd finished my first long-form comics work, the self-published LOST DOGS about a year and a half earlier and I'd been struggling with what to do next. There were a few aborted projects in there, but none of them really seemed to stick. I can't remember exactly how the idea for Tales From The Farm came about. But I do recall the original idea for that book was much more sci-fi heavy. It was a full-on genre book about a little kid living on a farm who dressed up as a superhero, and a big ex-hockey player. The two were the sole survivors in a small town after a plague wiped everyone else out (Sweet Tooth fans might find this concept eerily familiar).

But as I worked on that idea, I ended up dropping the overt genre elements and simplified it. It became a love letter to the small town where I grew up and to my own childhood on the farm. Tales From The Farm was meant as a stand-alone work. But it took off and the idea expanded into a series of books that would eventually be the Essex County Trilogy. It became a sweeping multi-generational epic about small town life and family, all filtered through the central metaphor of hockey.

The success of Essex County led to work at Vertigo, thanks to then editor Bob Schreck and the great Karen Berger. I did a book called The Nobody, another rumination on small town life, and then launched my current monthly book SWEET TOOTH, which oddly enough re-purposed some of my original ideas for Tales From The Farm and mashed them up with a bunch of other fun sci-fi and horror ideas I had floating around in my sketchbooks. I finally got to quit my kitchen job and work at comics full time. Life was good. But then it got better...

I never thought I'd ever write mainstream superhero comics. I just thought my style was a bit to personal and idiosyncratic to translate. And I never thought editors at DC or Marvel would be interested. I was wrong. Within a few months of Sweet Tooth's release I had offers to write superhero books for both Marvel and DC. It's no secret that I grew up reading superhero comics. Anyone who read Tales From The Farm can pretty clearly see young Lester's love of comics as a nod to my own childhood obsession. I loved them as a kid and still do now. So the opportunity to take on a superhero book of my own was really exciting, if not a bit unexpected.

DC offered me a chance to write an ATOM story in Adventure comics. I took it, and it was going pretty well. I admit, in hindsight that there was a pretty steep learning curve going from writing and drawing everything myself to trying to filter my "voice" through another artist. But Mahmud Asrar, the Atom art-phenom made the transition in those early chapters go a lot smoother, and eventually I started to get the hang of it.

Then came the chance to write Superboy. At first I wasn't really interested. I actually didn't think the character or the book would be a good fit for me. Sometimes the most obvious things are the hardest to see. But then I took a step back and saw how perfect I was for the book after all. I saw how all of the themes that I loved exploring in Essex County and The Nobody could also be present in Superboy...small town life, community , family...it was all there. Only this time instead of filtering it through the metaphor of hockey, I could filter it through the metaphor of the super hero.

And that's how I began working on Superboy. Where it would lead me was even more unexpected, but I'll pick that up tomorrow. I'll also explain a few homages to Essex County "hidden" within the first couple of issues, and tease some upcoming storylines. See you then!

Superboy!

Just one week until SUPERBOY #1 hits stores. Here's a pin-up of that character I did, colored by my Sweet Tooth art partner Jose Villarubia!

SUPERBOY #3 Written by JEFF LEMIRE Art by PIER GALLO Cover by PHIL NOTO 1:10 Variant cover by DUSTIN NGUYEN It's just another day at Smallville High - girl trouble psychic attacks, gym class, lunch with Kid Flash, study hall and alien terrorists from the future! Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information. On sale JANUARY 5 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

SUPERBOY TAKES OFF IN NOVEMBER!

That’s the cover to SUPERBOY #1, courtesy of Rafael Albuquerque (Vertigo’s AMERICAN VAMPIRE). Isn’t it a beauty?

The cover helps kick off the new SUPERBOY ongoing series. I'll be writing the book and it will be illustrated by the awesome PIER GALLO, and colored by JAMIE GRANT!

We're taking Superboy on a journey to a side of Smallville not even Superman knows about. What mysteries can be found beneath the surface of the prototypical all-American town? You’ll find out in November!

AND IN JUST TWO WEEKS CATCH A 10-PAGE SUPERBOY PREVIEW STORY BY PIER, JAMIE AND MYSELF IN ACTION COMICS #892!

SUPERMAN #700!

This Wednesday DC Comics will release the 700th Issue of Superman! Iam lucky enough to have a small part in that historic issue. It will feature a sneak peek of my plans for SUPERBOY as well as some exclusive artwork.

Also over on DC's blog their is a little essay from me about my thoughts on Superman.