SWEET TOOTH TWITTER CONTEST!

In celebration of the release of Sweet Tooth 5, I will be doing daily contests on my twitter feed every day for the next week, at random times. The winners will win an autographed set of Sweet Tooth #1-5.

The questions will all be specific questions from Sweet Tooth 1-5, so you better keep your copies handy.

OUT TODAY SWEET TOOTH #5!

THE END OF THE ROAD....

Written by Jeff Lemire; Art and Cover by Jeff Lemire

"The new 'must read' book." –Geoff Johns "Dark, moving and intriguing." – Frank Quitely Surprises abound in this conclusion to the first arc of the red-hot Vertigo series that's so compelling you're not going to want to wait for the trade. On the dangerous road to a rumored safe haven, Gus and Jeppard come to a raw moment of truth.

• Vertigo
• 32pg.
• Color
• $2.99 US
• Mature Readers

On Sale January 6, 2010

2010 Appearances and Signings

It will be a busy year of making comics with Sweet Tooth an ongoing concern, as well as a yet-to-be-announced new 200+ page graphic novel for Top Shelf underway. I also have new projects coming from DC, Marvel and another OGN in the works with Josh Dysart!

In addition I'm doing my best to keep a regular convention schedule tis year and (so far) these are my confirmed appearances:

FEBRUARY 13, 2010: Signing at LA MOOD COMICS in London, Ontario.

MARCH 13-14, 2010: EMERALD CITY COMICON, Seattle Washington

MAY 8-9, 2010: TCAF Toronto Comic Arts Festival

MAY 22-23, 2010: MaCAF: Maine Comic Arts Festival, Portland, Maine

JULY 21-25: SAN DIEGO COMICON

GUS IS NOT ALONE ANYMORE: IN CAPTIVITY AND 3 NEW CLUES!

NEW SWEET TOOTH NEWS AND CLUES at Vertigo's Blog!

Also Sweet Tooth picked as one of The Oregonian's Top Comics of 2009

MY FAVORITE COMICS OF 2009

2009 was a particularly strong year for comics, especially Original Graphic Novels, so in no particular order here are some of my favorite comics of the past year:

3 STORY: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE GIANT MAN: MATT KINDT:
This is the very best work of a VERY good cartoonist. I was fortunate enough to read an earlier draft of this stunning graphic novel by my good friend Matt Kindt. I loved it then, and I love it now even more. Matt may be too close to see it himself, but I can see all the love he has for his wife and daughter poured into these pages.

ASTERIOS POLYP: DAVID MAZZUCCELLI:

What else can you say about this book that hasn't already been said. Mazzucchelli's career has been amazing, co-creating some of the best "mainstream" comics of the last 25 years with Daredevil Born Again and Batman Year One. And his Rubber Blankets was a huge influence on me when I first started cartooning. He is a master of the medium, and AP his masterwork.

GEORGE SPROTT: SETH:

Speaking of the best work of a great cartoonist...I love Clyde Fans, I love It's A Good Life...and I Love Wimbelton Green. Having said that, GEORGE SPROTT trumps them all. Seth is clearly one of our finest living cartoonists, and he is firing on all cylinders with this gorgeous oversized account of the melancholy moments that make up a man's life. It also drips with small town southern Ontario nostalgia, something I can't resist.

THE HUNTER: Darwyn Cooke:

Darwyn Cooke is really, really good isn't he? This book is so hard to put down. The art is gorgeous, the cartooning impeccable. I can't wait for more Parker.

THE LAGOON: LILLI CARRE:

This is a strange, haunting and beguiling book. I can't explain it, nor do I want to. It just needs to be read and experienced. Lilli Carre is a wonderful cartoonist with her own, truly unique voice.

I KILL GIANTS: JOE KELLY AND LM KEN NIIMURA:

When I read this it reminded me a lot of some of the themes and moods I was trying to capture in Tales From The Farm, and I loved it. NIIMURA's expressive scratchy art is brilliant and I was genuinely moved by Kelly's script which knew when to be big and loud, and when to be quiet and restrained.

SCALPED: Jason Aaron and RM Guera:

The best monthly comic being produced right now. Scalped is in a league all of its own, and it just keeps getting better and better. Jason Aaron solidifies himself as the best writer to emerge from the "big two" in a long, long time.

STITCHES: DAVID SMALL

A lot of my hoity-toity comic book friends were slagging this book off as over-hyped. Well, I don't care how hyped it was, I still really enjoyed it. I thought the art had a really great loose inky feel and it used comics in some really interesting ways

INCOGNITO: ED BRUBAKER AND SEAN PHILLIPS:

I've been a devoted fan of Sean Phillips since his stunning run on Hellblazer with Paul Jenkins. But he's never as good as he is when he's drawing a Brubaker script. They are one of those rare writer/artists teams that blend into a third, brilliant cartoonist when together. Ingognito is an addictive pulp mash-up. A bit lighter than the also excellent CRIMINAL, and a hell of a lot of fun.

EMITOWN: EMI LENNOX:

My favorite web comic. Portlander Emi Lennox's two-tone comic memoirs are whimsical, clever and very engaging. She's one of the brightest young cartoonists I've come across in a long, long time and if Emitown is any indication of things to come, she'll be making a lot of new fans very soon.

The Montreal Gazette Selects Essex County!

Ian Gillis of the Montreal Gazette recently chose ESSEX COUNTY as part of his spotlight on Candian Graphic Novels.

The Complete Essex County, by Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf Productions, 512 pages, $31.95). In this family saga set in an imagined version of the author’s native southwestern Ontario, Lemire taps into some of the deepest wellsprings of Canadian mythology: hardscrabble farm life, long winters, stoicism, solitude and, as well as anyone has ever depicted, the central role of hockey. The result is a book that achieves an epic sweep even though it’s relatively light on text.

Lemire’s fluid, expressionistic black-and-white style – he’s especially effective with faces and how they echo across generations – speaks volumes by itself. As a storyteller, he’s bold enough to walk the thin line between melancholy and sentimentality, never quite succumbing to the latter. Essex County packs an enormous emotional punch.

Frankenstein Lives!

A warm up sketch I did yesterday...