Monday, August 27, 2012

BALTIMORE COMICON

I will be at BALTIMORE COMICON September 8-9 and will be signing all weekend at the TOP SHELF BOOTH.

I won't be sketching or taking commissions, EXCEPT FOR 1-hour of exclusive sketching at the HERO INITIATIVE BOOTH each day, with all proceeds THE HERO INITIATIVE. The full sketching schedule below:

Saturday, September 8 (con hours 10-6)

1000-1100: Chris Ivy

1100-100: John Romita Jr.

200-330: Herb Trimpe

300-500: John Romita Jr.

400-500: Jeff Lemire

500-600: Mike Choi

Sunday, September 9 (con hours 10-5)

1000-1100: John Romita Jr.

1100-1200: Jeff Lemire

1200-100: Chris Ivy

100-200: Herb Trimpe

200-400: Chris Ivy

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Fan Expo Signing Times

FAN EXPO CANADA

As previously announced I will only be at this weekend's FAN EXPO CANADA for a limited period of time. However I will be doing TWO SIGNINGS at the DC Comics booth, Friday from 3-4 and Sunday from 3-4. I will also be on the DC ALL ACCESS Panel in Rm 716 from 1-2 on Friday.

DC COMICS PANEL: FRIDAY AUGUST 24 1-2pm Rm716

SIGNING: FRIDAY AUGUST 24 3-4 pm DC BOOTH

SIGNING: SUNDAY AUGUST 24 3-4 pm DC BOOTH

Friday, August 17, 2012

The Underwater Welder is a New York Times Bestseller!

The Underwater Welder made the New York Times Bestseller list this week as #6 on the paperback graphic novel list! There is also an exclusive new interview with me at The Times.

Earlier this week there was a great review of The Welder at NPR

And another new interview with me at Macleans.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

The Making of The Underwater Welder: Part 3

Sorry it's been so long between these "making of" posts, I've been really busy with deadlines over the last week. At any rate here is the 3rd behind the scenes look at the creation of my new graphic novel, THE UNDERWATER WELDER.

In this instalment I'll take a look at some of my initial concept drawing done in early 2008. You can see pages from my old sketchbooks where I had quickly scratched out ideas for scenes or key visual moments in the book. You can also see how these initial ideas stuck around and how close they became to the finished art.

Monday, August 6, 2012

The Underwater Welder Reviews and News!

The Underwater Welder has landed -- and it's a hit!

July 30, 2012

Jeff Lemire's long-awaited follow-up to Essex County is finally in stores everywhere, and from all reports, The Underwater Welder has been touching readers profoundly. Here's a sampling of the critical reaction:

"Lemire’s stylized art and inventive panel structure is the perfect vehicle for his well-told story, and the tale’s poignant moments make the moments of desolation even more heart-wrenching... A beautiful, moving, wholly satisfying story about fatherhood and growing up." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The Underwater Welder... is all kinds of wonderful. Buy it. You will wet yourself with tears, your brain will spin from masterful storytelling, and you will love it." -- Jeff Jensen, Entertainment Weekly

"The Underwater Welder is an early contender for the year's best comic book... a richly-detailed story with characters that are all deeply flawed and undoubtedly human... once you pick it up you'll wish it never ended." -- Jason Serafino, Complex

"A spectacularly unpredictable reading experience... a roughly 220-page tour de force with enough emotional resonance that you might find yourself wiping away a single tear while closing the book’s final page. Thus far, this is my favorite original graphic novel of the year." -- Erik Norris, IGN

"This is a pretty clear frontrunner for me for 'Best of 2012' so far, but while it may still be too early to call that race, The Underwater Welder is at least the best in what was already an impressive line of work from Jeff Lemire." -- Ain't It Cool News

"Already a safe bet for the best graphic novel of the year." -- Multiversity Comics

"Absolutely brilliant... one of the highest quality pieces of work that I have read in a very long time." --Comicosity

"Underwater Welder has rocketed to the top of my Book of the Year list." --Stumptown Trade Review

"My words cannot do justice to the beauty of Lemire’s inks. There is literal and figurative depth here, but also subtlety when it is needed." -- Heroes Aren't Hard to Find

"Meditative and haunting." -- The Outhouse

"Rife with big universal ideas made strikingly personal... engaging, emotionally affecting and sometimes frightening." -- Talking Comic Books

"The magic that Lemire works with the story is astounding. The tightness of the plotting, the scripting, the pacing, the sheer impact of it all; everything is right." -- Geek Syndicate

If you haven't read The Underwater Welder, you can grab it today in print or digital. And if you're new to Jeff's work, don't miss his early gem Lost Dogs and his landmark opusEssex County.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Making of The Underwater Welder: Part 2

In this second behind the scenes installment of the work that went into The Underwater Welder I'll share some of the earliest character designs as well as a few more developed model sheets. The character of "Trapper" is my favorite to draw. he was modelled after Elliot Gould in Robert Altman's MASH, and I even called him Trapper after Gould's character.

Incidentally the lead characters, father and son Jack and Pete were originally named Jack and Ted as an homage to the greatest father/son superhero comic ever, James Robinson's STARMAN. But I changed it at the last moment to Pete because my Father's name is Ted and I didn't want him to think that the character, an alcoholic and often absentee dad, was a reflection of him. My Dad was about the best Father you could ask for and couldn't be further from the Pete/Ted character.

Friday, July 27, 2012

The Making of THE UNDERWATER WELDER: Part 1

My newest graphic novel The Underwater Welder was released on Wednesday, but I actually started working on the book over four years ago. It was an incredibly difficult undertaking both creatively and in terms of scheduling. When I started working on the book I wasn't a Dad yet, and I hadn't started working on monthly books for Vertigo or DC Comics yet. In other words I had time on my hands. But over the course of the last four years my life changed dramatically and finding time to work on The Welder became increasingly difficult.

In the first of a series of blog posts I'll try to retrace the creation of the book from my initial notes and sketches to the final product.

Below are the earliest notes, ideas and doodles for the book that I did. Dated 2008, I remember waking up in the middle of the night one night with the initial idea and filling this little notebook with notes and ideas. As you can see I originally called it "The Ballad of The Underwater Welder". All I had then was an image of a guy in a diving helmet and the phrase "The deeper I go...the further I get from you." From there I started building a story...