Imagine Calvin without Hobbes. Hobbes has gone somewhere … died maybe … I don’t know. His folks too. Place him on a farm, feeding chickens for his chores. Uncle Ken is a good man, but he doesn’t really understand. Tales From the Farm is not about Calvin, but young Lester is about the same age. His imagination is equally fantastic, but missing the necessary props his situation is heart-rending and irresistible. Stark sketches and dialogue tell the story of the deep holes in Lester’s life, and the discoveries that help him along. This wonderful graphic novel by Jeff Lemire is the first volume in his Essex County series, a real county near my home. It is a work of art that will take a place of honour on my bookshelf.

Source: http://johnmiedema.ca/2009/06/19/tale... ( )

Tales from the Farm, the first volume in Jeff Lemire's proposed Essex County Trilogy, is an impressive, heartbreaking work.

Ten-year-old Lester, recently orphaned, has been sent to live on his uncle's farm in Southwestern Ontario. Lester is one of those sensitive boys who doesn't really fit in anywhere. He likes to read comics and dress up in a mask and cape. Uncle Ken doesn't know what to do with Lester--he only took the boy in because of a deathbed promise to his sister.

Lester strikes up an unusual friendship with Jimmy, the cashier at the gas station convenience store where Lester buys his comics. Jimmy was once a player in the NHL, but a vicious check ended his career and left him not quite right in the head.

Tales from the Farm has a timeless quality about it. The feeling in the story is of one that happened some time ago (the only hint we have is that Lester remarks that comics cost more than a dollar), but it really could be any time.

Lemire's art fits the mood and style of the story perfectly. It reminds me of characters by Ted McKeever living in a landscape drawn by Danijel Zezelj. It's all heavy on inks and appropriate dreary, though the flashback scenes are done in a watered style and there's a five-page section in the middle meant to be a comic that Lester has drawn, taken from a comic that Lemire actually did when he was nine-years-old.

Toss in a strange and ambiguous ending and you get a very satisfying comic experience. I won't be surprised to find Tales from the Farm on several lists of the year's best (including my own).

Rating: 4 (of 5). ( )

I am struck at how the pictures in this book propel and deepen and enliven the story. That 'a picture is worth a thousand words' becomes a reality here. I'm not much of a Graphic Novel reader, but after seeing/reading this book, I could definitely recommend it to mature readers. Offensive language is employed. Story illuminates themes such as becoming an orphan, adoption by a 'not so willing' relative, friendship between boy and man, death of a parent, life after death, reconciliation, a boy's imagination with sci/fi - dream or reality? Very well done book. ( )

Xeric Award-winning cartoonist Jeff Lemire illustrates the tale of Lester, a recently orphaned 10-year-old living on his Uncle's farm in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. As their relationship grows increasingly strained, Lester befriends the small town's hulking gas station owner, Jimmy Lebeuf, a damaged former hockey star. The two escape into a private fantasy world of super-heroes, alien invaders, and good old-fashioned pond hockey.

Tales From The Farm is a simple and moving story of a boy coming to terms with the death of his mother in a small Canadian farm town. Lemire's unique art style conveys so much emotion in a single panel that words are not necessary. I was blown away. This was my introduction to Jeff Lemire, and now I can't wait for more. ( )