Essex County, Volume 1: Tales from the Farm

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 show more 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). show less

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: show more target="_top">http://johnmiedema.ca/2009/06/19/tales-from-the-farm-by-jeff-lemire-book-review/ show less

Farm life is not for me, and large open spaces, like, say the great plains, give me full-on heebie-jeebies. So, yeah, bleak, full of grief, nearly devoid of women: that all hangs together.

But hockey! And Lester's comic as drawn by Lemire, aged nine! Just a litle warmth and light, to throw the dark into stark relief.I

Library copy

The first in the Essex County series this graphic novel is an interesting and subtly emotional story of a recently orphaned boy living on a farm with his uncle. I confess that I usually prefer more detailed artwork and color in my graphic novels (e.g. Hub), but the endearing story overcomes a style of artwork that I didn't especially care for. The thick ink style does lend itself well to creating the lonely and slightly off kilter world of Lester.

A moving coming-of-age story about a young boy who is sent to live with a relative he doesn't really know. The boy makes a friendship with an older man, who, after being hurt playing professional hockey, returned to his hometown. The ending has two surprises, one of which is whether the boy's alien fantasies have really come true. It's a complete story in itself, but there's enough to make you want to read the rest of the series.

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.

I had some time to kill in Stockholm City yesterday, and found myself in the excellent comics library Serieteket in the Culture House for the first time in a long while. What a great place that is, with it’s brilliant selection and competent staff – we’re so lucky to have it!

I picked up this, the first volume in the Essex County series, after hearing much raving about it here on LT. It’s easy to see why. This novella of a young boy on the Canadian countryside who’s just lost his mother and escapes into Superhero fantasies is perhaps not that original, but Lehane tells it in an exact, sparse style, making great use of the medium. It’s a little gem, if not sensational, and I’ll surely read the following parts as well.