Sweet Tooth

Sweet Tooth cover (1 November 2009) showing Gus, by Jeff Lemire.

Sweet Tooth is an American comic book series written and drawn by Canadian Jeff Lemire and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. Dubbed by some as "Mad Max meets Bambi", it takes place in a mostly rural post-apocalyptic setting where some creatures are human/animal hybrids.

A monthly series, there were 40 issues published between September 2009 - January 2013. The creative team in addition to Jeff Lemire includes letterers Pat Brosseau, colorist José Villarrubia, and editors Brandon Montclare and Bob Schreck.

Influences

Although the story is initially set in Nebraska, the landscape is inspired by Lemire's past home of Essex County, Ontario.

Characters

• Gus — A 9-year-old boy with antlers is a new breed of human/animal hybrid that appeared after an apocalyptic pandemic of an unknown virus. Raised alone by his religious father in a nature preserve in Nebraska, he decides to leave his forest home with Jepperd after his father dies of an unknown illness.
• Tommy Jepperd — A hulking, violent drifter who takes in Gus and promises to lead him to "The Preserve" (a fabled safe-haven for hybrid children). The character was based on an aged Frank Castle (Marvel Comics's "The Punisher"). "Corben’s aging gray-haired Frank ... character design ended up being a huge influence on the design of Jepperd, the big bad ass in Sweet Tooth."
• Dr. Singh - A scientist that experiments on hybrid Human/Animals. He takes special interest in Gus because of his apparent age predating the pandemic.

Story arcs

• "Out of the woods"
  • This introduction arc flows fluidly between art and caption. Gus (a young boy whose father has died and can no longer protect him.) and Jepperd (a huge tough guy who promises to protect Gus.) are introduced. When they meet, Jepperd promises Gus he will bring him to the "The Preserve". This arc presents the adventure of these two males to the "The Preserve". The landscape and the world that they know is slowly but surely revealed to readers.

• "In Captivity"
  • Gus finally meets other Hybrids. Gus now parted away from Jepperd, sees the horrors of being a Hybrid and why his father wanted to protect him. Jepperd away from Gus, gets to reflect on his life choices.

• "Endangered Species"
  • Having escaped from the militia, the crew head to Alaska to try and find the cause of the plague.

Collected editions

The series is collected into six trade paperbacks:

• Sweet Tooth volume 1: Out of the Woods (Collects Sweet Tooth #1-5, May 18, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4012-2696-5)
• Sweet Tooth volume 2: In Captivity (Collects Sweet Tooth #6-11, December 14, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4012-2854-2)
• Sweet Tooth volume 3: Animal Armies (Collects Sweet Tooth #12-17, June 8, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4012-3170-5)
• Sweet Tooth volume 4: Endangered Species (Collects Sweet Tooth #18-25, January 31, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4012-3361-7)
• Sweet Tooth volume 5: Unnatural Habitats (Collects Sweet Tooth #26-32, October 31, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4012-3723-1)
• Sweet Tooth volume 6: Wild Game (Collects Sweet Tooth #33-40, June 25, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4012-4029-1)

External links

• http://sweettoothcomic.blogspot.com/
• Sweet Tooth at the ComicBookDB.com
• Brophy-Warren, Jamin. "Tales of the Country: Jeff Lemire shrugs off comics' urban obsession". Wall Street Journal. August 27, 2009. Retrieved on December 30, 2021.