Jeff Lemire!

A couple of posts back, I mentioned that Catl would be playing some release shows later in January to celebrate the release of their debut LP, "¿Adónde vas? A ningún lado" - the artwork for which was done by none other than rising comics star Jeff Lemire.

Without further ado then, here is that new Catl artwork --



Skeletacular!

Mr. Lemire, as you'll recall, also did the viciously awesome cover art for No No Zero's "Rough Stuff" record (a nice fat scan of which appears in this recent post). But what else has Jeff done?


Primarily, Lemire is known for his work in the graphic novel form, and it was his debut in this medium, 2005's Lost Dogs, which first made his name, winning him a Xeric in the process.

His follow-up was ambitious and has won him unambiguous accolades: a trilogy of graphic novels spanning nearly a century in the part of Ontario Lemire hails from, Essex County (which gives the trilogy its name).




The first two books - Tales From The Farm and Ghost Stories - were released in 2007, and the final installment The Country Nurse in 2008 - just listed as one of New York Magazine's Top Ten Graphic Novels for 2008, in fact. All three books (already nominated for a couple of Eisners) will be issued in one ginormous compilation edition later this year, with the addition of some 40 bonus pages. Wow.

So 2009 is shaping up to be the year of Lemire. Not only is a compiled Essex County Trilogy sure to have media milling to praise his skills, but he will also be releasing a new graphic novel for DC/Vertigo entitled The Nobody. There are some pages available online from this latest work in progress, and I must say it promises to be great stuff, decidedly different in tone from Essex County and more of a traditional 'superhero book' by the looks of things.


If superheroes are your bag, be sure to drop by Lemire's blog, where he regularly posts watercolour superhero pics and his own unique spin on any number of cult favourites, as well as a goodly number of his own links and suggestions to Jeff's faves.




Comic art collectors may wish to note that the Catl LP is limited to a vinyl run of only 300 copies, and those LP release shows are coming up shortly: January 23rd at the Silver Dollar in Toronto, and January 24th at Isabella's in Oshawa.

I close with some more examples of Jeff Lemire's art, which I have pilfered from his blog.