“Sweet Tooth, Vol. 6: Wild Game”

“A very good ending to a very good series.

Ending something people like is always tough. Ending shitty things is easy. You just stop. But when you have to end something that’s good, there’s pressure. Because if you eat a great meal and end it with soured ice cream, part of that last lingering taste is always going to color the experience.

Jeff Lemire did a great job with this one. The ending was satisfying. The way things ended for characters didn’t have you shouting about how this or that was unfair or disappointing. I mean, yes, to some extent that means there aren’t a lot of huge surprises. But honestly, I don’t read to be surprised for the most part. Novelty just doesn’t do much for me anymore, and so often I see something that shot for novelty as in Newness and ended up hitting novelty as in Cue the Circus Music. So it was a safe ending, and that would be the main criticism I could give. But honestly, I became attached to the characters, and an outrageous ending that denied who they were just wouldn’t have made me happy.

Anyway, I don’t ruin this by saying anything about it really. If you haven’t read this series, it’s a great, short series that is written and drawn by the same character, a situation that can sometimes result in a very pure vision. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes bad. In this case, the art and writing work well together, and it’s the kind of story that really springs from a consistent, centered source.

I somehow suspect the series might become somewhat forgotten. I don’t think it changed the landscape of American comics. I think there was still some heart to Lemire’s Essex County that didn’t come through in Sweet Tooth 100%. However, if it is forgotten, I would say it was unfairly so.

So for fans of apocalyptic fiction, it’s a must. Animal lovers too. Oh, and the other group I would suggest is anyone on the planet Earth who reads.”