Fans of superhero comics and non-superhero comics might be familiar with the name Jeff Lemire. Lemire is a comic book writer and 
artist who has worked on mainstream superhero books like Superboy, Moon Knight, and Green Arrow. He has also worked on his own creations, including Sweet Tooth, about an antler-headed boy navigating a post-apocalyptic landscape, and Gideon Falls, about people from all walks of life who come into contact with the mysterious, universe-crossing Black Barn. Lemire has consistently demonstrated a writing style that blends both the strangely unreal and the uniquely human, and he has doubled down on that formula in his latest project Fishflies, which he not only writes but illustrates.
Canadian Lemire has set this surreal fairy tale in small town Canada. In Belle River, Ontario an armed robbery has left a boy in the hospital fighting for his life and a wounded man who is on the run from the authorities. As the manhunt continues, this fugitive finds the home of young outsider Franny Fox and Franny offers him shelter, but this fugitive is soon transformed by a curse rooted in the town’s history and one that demands blood.
Lemire’s story combines the sweetness of Sweet Tooth and the surreal horror of Gideon Falls. Young Franny Fox, an ostracized girl who comes from a broken home, might remind Lemire fans of Sweet Tooth’s Gus. However, Lemire has filled Belle River with other endearing, three-dimensional characters like officer Daniel Laroque, a cop who wants to do the right thing and follows his heart when logic stops working, along with Helen Dupuis, the single mother of the boy who was shot and who is receiving little support from a town that considers her strange. Lemire’s story also hints at body horror, folk horror, and surreality that makes the book feel like a modern fairy tale.
Lemire’s art style also makes the book feel like a children’s book illustrated for an adult audience. While many of Lemire’s own books have been drawn by other artists who have included a variety of styles, Lemire’s own style looks like a film animated by the same people who animated the stop-motion modern fantasy Coraline, with facial features exaggerated just enough to clearly show the beautiful imperfection of humanity, asymmetrical faces and thick, dark worry lines, while allowing for a range of expressions. The use of cooler colors also makes the book feel like a darker but ultimately uplifting bedtime story.
Librarians responsible for adult graphic novel collections might already have some Jeff Lemire-penned books in their collection and this one would make a great addition. Its story and art style might remind Lemire fans of Sweet Tooth, but with its center in small town Canada, it illustrates the trauma experienced not by living in an apocalypse but the trauma of living in a world where society keeps rolling even as it threatens to roll its people over.
Fishflies
By Jeff Lemire
Image, 2025
ISBN: 9781534395176
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
Creator Representation: Canadian,
