Story of an innocent in a post-apocalyptic hellhole, whose naive faith in people touches the hardest of hearts. The relationship between Gus and Jeppard is very delicately, almost silently, portrayed. Also liked the way the action was depicted in these very sudden slow-mo bursts -- a flash like lightning and then quiet. And boy, the quiet! This book has atmosphere, bags of it.
I think the basic idea is captured by the choice of title: sweet but hard, fairy-tale meets horror western. I suspect the series will trace the balance between the two elements in Gus's (and perhaps Jeppard's) character.
Hellboy is the comparison to make here, useful in bringing out (for me) the book's limitations. Mignola's hero has more attitude, and is funnier, than Jeppard. The fantasy is wilder, weirder, more stylized but also more beautiful (Jeff Lemire's artwork is kinda scrappy, tho his arrangements and blocking are very clever). Then again, Hellboy and Sweet Tooth are about different things, and it will be interesting to see where the latter gets to in the next trade.
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