The character that connects the others is nurse Annie, who was a secondary character in the second volume. As she tries to bring the Lebeuf family together, we also learn about her own family situation, being a single mother with a son that seems lost.

But her family’s role is even more tied to the Lebeuf’s, as we also see a story set in the far past in 1917 with her grandmother sister Margaret and Lawrence.

So now we have a full view of the Lebeuf’s past as well as Annie’s family. But in the present Lemire also ties up all loose ends from the previous volumes. I obviously don’t want to spoil anything, but I was very satisfied with where everyone was by the end of this volume.

I also liked the way Lemire tied all three stories visually. First of all is the visual of Lawrence towards the end of volume 3, a clear reference to Lester in volume 1. Then there’s the crow, who seems to look over the events in all books. It’s more of a symbol really, but I liked how it was explained at the end.

I haven’t talked about Lemire’s art style, which is very sketchy and as first glance almost amateurish. But that’s only at first glance. As you read the books, it’s clear that his style is perfect for this book, and a clear choice, not a limit to the story. He chooses to concentrate on the emotions and storytelling, instead of the details. Despite that, he renders the real world perfectly, so we can clearly recognize real places or objects.

The emotions are at the center of the story, and they are conveyed perfectly. His character faces are not detailed at all, but a simple line is enough for Lemire to express a subtle emotion.

Similarly, the dialogs and captions are very simple and read very fast. This is not a wordy book that takes a long time to read. On the contrary, much of the story telling is left to the images.

I can’t recommend this series enough, it’s definitely one of the best stories I’ve read in recent years.

This story is more complex and it spans many years in the characters’s lives. At the center of it is Lou Lebeuf, a deaf old man who’s taken care by nurse Annie. In the present we see him going in and out of lucidity, his mind keeps taking him out of the present and going back through his memory.

It all starts in Toronto in 1951, with his brother Vince and Vince’s girlfriend Beth. We go through all the troubles and tribulations, that isolate Lou from the rest of his family for 25 years. We see what happens to his life, up until the present.

As much as I liked the first volume, I was really taken by this story. The way Jeff Lemire waves the timelines between present and past is masterful, similar to what he did with Lester’s imaginary world, but even more impressively.

The way he draws his characters obviously hints at blood relations between this volume and the previous one. But it’s only later in Lou’s life that we find out exactly how they’re related. Actually I didn’t pay enough attention so I drew the wrong conclusion (siblings instead of parent and child).

Even though Lou’s story takes place in Toronto, I had no problem identifying with him. Even though his passion was hockey, while I don’t even know the rules, I had no idea understanding him at all.

This is a much more compelling story, that really grabbed me and made me think about my own life. This is a great sequel, and I can’t wait to see how Lemire concludes this trilogy.

This story is all about Lester, a kid who needs to adjust to life with his uncle Ken, after his mother died. Both he and Ken are trying their best, though things are not going too well.

Lester is often lost in his comic book world, he wears a mask and cape and always imagines being a superhero. He also draws comics. Once he meets Jimmy Lebeuf, he has an adult companion who will act out his imaginary adventures, but with his own “adult” style. Ken is not happy with Jimmy’s bad influence, and things go really bad.

This is a straight forward story of a family trying to adjust after a sad loss. Typically young kids get lost in their world, which is something everybody can identify. It’s also great when you can share that world with somebody else, even though they might not be a totally positive influence.

I love the way Jeff Lemire draws Lester’s world, it’s obviously not real, but at the same time it flows perfectly from the real world, especially the final “battle” against the aliens.

I also like the relationship between Lester and Ken. There’s an arc to it and it all feels very organic and not forced at all. At first they’re just not close to each other, they don’t really know how to relate to each other. Then there’s inevitable conflict due to Jimmy’s presence, whose past is clearly hinted at, but not dealt with.

Even though this relationship is not at the center of the story, I still think it was very well done.

I really liked this story, luckily there are two sequels that promise even more Essex County goodness.