Written by Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Essex County Trilogy), and published by Vertigo Comics in 2008, The Nobody is a modern take on H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man. It's the story of Large Mouth, a small town in Canada, and the event's surrounding the arrival of a mysterious stranger covered head to toe in bandages.It's a short graphic novel, only three chapters, and the story is told very sparsely and very rapidly, something I enjoy about Lemire's writing. He does a brilliant job setting the mood and introducing the various players in town quickly and effectively.
The bulk of the story is spent developing a tense relationship between the Invisible Man and Vickie, the young protagonist, while developing an equally tense suspense, and underlying terror. But the shit doesn't really hit the fan till the last chapter, when Lemire does an excellent, heart-wrenching job exposing the fears and prejudice of the townsfolk, while leaving the Invisible Man shrouded in his ever-persistent mystery.Lemire's black, white, and blue art adds so much to the atmosphere of this tale. It's equals parts creepy, surreal, and gritty, doing a great job bridging the gap between this larger than life sci-fi premise, and the real world, small town setting.
All in all, it's a great read, one I'd definitely recommend to fans of Graphic Novels as literature. For more Jeff Lemire, listen in next week, when we discuss Sweet Tooth, an ongoing comic from Vertigo. And be sure to buy all you comic from our friends at Treasure Island Comics in Fremont, CA, or find your own local comic shop at ComicShopLocator.com
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