Written and Illustrated by Jeff Lemire
Published by Dark Horse Comics
It is not often I have been pleasantly surprised when an author comes along who can seem to do no wrong.
There have been very few in my lifetime, and eventually, after years of reverence, each of my favorite authors writes something that fails them and their devoted readers.
So far in his career, Jeff Lemire has, in my opinion, been perfect. Black Hammer, Sweetooth, and Old Man Logan are just a few feathers in Lemire’s cap.
Lemire’s latest work Mazebook is a far cry from the superheroics and multiverse shenanigans readers have come to love from Lemire’s writing.
Instead, Lemire has penned an eloquent, beautiful, and mournful piece about being lost and found once more.
Will, a lonely building inspector still grieving the loss of his puzzle-loving daughter, receives a mysterious phone call one night from a girl claiming it’s her and that she’s trapped in the middle of a labyrinth.
Convinced that this child is contacting him from beyond this world, he uses an unfinished maze from one of her journals and a city map to trace an intricate path through a different plane of reality on an intense and melancholy adventure to bring his daughter back home.
Lemire perfectly captures a parent’s grief who has lost a child too soon. Will is a man whose life has wholly unraveled in the wake of his daughter’s death.
Lemire emphasizes Will’s solitude and bleak outlook on life and his beautiful, yet sparse, colored and drawn panels.
Mazebook is an easy and engaging read worth getting lost in for a few hours
4.75 out of 5 stars.
