The Culture

The Nobody is written and illustrated by Canadian Jeff Lemire. I have not read any of his work before but I am aware that he has a continuing series, also on Vertigo, called Sweet Tooth.

Large Mouth is a small town where nothing much happens until one day a mysterious bandaged man, John Griffen, arrives and takes residence in the motel. The residents, with the exception of bored teenager Vicki, are slow to accept his presence in their midst despite him keeping very much to himself. Griffen is a man on the run from his past looking to make amends for his mistakes. When a woman goes missing, the rumours and speculation that surround him crystallise into accusations and witch hunts and life for Vicki will never be the same again.

This is Lemire’s take on the invisible man story. It has a fairly slow pace to match the sleepy, off-season small fishing town but it beautifully put together. The relationship between Vicki and Griffen is good and the gradual reveal of Griffen’s past was handled well and twist at the end was a surprise, to me at least. I enjoyed the story and will look out for a more personal work called the Essex County trilogy that sounds good too.