Through comics, ‘Essex County’ creator shows us the struggles, triumphs of his career

From the outside, it’s easy to look at someone working their dream job and notice only their accomplishments.

But what does it take to get there – what does such a career arc actually look like, from the inside? This is, in part, the question Jeff Lemire sets out to explore in a new book about his life and work, what he describes as “a sort of memoir.”

Written in the first person, 10,000 Ink Stains tracks Lemire’s 25-year career as a professional cartoonist, writer, and, eventually, showrunner for a television series based on his graphic novel, Essex County. Born in Ontario, and raised on a small farm “in the middle of nowhere,” as he describes it, Lemire has become something of a household name, at least for those familiar with mainstream and indie comics. He is a flexible creator who has made a strong dent working in all kinds of genres.

In 19 sprawling chapters, Lemire focuses less on his successes than on the processes – and the unexpected interactions—that led him through each project. Some of this work panned out; some did not. But as he shows time and again, every false start, every sketch, every idea dreamed up, either alone or, often, in collaboration with others, led to the next thing. In other words, what might seem at first like failures or digressions on the way to his major successes are in fact part of that core, essential story. Finding one’s way as an artist and storyteller, he shows, is a dramatic, winding path.

Lemire started out as a lonely kid, reading all the superhero comics he could get his hands on. As his tastes changed in his teens, he began to focus mainly on reading comics published by Vertigo, a DC imprint launched in 1993 that puts out series and books aimed more squarely at adult audiences. Some of its best-known works include The Sandman, Fables, and Hellblazer. Lemire describes how there were, in essence, two possibilities for future employment if he stuck around his hometown: farming, or working at a nearby automobile factory. Though he had no interest in either, he also did not see any path to working in the industry that had become his central passion. So, eventually, he found his way to what seemed like the next best trade: film, which he studied in Toronto. Soon he would find himself working in restaurants and spending the remainder of his free time returning to his first love, drawing and writing comics.

The chapters throughout 10,000 Ink Stains are full of often-gorgeous images, many in full color, set alongside Lemire’s retrospective narrative. The visuals include everything from early pencil sketches and character designs to polished cover art and final comics pages. One of the greatest pleasures of flipping through this large book is seeing Lemire’s style develop and mature over time, even as the images also evidence an artist continually willing to take chances and play with new approaches and forms.

Lost Dogs was Lemire’s first graphic novel, and though he composed the 96-page story relatively quickly, his eventual success followed five years of striving with what felt like nothing to show for it. Drawn in a loose, moody style, with flashes of red powerfully threading through the gruesome, melancholy story, Lost Dogs won a Xeric Grant, an important comics award that would help Lemire self-publish his work and find an audience. Most importantly, the recognition ignited the then nearly-30-year-old’s confidence, helping him believe he could make a living as a cartoonist. Though it would take freelance and magazine work, as well as a determination to keep going even when the future was unclear, he would ultimately break through with the first volume of “Tales from the Farm,” of what would become one of his best-known works – Essex County. The award-winning tale, made up of three parts, is a quiet, atmospheric story about loss and the unexpected nature of what follows loss. It aired on Canada’s CBC Television in March 2023 as a miniseries largely shaped by the original cartoonist himself.

Lemire would go on to find more and more success, eventually creating his own series, The Nobody, for his beloved comic book publisher DC Vertigo. He became an important writer for DC and later Marvel, collaborating with different artists on all kinds of storylines. His Sweet Tooth Vertigo series is a compelling post-apocalyptic story featuring a young boy with antlers in a future where such hybrid children are hunted down. It found success in print and also as a television series adapted by Netflix in 2021. (Lemire though has no creative control over the adaptation, which has been spun into three seasons so far.)

What’s compelling about seeing the story of Lemire’s work life unfold is the tremendous creativity he has sustained over time, which shows no signs of slowing down. He describes a creative practice of juggling multiple projects at once, an approach that counters the trap that many artists fall into when they hit a wall on a major project. He speaks candidly, too, about the depression and anxiety that has plagued him since his youth. It’s making comics, he explains, that brings him back to himself when he feels most unsettled.

Somewhere between a memoir and a love letter, 10,000 Ink Stains is a testament to imagination, and collaboration — propulsive forces needed, perhaps, more urgently now than ever.