Sweet Tooth, Jeff Lemire

Was I saving this for a pandemic?

Er, no. No one in their right mind prepares for a pandemic or an apocalypse before it actually strikes.

Yes, we've looked at pandemia/dystopia from the relative safety of a book or a movie, which was meant to be fiction, a hypothetical instruction manual at best. But did it prepare us?

I grappled with this question as I raced through a ravaged post-apocalyptic landscape with our beleaguered protagonist, Gus, and his mysterious protector, Jeppard.

Gus is half deer, half human, and full sweet summer child. He's one of the hybrids who were born after a pandemic wiped out most of humanity and turned the rest into sub-human beings. The hybrids are resistant to this disease though and a key piece in this apocalyptic puzzle.

Understandably, everyone wants a piece of Gus, and Jepperd believes that it his job to escort him to the safety of the Preserve, a supposed haven for hybrid children.

But who is Jepperd, really? He has appeared out of nowhere to battle against everything in their way. But he seems to be as violent and dangerous as the rest of them. He is Gus's only chance though, and Gus has to learn how to trust him.

It has become a cliche to describe art as evocative, but Jeff Lemire has accomplished that exactly. He has drawn a haunting portrait of humanity tottering on the precipice. The storytelling is taut, the narrative is gripping. You might see what's coming, but you'll be hungry nonetheless.

This is the first part in a series of six, and I can't wait to read the rest. But I hope to do so without the backdrop of an actual apocalypse. Please, pretty please.