Out now from Vertigo Comics is a new little quirky tale from writer/illustrator Jeff Lemire, Sweet Tooth.

To borrow straight from the writers mouth:

“SWEET TOOTH is the story Gus, a young boy born with deer-like antlers. He has lived his entire life in total isolation in the woods with his Father. As our story begins Gus’ is finally forced to leave their forest sanctuary and begins experiencing the outside world for the first time. What he finds out there is beyond his comprehension; an American landscape decimated a decade earlier by a mysterious disease. Even more remarkable is that Gus is part of a rare new breed of human/animal hybrid children who have emerged in its wake, all apparently immune to the infection. The boy is soon taken in by Jepperd, a hulking drifter who promises to lead Gus to “The Preserve” a fabled safe-haven for hybrid children. Along the way a larger mystery surrounding the origins of the hybrids begins to unfold, with Gus and Jepperd at its center.”

When this book landed on my desk last week, I really didn’t know what to expect. Something I haven’t heard of, something I hadn’t solicited, it was just there by the grace of the US Postal Service. It’s safe to say; I had a blank slate when I finally sat down to give the book a read. You can imagine my surprise when I found myself rather caught up in the story of Gus the boy-deer and his situation!

For a number one issue, there is not a lot going on in this book but there is just enough to reel you in. We get some great character development for Gus and what makes him tick and a brief setup of the the world around him. Lemire’s plot synopsis promises a post apocalyptic world which we do not see yet. However, this savaged land is hinted at in these pages and only manages to make you more curious as to just what Gus is going to see when he leaves his woods. All in all, the book feels fairly magical and much like a twisted fairy tale from the get go, making the perfect setup for an ongoing book.

I’m not an expert on comics by any means, but I know what I like. For “Sweet Tooth” #1, I found myself left wondering what all was going behind the scenes of this weird little world. That’s always a good sign for me!