Canadian Grit: A Look at Jeff Lemire's Roughneck / Matthew Quann

Canadian Grit:

A Look at Jeff Lemire’s Roughneck

Matthew Quann

This is the type of Jeff Lemire that I love most: the intimate and unabashedly Canadian. Lemire’s storytelling in Roughneck harkens back to the best of his seminal work, Essex County, even if it never quite reaches the highs of that trilogy.

Set in the rural northern Ontario town of Pimitamon, Roughneck follows former NHL player Derek Ouelette fallen on hard times. He’s been kicked out of the NHL, and spends his nights drinking at the local Pit Stop and picking fights with anyone who crosses him. Lemire does some great work capturing the gruff, frustrating and violent nature of Derek in a way that at first makes him off-putting, but gives way to sympathy as the story progresses. It’s when Derek’s long-lost sister returns to Pimitamon, fleeing her abusive boyfriend, that the story really begins to take off.

Though the entire graphic novel took no more than 90 minutes to get through, its retail value is in its re-readability and appreciation of Lemire’s art. I remember Essex County having a much starker palette and heavier line-work than Lemire’s latest. Roughneck sees Lemire stretching his talent in new directions, using rougher lines and playing with some great-looking watercolour. Though most of the book takes place in shades of blue, I’d guess that fifteen to twenty percent is in the complete colour saved for flashbacks.

Though I don’t have my copy of Essex County at hand, I’d hazard a guess that this is the prettier book. Lemire’s years of experience show through his ability to create some of the most kinetic pan-ins I’ve seen in quite some time (see above). I also love the way in which Lemire uses repetition of Derek cracking eggs to convey drudgery, but also uses the same technique over the entire graphic novel to slowly build symbolism through imagery alone. Here again, Lemire shows off his comfort with long silences. I found that this made for a more engaging reading experience: when I saw Derek repeatedly stare down a dog throughout the story, I contemplated what could be going through his mind using only Lemire’s art.

This story of perpetual familial violence is also one of healing. There is a non-oppressive undertone of Indigenous rights in Canada that adds to the story without making it the graphic novel’s sole focus. Derek’s struggle to break free of the cycle of toxic masculine violence is mirrored and inverted by his sister Beth’s struggles. Amidst our two leads are the other compelling denizens of Pimitamon, and they too help to make the world a believable one.

I love Lemire’s art, but I love this return to form much more. I was a fan of his run on Animal Man, and am presently enjoying his creator-owned Descender, but this is the type of Lemire story I most want to read. If you’re a fan of Essex County, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.

Jeff Lemire