Friday, December 5, 2014

The All Encompassing Canadian Great Novel: Ghost Stories: Essex County Vol. 2


            There are no ghosts, blood, and this graphic novel is by no means a horror story – but it does supply all the Canadian culture one needs. It is the tale of a man who is being haunted by his ghostly past, which for some, may seem more frightening. Ghost Stories is the second volume of 3 texts created to produce the Essex County trilogy. Local comics artist Jeff Lemire is the creator and illustrator of the trilogy, and he was born and raised in Essex, Ontario, giving him authority over the piece and makes his work more authentic. I admit, I selected this comic off of the shelf strictly because of the title. Once I saw a title in which I could bring some knowledge to and was geographically connected with, I was sold. The Ghost Stories front cover alludes to the main characters Lou’s past and the importance of hockey within his life.

Lou’s past is looming over him and is haunting his present day life. Readers are introduced to Lou in his old age. He is deaf, but not mute; however, he is a man of very few spoken words. When I think of Essex County, I think about hockey and farming and that is exactly what Lemire gives his readers – he feeds our expectations. Lemire’s carefully selected opening quote pertains to the typical Canadian lifestyle for a young man – suggesting that hockey is the only chance at having a great life. This graphic novel is broken into three parts. In part one, we learn of Lou’s semi-successful hockey career. In part two, we see Lou after he is placed in an old age home, and in part three, we learn more about Lou’s life and even witness the death of his brother Vince. This comics plot is created around Lou and Vince’s brotherly feud over a woman they both love and hockey career they both desire. Hockey was all Lou had until he lost it – due to an injury. He becomes an alcoholic once his hearing starts to fade, and to him, his life is empty – he does not have the girl of his dreams or a hockey career.
            In this comic, the panels do no always work sequentially, but the dialogue helps the reader stay in the moment to follow along. Lemire uses what I would describe as a ‘cinematic’ art style – meaning his illustrations appear the same as an old black and white film; it is a simplistic, scratchy, old-looking style of drawing. He presents panoramic images of the farm landscape that make the images look like real pictures. There is absolutely no colour used in this work; however, Lemire uses a black-out technique to draw the reader’s eye where he wants it to go. Lemire’s colour choice – or lack thereof – echoes Lou’s dull life. Lemire also made important artistic choices in how he presented certain text. Text written in lower case is Lou’s thoughts/narration of the story. Text is upper case letters are character dialogue – he does this so it is easy to decipher the two. Since Lemire plays with time frequently, he establishes time with headings, ex. [1951]. Also, the hockey game narration stands alone in the panel and is not enclosed within a text box. Readers can also imagine what Lou’s voice sounds like based on different spelling used for the words in his dialogue boxes.

The panels are not always solid – in some instances, there are words hanging over the panels instead of being drawn inside, creating a weighing down effect.  Lemire also incorporates flashbacks to old newspaper clippings, letters, and photos –which make this narrative, appear more real, as if this could be a real story. The inclusion of Kraft PB, Canadian Tire, and Molson Canadian beer, make this story authentically Canadian. This story has themes of death, loss, hockey, family and despair – all which make this a great read which multiple people can relate to on many different levels. Lemire is a great comic’s artist, and this trilogy – especially Ghost Stories, is highly recommended.

-- Kerrie Laforet

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