Advance Review: Lemire’s Labor Of Love ‘Fishflies’ #1 Is Worth The Wait

Fishflies has been a long-gestating project for Jeff Lemire.

It was worth the wait.

Originally presented as part of Lemire’s Substack newsletter (he now calls that version a first draft of the story), Fishflies refers to Canadian insects that emerge for a few days every year then die – littering the landscape.

The insects, also known as shadflies, play a seemingly tangential role to the story, which involved a young girl who shows kindness to a wanted man. Lemire’s story flips around in time, though it’s easy to follow. In it, we learn a bit about the girl, but only hints of the fugitive’s backstory. But it’s enough to keep readers coming back for more.

With its not-overly-detailed look and sometimes-exaggerated features, Lemire’s artwork is an acquired taste. But fans of his illustrations will find a lot to love in Fishflies. First of all, there are the insects themselves. Thousands of them scattered across the Canadian fields, parking lots and on the occasional body – the live ones and the dead ones. This being Lemire, a monster also shows up.

Lemire uses color sparingly. The book is largely black and white, with a few light blues and yellows to give the panels a bit of depth. His reds come out only for spilled blood, and much like with Schindler’s List, a young girl’s coat.

But the most frightening aspect of Lemire’s art is what he does not show the reader. Twice during this oversized issue, he uses double-page spreads with a bit of white splatter and a single “crunch” to illustrate a character stepping on scads of bugs. Leaving most of the insert gore to the readers’ imagination is the smartest choice he could have made.

Lemire is one of the most gifted writer-artists of our time, and he looks to have another marquee story to add to his impressive oeuvre with Fishflies.

Fishflies #1 will be available for purchase on July 12, 2023.