Fishflies #1
- Writer:
- Jeff Lemire
- Artist:
- Jeff Lemire
- Letterer:
- Steve Wands
- Cover Artist:
- Jeff Lemire
- Publisher:
- Image Comics
- Price:
- $5.99
- Release Date:
- 2023-07-12
- Colorist:
- Jeff Lemire
Image Comics presents Fishflies #1, bringing Jeff Lemire’s 2021-2022 Substack series to print with an extra-sized debut. Written, illustrated, and colored by Jeff Lemire, with letters by Steve Wands, Fishflies #1 has been majorly overhauled since its early serialized roots, revised into a definitive version that streamlines its various evolutions across a year of mini-chapter releases. Briefly for the uninitiated, fishflies are bugs that migrate from lakes, infesting nearby towns for a few weeks in the summer before rapidly dying off.
Fishflies #1 opens in the first evening of fishfly season, as three kids wend their way to the local minimart. Accidentally interrupting a crime in progress, the perpetrator flees the scene, only to collapse in a nearby field. Waking up covered in fishflies, they are found by local girl Fran, who shelters them in the farm grain silo, unaware that an even greater transformation is about to occur.
Fishflies #1 is a brilliantly constructed debut. Lemire fires on all cylinders to create an eerie masterpiece that entertains and unnerves in equal measure. The dialogue is exceptionally well crafted, capturing an understated realism that contrasts extremely well with the non-naturalistic art style, keeping the comic grounded in a way that heightens the abjection of its horror. It is also deliberately formulated to inform the reader's understanding of the characters. Lemire skillfully utilizes dialogue to expand and crystallize the personalities of his characters through subtle means. All of the characters feel very realized, distinctive in their strangeness, filled with quirks and revealing sentiments, and as a result, are particularly memorable and easy to be intrigued by. The comic is expertly structured, telescoping in and out of the catalyzing moment as it progresses, and the first issue gives just enough to get the reader hooked without telegraphing much of the series’ trajectory.
Lemire's art in Fishflies #1 is remarkable, creating a pervasive tone that is as electrifying as it is unique. Working mostly in thin sketchy lines, Lemire builds a stunning amount of texture, a freehand feeling to the illustration that is somehow fluid and scratchy all at once. The idiosyncratic style creates an unsettling tone that feels sinister but still homespun in a way that constantly shifts between deliberate grotesquery and alienating beauty. The backgrounds of night skies, suburban streets, and ramshackle farms are stunningly composed, viewing run-down Americana with a fresh lens that veers towards the gothic. However, the figures and faces are the visual standouts of the comic, animated and expressive, stunningly novel in their ill-proportions, and compellingly memorable. This also extends to the body horror of the comic, which is fantastically plotted and genuinely disturbing.
Lemire’s ingenious use of color is essential to the atmospheric experience of Fishflies #1, working principally in a dark monochromic pallet that makes gorgeous use of contrast to create a tone that is both menacing and oneiric. The daubed effect he makes use of is particularly beautiful, often using sickly yellows and gray-blues to add a watercolor wash to a background that brings depth to the page. Wands’s letters are terrific throughout Fishflies #1, a hair thicker than traditional lettering in a way that nicely offsets the delicacy of the line art. The sound effects are also great. The lettering motif for the "CRUNCH" sound is particularly well-executed and ominous.
Fishflies #1 is an engaging and compelling read that justifies the need for its own print publication. Although Lemire is an accomplished writer, the art and colors are the most striking elements of the comic: arresting, beautiful, and downright haunting. The choice to combine the meat of the introduction into a single issue is a venerable one, being sure to leave the rest of the story mysterious and indistinct while giving the reader more than enough to get invested in the characters, eagerly awaiting the next installment.