There’s been a lot of discussion on this site about whether Sweet Tooth is paced well for issues, or whether it would work better in trades.  And I think the crux of that argument misses the point.  Jeff Lemire is not very good at pacing his stories.  Issues 2-4 of this series really draggeed, and then he hit you with a wall of pain in issue five  .He then followed it up with a heartbreaking look at Jeppard’s past in issue six.  But in issue seven, he lingers at Jeppard’s past, and it just doesn’t have any impact.  I already feel bad for the guy, and understand why he made his pivotal decision in issue five.  I don’t need more exposition as to what kind of person he is.  I’ve seen his actions, and seen the important part of his past.  The details are irrelevant.

I applaud Lemire for having fleshed out those details, and of having a full understanding of his character, but he could have skimmed off over half the narration in the story.  In fact, if the whole Jeppard portion of this issue had been silent, or nearly silent, this would have been a five star book.  Instead, Lemire hammers us with sad sack story details that don’t add anything to the characters’ dimensions.

Artistically, Lemire has risen into step these last few issues.  His two page spread of Jeppard leaving the city behind was stark and tragic, and, again, would have been perfect without the narration.