Synopsis: Jeff Lemire 4-year project The Underwater Welder follows a 33-year, well, an underwater welder named Jack Joseph who begins to form a morbid obsession over the watch his deceased father gave him after triggering memories and putatively hearing voices of him while on duty.
My Thoughts: Akin to all the Jeff Lemire works I've perused through so far, this one is both a visual and thematic treat. The art while shaky and a tad crude had a primitive aesthetic charm to it which I appreciate more when taking into consideration that Jeff was working on multiple series runs for DC and Sweet Tooth and, for a time, The Nobody for Vertigo CONCURRENTLY. Speaking of which, one observation I made during my perusal was the similarities in character designs to Sweet Tooth. For example, Jack's wife, Suse, resembles Becky whilst the doctor warning Jack about his health condition looked similar to Dr. Singh. Leaving the analogy aside, one of the most interesting aspects of this book is the slow, initial downfall of the MC as he becomes more morbidly obsessed with searching for his dead father's watch to the extent of falling into the realms of alcoholism and spending hours pass his shift away from his wife (who's about a month from labor), not unlike his ill-fated father.
Final Thoughts: The Underwater Welder is an expressive portrait of anxiety, frustration, and saudade worth looking deeply into regardless if you're a Jeff Lemire or a newbie dabbling into his bibliography.
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