My Summer Lair Chapter #333: How Inspiring Is A Blank Page?
I’m thrilled to welcome one of my absolute favorite comic book creators to My Summer Lair: Jeff Lemire.
From the haunting beauty of his breakout Essex County to the sci-fi loneliness that colours Sweet Tooth, Lemire’s graphic storytelling carves a profound emotional path straight to the reader.
Jeff writes:
“Comics is such a deeply personal medium. No other modern art form is so immediate. I can sit down at my desk and draw comics, and they can be in a reader’s hand within a few months, totally unfiltered.”
Jeff’s observation is lifted from his latest release, 10,000 Ink Stains, published by Dark Horse Comics. (The same publisher behind Jeff’s sublime Black Hammer comics.)
Told entirely in first person prose, 10,000 Ink Stains reflects on Lemire’s 25-year career as a cartoonist, comic book writer and even as a showrunner for CBC’s adaptation of his graphic novel Essex County. (It’s still available on CBC Gem if you wanna check it out.)
The memoir’s title 10,000 Ink Stains is a play on Malcolm Gladwell’s 10, 000 hours principle…if you dedicate 10, 000 hours to a task you’ll get good at it.
Jeff’s memoir covers his dynamic DC Comics work—Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E., Animal Man, Green Arrow, Batman and Robin and more.
At Marvel—it’s Hawkeye, Old Man Logan and (yes!) Moon Knight, his fantastic run with artist Greg Smallwood.
In the attached My Summer Lair conversation, Jeff and I investigate his disappointing X-Men work: Death of X #1-4 (October–November 2016) and Extraordinary X-Men #1–20 (November 2015 – March 2017).
As you’ll hear he highlights his professional experiences from 10,000 Ink Stains and explains why X-Men was unsatisfying as a creator. He doesn’t clearly say it but I get the sense (and I agree with him) that X-Men is the one that got away.
When we discuss his Big 2 Work, Jeff shares his approach, often sees characters and their superpowers as metaphors for what’s occurring in his own life. In Animal Man Jeff explored fatherhood, now a father himself…Jeff has a son.
But it’s outside Marvel and DC where Jeff truly shines as a storyteller: Gideon Falls, Royal City, Trillium, Secret Path (with Gord Downie), The Nobody, Frogcatchers, Mazebook and Underwater Welder are all highly recommended.
His recent graphic novel Fishflies is very Jeff Lemire: the isolation of small-town Ontario, it follows a wanted criminal who reluctantly befriends a lonely loser young girl, Franny Fox. But then the graphic novel goes all X-Files and the criminal turns into a giant bug? It’s weird and it’s local and it’s charming and it’s unmistakably Jeff Lemire.
In this MSL episode I bring up the Canadian-ness that runs through his indie work—you can smell the hockey and Canadian bacon and yummy poutine on almost every page.
Despite a broad international fanbase with avid readers readers across America and Europe, Lemire often sets his indie comics in small-town Ontario i.e. Fishflies includes a road trip to Chatham, Ontario; Essex County is a real place; I’ve visited Leamington. Jeff points out the personal becomes universal.
NPR describes 10,000 Ink Stains as “somewhere between a memoir and a love letter, 10,000 Ink Stains is a testament to imagination, and collaboration…” I told Jeff it’s like a greatest hits album from a relevant band.
It’s a love letter to art, to comics and to the passionate dedication of your craft. Popular and known for his personal storytelling loaded with emotional honesty, Jeff’s memoir is a glimpse into his creativity and how his experiences shape his work.
Want to get to know Jeff Lemire?
Read his work.
We dig into his time attending film school at Ryerson University, the creative risks he’s taken and how making comics has been a lifesaver for him.
Drawing your life can you help make sense of it.
A My Pal Sammy Recommendation: Do pick up 10,000 Ink Stains, published by Dark Horse Comics. However, if you’re in Toronto…specifically Richmond Hill I suggest visiting Heroes World one of my favourite comic book shops in the city.
Jeff Lemire @ W • T • F
Host Sammy Younan
Recorded: Tuesday, July 8, 2025 at 2:00 pm (EST)
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