Where do we go when we die? Can we return to the defining moments of our childhood? What’s behind the door with the frog nailed to it? Jeff Lemire asks these questions and more in his elegiac new graphic novel, Frogcatchers, from Gallery 13.

Frogcatchers follows a man who mysteriously awakens in a strange hotel, where he finds a young boy who warns him about the dangers of a king of frogs. To describe the plot further could spoil the ending of this strange, dreamlike comic, which offers a meditation on opportunities lost and fleeting memories. The book’s surreality makes time distort--it feels like a slow and meditative work, but its 90-plus pages are over in the blink of an eye.

This is clearly an intensely personal work for Lemire, who handles all art duties as well as writes. Lemire manages to convey a great deal about his unnamed protagonist with very few words--his fears, his regrets, his dogged personality. Imagery early on in the book tips Lemire’s hand about what this book is really about, but it’s almost as if the surprise is beside the point and the reader is meant to be a step ahead of the main character.

As always, Lemire’s art is deceptively simple. What seems like childlike scribbles often coalesce into stunning and evocative imagery. The shaky lines and harsh shading make it easy to forget just how detailed Lemire’s work really is, but suddenly a character’s arched eyebrow communicates volumes. 

Frogcatchers is very different from Lemire’s mainstream work at DC and Marvel and Dark Horse. It’s not slick and shiny, and it doesn’t spell things out for the reader. Instead, it offers something far more vibrant and more profound. Highly recommended for a reader willing to engage.

Grade: A