Review: Sweet Tooth- The Return
Quick Summary
Pros: The return to the world of the original series offers a unique glimpse at how that world progressed. The characters are all great and the way they connect to the original series makes the experience even better. The artwork is mostly positive.
Cons: The short length of this story undercuts some of its positive features and makes the conclusion feel less meaningful.
Overall: The return of the Sweet Tooth series is solid but not quite as good as the original. The comic still features a creative world filled with awesome characters. However, the comic is short and its length prevents it from reaching the levels of depth and meaning that the original was able to. In the end, this comic is for fans of Sweet Tooth who want to see its world and concepts return.
Story
Sweet Tooth: The Return, by Jeff Lemire, is a decent return to the weird world of Sweet Tooth. This comic tells the story of an isolated group making a life for themselves hundreds of years after the original comic’s conclusion. This allows readers to return to a world of hybrids and see what happened to it since they last saw it. The way this comic channels some of the relationships from the original is also great, as these relationships are still as fun and meaningful as before. However, this volume feels short, even for a miniseries. This leaves little time for readers to fully appreciate what happens here, as they only know a bit about the characters’ histories and are never fully given a chance to connect with them. Ultimately, this comic may be fun for fans of the original who simply want to return to the world of Sweet Tooth but it appeals far less to readers looking for a unique and worthwhile story on its own.
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The best part about Sweet Tooth: The Return is the titular return to a world of humans and hybrids. I really enjoyed getting to see the small segment of humanity trying to rise above their own unique form of oppression. I also really enjoyed getting hints at what the rest of the world is like, as this comic expands upon that world despite not fully showing it.
The other positive here is the characters. Like the original, Sweet Tooth: The Return is inhabited by awesome characters that immediately form deep and meaningful relationships. Though the volume is short, it is still great to see these characters break free from the rigid structures of their old lives and begin anew. The way that this evolution also mirrors the progression of the previous volume is also a bit of a treat for fans of the original.
However, a lot of these positives are undercut by the short length of this miniseries. The best part about the original Sweet Tooth series was watching the characters earn their achievements through their personal growth. Seeing Father’s plans fall apart because his guardians grew to love Gus doesn’t feel that satisfying because the reader only sees a moment or two when these guardians express this love. There is even a disconnect in that Gus doesn’t seem to particularly care for these people either. It makes the heroes’ triumph feel less meaningful and the villain’s downfall feel less satisfying.
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Art
The artwork in Sweet Tooth: The Return is very close to being as good as it was in the original series (Review). Jeff Lemire’s uniquely stylized approach works for the type of story being told here. It excels in giving each character a distinct visual personality and in imbuing these characters with emotion. I also really enjoyed seeing the unique locations and technologies that are featured in this comic yet were not present in the original series. However, I felt like there were more places in this comic where character’s proportions felt a little strange. It isn’t a huge problem but is something that made this read feel slightly less enjoyable than the original. Overall, this is still a good-looking series with visuals that succeed in telling a story.
Continuity
Sweet Tooth: The Return takes place after the events of the entire original Sweet Tooth (Review) (Reading Order) series.
As of now, the story here does not continue in any other comic.