The human race has reached its darkest hour. In the seven years since the Affliction first appeared, billions have died. All the children born since the plague are a strange new race of animal-human hybrids.

One of the few remaining humans, a drifter named Jepperd, has formed a bond with one such child, a sweet deer-like boy called Gus. But even among the hybrid children, Gus is an anomaly, seemingly born before the sickness began.

Believing that Gus’s history might be the key to the plague’s origins, Jepperd and the boy will journey north together to Alaska in the hope that if they can uncover the story of his birth, it will lead them to a cure for the sickness.

Jeff Lemire

Award-winning Canadian cartoonist Jeff Lemire is the creator of the acclaimed monthly comic book series SWEET TOOTH published by DC/Vertigo and the award winning graphic novel Essex County published by Top Shelf. Now one of DC Comics cornerstone writers, Jeff was prominent in the publisher's recent "New 52" line-wide relaunch as the writer of ANIMAL MAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK and FRANKENSTEIN: AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. He has also written the monthly adventures of SUPERBOY, THE ATOM and CONSTANTINE. In 2008 Jeff won the Schuster Award for Best Canadian Cartoonist and The Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent. He also won the American Library Association's prestigious Alex Award, recognizing books for adults with specific teen appeal. He has also been nominated for five Eisner awards and five Harvey Awards. In 2010 Essex County was named as one of the five Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade. He currently lives and works in Toronto with his wife and son.