Sweet Tooth: How DC Returned to the World of Netflix's Show | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

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As Netflix prepares to launch its eagerly anticipated television adaptation of the critically acclaimed comic book story Sweet Tooth, created by Jeff Lemire in 2009, the upcoming premiere comes shortly after the conclusion of another comic story set in the same post-apocalyptic universe. Over seven years after the conclusion to the original volume, Lemire returned to the world he created in the six-issue miniseries Sweet Tooth: The Return, launching in November 2020 and coming to a close this past April. Here's a quick overview of the revival miniseries, published by DC Black Label, just in time for the Netflix television adaptation's premiere this June.

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Joined by returning colorist Jose Villarrubia, Sweet Tooth: The Return is both a reimagining of the original story and a continuation of it. Set approximately three hundred years after the events of the original post-apocalyptic story, a young deer-human hybrid named Gus learns what occurred to the world before him. As this iteration of Gus is haunted by visions of familiar faces from the previous story, he strikes out to survive in the harsh, outside world while being pursued by dark forces that seek to exploit him towards their own nefarious ends or intend even worse fates for the young boy, all while the fate of humanity once again hangs delicately in the balance.

Whereas the original volume of Sweet Tooth had Gus taken under the wing of the gruff Jeppard to navigate the post-apocalyptic wasteland, Sweet Tooth: The Return saw its incarnation of Gus in the care of a manipulative religious sect. Headed by a stern figure simply known as the Father, Gus befriends a girl named Penny as a conflict with a group known as the Downsiders began to brew against the clergy. And as Gus learned more and more about the truth behind the old world and that which came centuries before his own birth, Gus discovered that he was foretold to be a weapon that could be used to save humanity or destroy it forever.

If the original Sweet Tooth was a meditation on a family facing down the end of the world and the evil that men do, Sweet Tooth: The Return is about the nature of destiny. This shift in theme is made all the more clear by the religious overtones and change in antagonist. The original Sweet Tooth saw Gus and Jeppard trying to stay one step ahead of both roving bands and Abbott, a militaristic villain that wanted to detain and conduct twisted experiments on all the animal hybrids. The Father is the other end of the spectrum, relying more on religious fanaticism than military might to further his agenda and gain leverage on Gus. And by the end of the miniseries, Lemire revealed more about the nature of the Sweet Tooth universe and the animal hybrids that populated it.

Both accessible to completely new readers and rewarding for longtime fans, Sweet Tooth: The Return played out like a remix on Lemire's familiar narrative beats as he revisited his acclaimed tale. With Gus, the human-deer hybrid, serving as the link between the two stories, Lemire crafted a take on Sweet Tooth that approached the material from a fresh perspective and shed new light on its secrets. For unfamiliar readers looking to prepare for the Netflix series, the original miniseries may be the best way to read ahead. But The Return offers a fun twist on the world and its innocent protagonist.

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