Ryan Gosling & Ken Kao to produce Jeff Lemire’s The Underwater Welder comic

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

You guys, this is going to be the best thing I report on today, hands down! It's been announced this afternoon that LA LA LAND star Ryan Gosling and Ken Kao's Waypoint and Anonymous Content will be producing an adaptation of award-winning comic book creator Jeff Lemire's riveting and emotionally gut-punching graphic novel THE UNDERWATER WELDER. 

Lemire's THE UNDERWATER WELDER tells the tale of an oil-rig worker named Jack Joseph, whose job it is to repair the structure when damaged. One day, while diving into the briny deep, Jack encounters a supernatural entity that reveals itself to be the ghost of his own, deceased father. As a result, Jack experiences a torrent of memories that lead him down an introspective and winding road that will change his life and perspective forever.

Lemire, Chris Staros (Top Shelf editor-in-chief), and Ted Adams (CEO and Publisher of IDW Publishing) are set to produce the project.

Okay, okay, okay! Calm down, man. You must understand, dear readers, I positively love this book. In my opinion, Jeff Lemire has written some of the most profound comics of the past decade, with his SWEET TOOTH and ESSEX COUNTY series being two of my personal favorites. Hells bells, I crumpled to the ground and went fetal at the end of Book 2 of ESSEX COUNTY. That hockey memoriam scene, man, woof!

Additionally, if you want to listen to an exclusive interview my (since re-cast) team and I over at Talking Comics conducted with the enigmatic comic maker for THE UNDERWATER WELDER and more, feel free to do so. 

Meanwhile, you can check out Ryan Gosling in LA LA LAND, which is still playing in select theaters now.