Just Read - Palookavile 21 by Seth

I never really got into Seth’s comics. I mean I liked his art style, but every time I bought an issue of Palookaville I just felt like I wanted more out of an issue. Then a couple of years ago I bought his Wimbledon Green book and I was hooked. I just needed a bigger serving of Seth than the original Palookavilles offered. Enter the new reformatted, hard cover editions of Palookaville.

Palookaville #21 came out late 2013 and it is packed with Seth goodness. The next chapter of Clyde Fans (30+ pages), selections of his Rubber Stamp Diary (20+ pages) and the first chapter of Nothing Lasts (30+pages). It’s about 100 pages of seth goodness or one outstanding evening of reading.

Seth’s storytelling is in top shape. He guides the reader at a very slow but deliberate pace through his stories. This gives his characters a chance to breath and think on the page, something most artist miss. This type of storytelling also gives the reader a chance to think a little more about the story as it progresses.

Like his storytelling, Seth’s art is simple but deliberate. No line is wasted. At first glance it looks like anyone could draw like him, but after trying I realized that it was a lot more difficult than it appears. Seth prescribes to the less is more school of cartooning and tend to leave out the ton of noodle details that so many artist tend to use to cover up their short falls.

My favorite part of this book might have been Seth’s Rubber Stamp Diary selections. I really wish he would print the whole collection of Rubber Stamp Diaries. A little glimpse into the artist’s life was just not enough for me. I love the simplicity of the strips and the way he just uses actual rubber stamp images that he has designed to help him tell his story. I though these were pieces of genius and intend on stealing this idea of the rubber stamps in the future.

The Clyde Fans chapter moved the story along. Although I’m not very familiar with what is actually happening. I did enjoy this story quite a bit and I have considered hunting down the past issues of Palookaville to read it from the start. I also enjoyed the first chapter of Nothing Lasts quite a bit and hope to see more of this story in future volumes.

If I have one negative thing to say about Palookaville is that it was 3 years between book 20 and 21 (20 is the first issue that was in the new hard cover format,)  I hope that we do not have to wait that long for the next issue. Palookaville is published by Drawn and Quarterly.

  

-Denny Riccellicreates comics under the pen name ‘dennmann’ he currently publishes the webcomic Cousin Harold and some mini-comics now and then, including Jenny Spookawski Ghost Girl. He lives in Peoria, Arizona with his wife and 2 kids.