Palookaville

Palookaville #19 is finally out and finishes a three issue arc of Seth’s Clyde Fans . It’s been ages since the last issue. This would be murder for any publisher out there waiting for a delay like this, this is fine wine and needs time to ferment. Seth creator extraordinaire is the Bordeaux in the comic community, his work a thing of delight. The wait is over, it will be another year or two till issue 20 I guess, but worth it. The man is so busy with other projects with both Drawn and Quarterly and Fantagraphics and from reports a meticulous worker for fine detail, a true craftsman to his credit. Palookaville is a slow drawn out character analogy of character and plot as of late, but this is the beauty of the latest tale of old age and the reflections of the past as one flows through the passage of time and self examining.

Seth by many in the 21st century might consider him to be a quirky character who lives in the past without the conveniences of the present time. It’s as though he is living in the fifties in lifestyle and thought. A grand time in my opinion to be living in the past, a shelter for some to escape the troubles of today. Seth’s characters are an extension of his own composure in today’s world. A cog out of place but still functioning in the machine of life. We benefit from his about swing life, a true fan will know that since Palookavile #1 first made an appearance, Seth the semi-autobiography comic strip was not the man we know today. He matured by travelling back in time with his passion for old comic strip literature he picked up through his daily commute each day at second hand book stores in various parts in Ontario. His morphing has influenced his friends and a whole reading community who come to respect this behaviour eccentric to many. At the end of the day if you are content and he seems to be since his first splash on comics and grown as both a writer and cartoonist and now a book cover designer he is stronger for it. The human art collective is stronger for it and Seth’s as a man and myth is a thing of mystic and only his true friends know the real him. We read about him in his book Palookville and examine and perceive what is real and not in his realm of fantasy or reality.