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Seth/Palookaville

 
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andylips



Joined: 04 Sep 2009
Posts: 75

PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2015 8:50 am    Post subject: Seth/Palookaville Reply with quote

I've just discovered Seth, i overlooked him first time round but now i really like his stuff. Just read Its a good life, if you don't weaken and Wimbledon green, both really good. I'm kind of confused with his comic book series Palookaville though, was it originally released as floppys and now future issues just come out as hardback books? Sadly the majority of those seem sold out.

What would you recommend i check out next by Seth? Do you have a particularly favourite Palookaville issue?
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vollsticks



Joined: 24 Jun 2015
Posts: 39
Location: Grimsby, UK

PostPosted: Sat Aug 01, 2015 1:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, Palookaville was published as "floppies" first. "It's A Good Life" was serialised in it; the first few issues are great, with the stories about Seth being beaten up in a (mistaken) homophobic attack and the comic about him working in a restaurant and having an affair with the manager's wife. They're hard to find now; and if you do you're likely to pay between £30 to £50 for issues 1 to 3, EACH!

I love Wimbeldon Green. That wasn't published in Palookaville, it's one of his "sketchbook comics" (simply, comics he draws in his sketchbook, funnily enough!) along with The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists, that book is really good, too. I love Wimbeldon Green; though, it's really a love letter to the medium of comics and that comes through in every stroke of his brush...wonderful stuff. Also his fictional biography of a Canadian TV personality, George Sprott, is VERY good, try and get the big hardback from D & Q, not the small edition from Jonathan Cape, the large size graphic novel has lovely pull outs and is a beautifully designed book. You can really "drink it in" at the large size. You can get book 1 of Clyde Fans, you probably know the rest is being serialised in Palookaville; it's good but I don't think it can be judged 'til it's finished, however the first book is a good read and may as well be self contained, if you know what I mean.

Have you read Palookaville #22 yet? I haven't, I didn't get #21 'til fairly recently. Give George Sprott and Great Northern Brotherhood a go, you'll enjoy 'em I guarantee it!
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andylips



Joined: 04 Sep 2009
Posts: 75

PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I read P 22, thought it was pretty good. Just started reading George Sprott, looks really nice, sadly only able to get the Jonathan cape edition. I like how he picks subject matter that usually appears pretty dull, but i find it really enjoyable.

where did you get the restaurant comic? That's OOP to be knowledge. the d+q 25yrs book shows the first 11 pages and it looks so good.
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jefflewis



Joined: 21 Nov 2005
Posts: 1485

PostPosted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 3:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Geez, are those early Palookavilles really so expensive? Damn! i had those issues and lent them to somebody and never got them back... the first issue isn't that great (in my opinion) but that two-part autobio comic about his love affair are very good. I definitely love It's a Good Life (I only have it in the collection, I never had the original issues), but then I got sooooo bored of that Clyde Fans storyline I quit buying Palookaville. I never finished reading Clyde Fans. Total boredom. So I sort of forgot about Seth for a while. But then I read Wimbledon Green and fell in love with him all over again! But I haven't read the Sprott stuff.
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andylips



Joined: 04 Sep 2009
Posts: 75

PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 1:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Clyde fans is still being made! it's not finished, and yeah it's very slow and dull. Sprott is good, and WGreen is really good! I hope one day the love affair comic gets reprinted, I think Seth's embarrassed by it though, cartoonists hating their early work and all..
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Ian Cockburn



Joined: 10 Mar 2015
Posts: 47

PostPosted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 10:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I really love his artwork. The only two books I have by him are It's A Good Life... and George Sprott. They're both good, but I really like the stories more as a vehicle for his artwork that stories in their own right. So I don't clamour for more.
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jefflewis



Joined: 21 Nov 2005
Posts: 1485

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seth's comics do go hand in hand with comics by Joe Matt (Peepshow) and Chester Brown (Yummy Fur/Ed the Happy Clown/Underwater/Louis Riel/Paying For It/etc)... the three comic artists of 1990s Toronto! It's so funny how they are always depicting each other in their comics, especially in Joe Matt's stuff. The three of them used to hang out together a lot when they all lived in Toronto, and they were three of the best comic book makers in the 90s. I love all three of them! Peepshow comics are so great, it gets my highest recommendation if you haven't read that stuff... you can get them in these collections (I have all of this stuff, but these descriptions are from Wikipedia):

1) Peepshow - The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt, 1992 (Kitchen Sink)/1999 (Drawn & Quarterly), a collection of mostly one-page strips, usually dealing with a single subject, originally published between 1987 and 1991. (THIS BOOK IS AWESOME! YOU WILL LOVE IT!)

2) The Poor Bastard, 1996 (Drawn & Quarterly), which collects stories published in Peepshow #1–6. This book chronicles Matt's relationship and breakup with then-girlfriend Trish. (THIS ONE COLLECTS MY FAVORITE ISSUES!! GET THIS ONE TOO!)

3) Joe Matt's "Jam" Sketchbook , 1998, Collaborations with Chris Ware, Seth, Chester Brown, Julie Doucet, Adrian Tomine, Max, Jason Lutes, Dave Sim, Will Eisner, Marc Bell, James Kochalka, Ivan Brunetti, Steven Weisman, etc., limited print. (THIS IS REALLY FUN BUT HARD TO FIND, I GOT MINE IN TORONTO)

4) Fair Weather, 2002 (Drawn & Quarterly), which collects Peepshow #7–10. In this book Matt chronicles an episode from his childhood in 1970s suburbia.

5) Spent, 2007 (Drawn & Quarterly), which collects Peepshow #11–14. In this book, Matt chronicles a story arc that documents his obsessive “editing” of porn videos.
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vollsticks



Joined: 24 Jun 2015
Posts: 39
Location: Grimsby, UK

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 1:18 am    Post subject: Seth & Joe Matt (For andylips and jefflewis) Reply with quote

@andylips--I have the first 3 issues on my computer, the rest I pretty much collected as they came out (with a few gaps that I made up years later!). But I'd get the big D & Q book just for those 11 pages! I considered buying it, I still might, but there's a helluva lot of stuff in there that I already have in its original form.

@jefflewis--I really like Joe Matt's art but he does that whole thing of turning himself into a caricature, imho, whereas Seth and Chester's portrayals of themselves are a lot more nuanced. I have Fair Weather and a few issues of Peepshow; his craft as a cartoonist is beyond reproach but, I dunno, something about his unrelenting dedication to showing himself as an utter c**t smacks of insincerity...which isn't to say he hasn't made some good comics!! He has, but basically I'm not a "joe Matt Collector".
My penpal who was a first-intake student at the Centre for Cartoon Studies sent us a photocopy of the "Joe Matt's Jam Comic", he mentioned he had it when we were talking on skype about the Comics Journal that has the Noah Van Sciver-drawn Joe Matt comic interview in it (it's also the issue that has his work in it as a showcase of the first intake of CCS students....no, he's not Chuck Forsman or Joseph Lambert Smile ). It's fun but I wouldn't pay the several-hundred dollar price I've seen it offered on e-bay for in the past!
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vollsticks



Joined: 24 Jun 2015
Posts: 39
Location: Grimsby, UK

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 1:30 am    Post subject: Jeff's 1) and 2) Joe Matt Comics Reply with quote

PS--I think the first two comics that @jefflewis mentioned are probably his most nuanced comics. I've seen those teeny-tiny-panelled early Peepshow strips, not sure if they were from the mini or the comic--the one about "Laura", his first love, is especially good.

Hey seeing as we're talking about Canadian (yeah I know Joe Matt isn't Canadian!!!) cartoonists, whaddyou guys think of Dave Cooper and Genevieve Castree?!?! Cooper hasta be in my top 20, along with Julie Doucet...she's amazing...a shame she doesn't draw comics any more...and Dave Cooper's Weasel (which serialised the GN "Ripple") was a fabulous comic. Just brilliant. Also the other two from the "Ripple" trilogy, "Suckle" (originally serialised in Zero Zero and one of my favourite Dave Cooper comics) and "Crumple" are well worth getting. You can still buy 'em cheaply. And his "Dan & Larry in: Don't Do That!" is really good, apparently it's a sort of allegory for his relationship with Barry Blair, owner of Aircel Comics, cartoonist, and according to scurrilous rumour (and the comic, if it's to be taken as face value) a bit of a "wrong 'un"......sadly looks like Mr. Cooper's stopped cartooning in favour of "fine art"...bummer....his cartoon with Johnny Ryan has premiered recently, "Pig(?) Goat Banana Cricket", with his beautifully ugly character designs and backgrounds...
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