Seth, It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
(Drawn & Quarterly Press, 2003)
Seth, Clyde Fans: Book One (Drawn & Quarterly Press, 2004)
Seth is the nom de plume of Gregory Gallant. He has gone by Seth
since the early '80s which he says might have been a youthful error, but "little
can be done about it now." I first became aware of Seth when he started
drawing Mister X, a comic book I had followed since its obscure beginnings.
He was following in some major footsteps . . . Los Bros Hernandez and Dean Motter . . . and
he did so beautifully, until the story just fizzled out. Since then his work
has appeared in Mother Jones, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic and the
New Yorker, among others . . . but his passion lies in a self produced series called
Palookaville he began in 1991. The two books under discussion first appeared,
serialized in the pages of Palookaville.
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken tells a semi-autobiographical tale.
A cartoonist named Seth searches for the work of an obscure gag cartoonist from
the '40s and '50s. In carefully drawn (and wittily written) panels Seth digs
through used bookstores, has coffee and conversation with his friend Chet (the
Toronto cartoonist Chester Brown), carries on a relationship with a university
student, and visits a couple of small towns in south-western Ontario. The story
is strong and moving, as events propel him towards the inevitable conclusion.
There is real emotion in this tale. These are real people, not superheroes.
Seth's drawing harkens back to an older style, not unlike the era he is writing
about. The panels are filled with detail. Loving portraits of old buildings,
trains, landscapes, and people who look like the people you know. They act like
the people you know too. The cartoon Seth's interaction with his brother and
his mother are almost too true. Characters appear and make an impact on Seth's
life, but then they disappear, their story arc incomplete . . . just like life.
The actual cartoons of Kalo (the lost cartoonist) are provided in an appendix,
as is a photo of the artist. Seth's fine brushwork complements his sensitive
writing, and makes It's A Good Life . . . compelling reading. An almost
perfect little tale.
Clyde Fans is subtitled Book One, and the reader should be aware
that the story has not yet reached its conclusion in serialized form, so it
will be a while before Book Two will appear. This may force me to finally
track down Palookaville so I can see where it's going. Clyde Fans
is the story of the Clyde Fan Company. That's right, fans! When air conditioning
came along . . . fans were passe. A bit like owning a buggy whip company when Henry
Ford came along. This is a sad story of two brothers, heirs to the Clyde Fans
business. One brother was a star salesman, the other . . . not.
The book is broken into two sections, the first of which is narration by Abraham
Matchcard, in 1997. He lives above the vacant store that was the centre of the
business. He recounts the growth and demise of the company, and intersperses
his history with allusions to his brother, Simon. Again, Seth's writing skills
are equal to his draftsmanship and the combination of words and images shows
why the graphic novel is such a unique method of storytelling. The second half
of the book takes place forty years earlier, when Simon went on a trip to prove
his worth as a salesman. Students of 20th century playwriting will see allusions
to Death of a Salesman throughout this work, but Seth has created a new
and compelling tale here.
I can't say enough about the beauty of the simple line drawings, coloured only
in monochrome. Each panel is a balanced composition, and each page holds together
too. The more wordy first half filled with Abraham's monologue stands in stark
contrast to the image driven second section. Simon writes in a journal, and
notices detail, which appears as panels of scenes which in themselves tell the
story. The action is pushed along by the images. Beautiful work. The reader
is drawn into the tale, and then the book ends, too soon. You go back to admire
the drawings. You see more details you missed, and notice specific Canadian
icons from the era. It is a wonderful celebration of the past.
Either of these books will make for a pleasant diversion on a hot summer night.
Both will stay with you long after you've finished them. You will be haunted
by the stories, the characters, the pictures, even the smell of the ink on the
paper. Bravo Seth.
Find out more at Drawn and Quarterly Press and Raincoast Books
