Palookaville 11: The Clyde Fans Keep On Turning

In this issue, the elderly businessman who is the narrator of the story not only potters around his otherwise empty building talking to himself, but also he heads outside for a minute to talk to himself!  Really, this is a good comic, though I have nothing else in particular to say about this issue other than that its letters page is filled with cartoonists, many of whom have written in before, but there are also some new names such as Jim Ottaviani, James Sturm, and Ho Che Anderson.  I can't remember for sure, but maybe in the next issue the narrator will make dinner!

Palookaville 10: "Clyde Fans" Begins!

The story that apparently never will end, "Clyde Fans", begins in this issue.  Basically, it's an elderly businessman giving a monologue about his life as he wanders around his former business office and current residence.  Despite how boring that probably sounds, the story is charming enough that I've stuck with it being serialized in dribs and drabs since 1997.  Here are some other random thoughts on this comic:

*Seth's love of drawing old buildings has now developed in this storyline to also loving to draw their interiors.

*Who is the old businessman talking to?  Well, us, the readers, of course!  If not, he's nuts and talking to himself.  Hmm . . . well, maybe he's not nuts; some of the best conversations I've ever had have been with myself, and I bet that goes for you as well.

*The typical Seth themes of nostalgia and regret are served amply here.

*Strangely enough, every letter on the letters page is addressed to "Dear Sir".  I doubt they came in addressed that way.

*The elderly businessman's brother, Simon, resembles an older Seth, so, even though this story is completely fictional, Seth continues to seem to have an analogue character in each of his stories.

*The U.S. price for the comic was $3.75 while Canadians had to pay $4.50.  Ah, for the old days, when the American dollar still had some value relative to other currencies.  Today, the dollars are roughly equal in strength.  If the U.S. continues to just make money out of fairy dust more than Canada does, expect the initial currency ratio for an issue of Palookaville to eventually reverse.

Palookaville 9: "It's A Good Life . . ." Wraps Up

This issue wraps up the "It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken" storyline as Seth finds some answers about Kalo, the cartoonist he's been researching.  Here are some random thoughts on this comic:

*This was the era when Palookaville was being published the most frequently.  If the three times a year schedule had been kept to since 1997, then Palookaville would now be on number 57.  It's on 21 instead.

*From the letters on the letters page, it seems that I was not the only one who was impressed by the seasons changing opening sequence from last issue.  This issue the atmospheric opening scenes don't fare quite as well.  Instead of having the reader observe Seth progress from the train station to Kalo's daughter's house, Seth might have been better off opening with a splash page of the daughter opening the door to greet him.  By the way, the daughter looks like a female version of Seth.  A psychoanalytic critique of this storyline would be quite interesting.  I imagine it would focus on Seth's worries that his art will be forgotten and is a waste of time.  On a cosmic scale, even Shakespeare means nothing, so don't sweat it, Seth.

*Seth apparently went on a signing tour in 1996 for the graphic novel version of the story.  I've visited many of the comicshops/bookstores he signed at such as Quimby's in Chicago, The Beguiling in Toronto, The Million Year Picnic in Cambridge, and the Virgin Megastore in New York.  He was signing at some cool places.

*Seth's Kalo hoax  even goes so far as to include a purported photograph of the man.  I wonder who is really in the photo.

Palookaville 8: More Time Passes For Seth To Get Nostalgic About

In this issue, the quest for Kalo the cartoonist picks up again after a two year pause.  Here are some random thoughts on this comic:

*The issue opens with a beautiful sequence of seasonal scenes, which allows cartoonist Seth to say "time passes" without using a single word. 

*Cartoonist Chester Brown appears again (at this point, he's the second most significant character in the series), and cartoonists Marc Bell and David Collier pop up in the letters page.  Another letter on the page seems to complain about the lack of penis in the last few issues ("I can see why a lot of people write and say that it's boring--because your writing does meander and not once have we seen you masturbate").  Personally, I'm fine with not seeing Seth's penis every issue.

*Seth's brother wears a t-shirt with 1% on it.  I have no idea what it means, but someone reading the story today who isn't aware of when it was published might think it was an Occupy Wall Street reference (probably a satirical one).  Signs and symbols might not change, but their meaning is always on the move.

*"Who's" appears instead of "whose".  Maybe Marvel and the larger comic companies aren't entirely crazy to have some editors.  Even literate, sophisticated cartoonists such as Seth need some proofreading help.  Everyone does.  I just can't afford any, so, alas, poor reader, you might have to suffer the occasional typo.

*The fake Kalo cartoon on the back cover appears on a page featuring two other cartoons.  I suspect that Seth might have pasted the Kalo cartoon onto a vintage magazine page.  If he's faking three vintage gag cartoonists' styles, that's overkill.

Palookaville 7: You Can't Go Home Again

In this issue, on his quest for the cartoonist Kalo, Seth visits a town he used to live in.  Here are some random thoughts on this comic:

*The letters page includes letters from cartoonists Scott McCloud, Gary Panter, David Collier, and S.A. King.

*Seth walks down Memory Lane as he wanders around the town.  He also meets a crazy artist called Annie, and her artwork is featured on the back cover.  Given that Seth made up Kalo, I wonder if Annie is another hoax.

*Sometimes there isn't much to say about these issues.  They're enjoyable to read though.  Seth is an engaging storyteller, though he pretty much doesn't concern himself with plots, so not all readers will find his work interesting.

Palookaville 6: Quest For A Cartoonist

In this issue, Seth moves from a quest for Kalo's cartoons to a quest for the man himself.  Here are some random thoughts on this comic:

*Nostalgia is clearly a major theme of Seth's, though I'm not sure if one can genuinely be nostalgic for a time before one's birth.  Nevertheless, Seth is fascinated by the past, his own and in general, particularly the early to mid 20th Century, and that motif runs through much of his work, but especially this story.

*Though Seth is fascinated by New Yorker cartoonists, Seth would one day have his art appear on the cover of The New Yorker, which back in 1994 when this issue was published, likely seemed like a pipe dream to him.

*Seth's penis doesn't gueststar this issue, but Chester Brown does.  Cartoonists Chris Ware and James Kochalka pop up in the letters page.

Palookaville 5: The Penis Streak Continues!

In this issue, Seth discovers more about the cartoonist, Kalo, whom he is fascinated by and also embarks on a new relationship.  Here are some random thoughts on this comic:

*Yes, the penis streak continues.  This is the third issue straight and the fifth out of six Palookavilles that Seth has drawn his penis.  He's also drawn intimate scenes with three ex-girlfriends.  Assuming the relationships portrayed are autobiographical, I wonder what the women think of being naked comic book characters.  One might regard these portrayals as an early form of revenge porn, but I suspect Seth is too sentimental for that approach.  More likely, he's showing his life as "nakedly" as possible.

*Cartoonist Chester Brown appears again as a character, and cartoonist Peter Bagge has a letter on the letters page.  In my collection, I had many comics by those two.  I still have a couple graphic novels by them.  It appears that the alternative comics world of the 1990s was so small that many of the cartoonists not only knew of one another's work, but actually knew one another.

*In terms of plot, not much happens in Seth's comics--the high drama this issue is when his cat gets sick--but they're enjoyable for the artwork and the slice of life observations and sophomoric philosophising (and I write that fondly--one of Seth's charms as a writer is when he calls himself on his own b.s.).

*On the back cover is one of the fictional Kalo's cartoons.  It's amazing how Seth transformed his drawing style to resemble a mid-20th Century New Yorker cartoonist.  For a long time, I, and I suspect many other readers of Palookaville, thought that Kalo was a real cartoonist.  Knowing that he is fictional isn't terribly disappointing though; it just allows one to read the story as Seth searching for himself.  One could also regard the hoax as a comment that even autobiography is ultimately a fiction in that any portrayal or representation inevitably presents a limited perspective or leaves a lot of details out. 

Palookaville 4: "It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken" Begins

In the fourth issue of Palookaville, Seth begins the "It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken" storyline that tells of his quest to find an obscure New Yorker cartoonist.  Here are some random thoughts on this comic:

*There's a trend in the series to always tell longer and more complex stories.  Only the first issue has a single-issue story.  The past two issues were a two-part tale.  "It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken" lasts until issue 9, if I remember correctly.  "Clyde Fans" has been running since issue 10 and shows no sign of ending before the heat death of the universe occurs.

*The letters page features a letter by cartoonist Adrian Tomine, and cartoonist Chester Brown appears as a character for the first time in this issue.

*Once again, Seth draws his penis.  That's three out of four issues, for you keeping track on your scorecards at home.  The penis appearances are never anything gratuitous in that he's bragging about how well-endowed he is or anything, but he sure does like to draw it.  Maybe he, Chester Brown, and Joe Matt were having a contest for most penis appearances in their respective comics series.

*I've never read the graphic novel It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken, but I wouldn't be surprised if Seth changed some things in it so the book isn't just a collection of the serialized story in the comics.  He's very fastidious, so fiddling with a story at every juncture seems like something he would do.