Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2013 November 8 • Friday

Here's another great new book you'll find in comic book stores, Palookaville #21 by Seth.

It has three parts. The first part continues the "Clyde Fans" story that Seth has been telling for about fifteen years. He's been dishing it out in small, sporadic doses. When it wraps up I'll have to sit down and read the entire story to get a handle on it.

The third part is an autobiographical section about Seth's childhood. It's very well done and great reading as well as looking. Seth's art really blooms here.

My favorite part is the middle section, in which Seth presents selections from a Rubbert Stamp Diary he's been keeping.

The problem with keeping a comics or cartoon diary is time. Drawing takes a lot of time. Seth found an ingenious solution to this problem by making rubber stamps for panels that he would draw a lot. One stamp is just an empty panel in which he can draw whatever he wants. Other stamps will have him walking or standing, viewed from various angles and distances. He also has some stamps of backgrounds or scenery. To these stamped images he adds whatever additional drawing he wants.

This was an experiment that succeeded brilliantly. I would love to see other comics creators follow his example.