Palookaville Twenty (Graphic Novel)

by Seth

Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly (October 12, 2010).

Hardcover, 88 pages  

Normally I don’t review single issues of a series, but with issue 20 of Palookavile the format of the comic changed. Moving from a bi-annual (more or less) standard comic format of 25 some odd pages and a glossy cover to an expanded hardbacked semi-annual edition of over one hundred pages. For me, that qualifies it for a review.

The comic is the playground of Canadian cartoonist Seth, the alter-ego of Gregory Gallant. It’s won awards for this and that and is loads of fun if you like off-beat stories of people suffering from depression and loneliness, and protagonists who can never quite fit in with society- an illustrated Kafka if you like. All of these are some of my favorite themes.

Of course, this might not the best time to jump into the series as the primary story is part 11 of his Clyde Fans series. It is the ongoing story of two brothers (one an introvert, the other an extrovert) as they watch their electric fan business go under in the face of competition from the air conditioning industry. Strange as that sounds, it is a compelling and very human look at the failure of life and how people emotionally deal with it.

Along with this is one of his confessional auto-biographical pieces where he explores his Kafkaesque journey through life, not understanding how others fit in so well and hating those that do. It is a commonplace piece among his fellow Canadian cartoonists Chester Brown and Joe Matt. Like most of his work, it is well drawn and expertly paced, and certainly made me feel better about how I relate to society.

Added to it, maybe in order to pad up the length, are a number of faces and names from his sketch book and an expose of model city (called Dominion City) he constructed and has been on display in various art galleries. In his essay, he explains that the city was originally intended as the backdrop for a story, but he grew to be more interested in the city and its development than the characters. Eventually the people were dropped, pages and pages of material on the city was produced and Seth began making models to go along with it, just so he had a sense of proportion as he kept adding to it. Somewhere along the way, he states, it moved from hobby to artistic endeavor.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.