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Palookaville #22
Palookaville #22
A collection of wry, meditative comics from the cartoonist and Lemony Snicket illustrator
In what has become his calling card, the cartoonist Seth lovingly and exquisitely designs Palookaville #22, adorning the cover with green foil, and the interior with gatefolds and ornate endpapers. On sumptuous display is Seth’s continual exploration of the past and the search for resonance in the dusty corners of his consciousness. In three separate sections, this bittersweet reconciliation with the past and bygone eras manifests both in his comics and his non-comics art.
Readers will return to the world of Dominion, where Abe and Simon Matchcard of Clyde Fans are engaged in a war of the words over the slow, painful disintegration of their family business. Their disagreement leads Abe to visit an old flame and further ensue in a battle of memories, in the conclusion of part four of Seth’s long running and acclaimed narrative.
In chapter two of his autobiographical serial "Nothing Lasts", Seth revisits his small town Ontario childhood. He explores his town's library, drug store, and post office, places whose daily presence in his young life provided comfort and stability amid the school taunts, the many moves Seth’s family endured, and his parents’ unhappy marriage.
Each volume of Palookaville treats readers to a new facet of Seth's creative output. Volume 22 features a photo essay of the fictional history he created for the actual Crown Barber Shop in Guelph, Ontario, owned and operated by his wife Tania, complete with a comic on the art of barbering.
The Palookaville digest is the grand endeavour of one of Canada’s greatest artists.
In what has become his calling card, the cartoonist Seth lovingly and exquisitely designs Palookaville #22, adorning the cover with green foil, and the interior with gatefolds and ornate endpapers. On sumptuous display is Seth’s continual exploration of the past and the search for resonance in the dusty corners of his consciousness. In three separate sections, this bittersweet reconciliation with the past and bygone eras manifests both in his comics and his non-comics art.
Readers will return to the world of Dominion, where Abe and Simon Matchcard of Clyde Fans are engaged in a war of the words over the slow, painful disintegration of their family business. Their disagreement leads Abe to visit an old flame and further ensue in a battle of memories, in the conclusion of part four of Seth’s long running and acclaimed narrative.
In chapter two of his autobiographical serial "Nothing Lasts", Seth revisits his small town Ontario childhood. He explores his town's library, drug store, and post office, places whose daily presence in his young life provided comfort and stability amid the school taunts, the many moves Seth’s family endured, and his parents’ unhappy marriage.
Each volume of Palookaville treats readers to a new facet of Seth's creative output. Volume 22 features a photo essay of the fictional history he created for the actual Crown Barber Shop in Guelph, Ontario, owned and operated by his wife Tania, complete with a comic on the art of barbering.
The Palookaville digest is the grand endeavour of one of Canada’s greatest artists.
120 pages, Hardcover
First published October 21, 2014
66 people want to read
About the author
Seth
155 books432 followersSeth, born Gregory Gallant in Clinton, Ontario, is a Canadian cartoonist celebrated for his distinctive visual style, deep sense of nostalgia, and influential contributions to contemporary comics. Known for the long-running series Palookaville and the widely acclaimed graphic novel It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, he developed an aesthetic shaped by mid-20th-century magazine cartooning, particularly from The New Yorker, which he blends with themes rooted in Southern Ontario’s cultural memory. After studying at the Ontario College of Art and becoming part of Toronto’s punk-influenced creative scene, he adopted the pen name Seth and began gaining recognition through his work on Mister X. His friendships with fellow cartoonists Chester Brown and Joe Matt formed a notable circle within autobiographical comics of the early 1990s, where each depicted the others in their work. With Palookaville, published by Drawn & Quarterly, Seth refined his signature atmosphere of reflection, melancholy, and visual elegance. Beyond cartooning, he is an accomplished designer and illustrator, responsible for the celebrated book design of the ongoing complete Peanuts collection from Fantagraphics, as well as archival editions of Doug Wright and John Stanley. His graphic novels Clyde Fans, Wimbledon Green, and George Sprott explore memory, identity, and the passage of time through richly composed drawings and narrative restraint. Seth also constructs detailed cardboard architectural models of his imagined city, Dominion, which have been exhibited in major Canadian art institutions. He continues to live and work in Guelph, Ontario, noted for his influential role in shaping literary comics.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 23, 2015
Seth is back with Palookaville #22, the series that started out as regular single issue comics and has since began appearing as beautifully produced hardcovers. The latest “digest” (as he’s now taken to calling them) features Clyde Fans, Part 4: 1975, a photo essay on his wife’s business Crown Barber Shop (which he helped design), and Nothing Lasts, Part 2, a stream-of-consciousness-type memoir of his childhood.
The presentation is always worth mentioning because Seth clearly puts a lot of effort into how his books look. This one is a green hardcover with a bright green foil wraparound with green endpapers. The paper stock used feels lovely and even smells great too - high quality stuff. Clyde Fans is black and white with only pale blue and sepia; the photo essay is in full colour; and Nothing Lasts is black, white and blue. The book as simply an object is elegant and wonderful.
Clyde Fans, Part 4 sees Abe and Simon Matchcard continuing their first discussion in years after having a falling out as younger men. Their Clyde Fans business has gone bankrupt and they’re both old men now, not long for this world. Abe and Simon talk about their father who abandoned them while Abe later decides to meet up with an old flame, Alice.
You either like Seth’s comics or you don’t - he tells his stories his way, at his own pace and they’re not the liveliest of beasts. If you’ve never encountered him before, his comics are slow, deliberate, meditative; they aim for mood and feeling than traditional story and plot. And of course the art is unique and captivating, complementing the script perfectly. I really like his comics and Part 4 of the story of two old geezers living in their heads, in the past, is mesmerising in a quietly moving fashion.
The photo essay shows how Seth’s aesthetic looks when applied to a real business. His wife Tania’s barber shop, Crown Barber, is the best-looking barber shop I’ve ever seen. It’s different shades of blue everywhere and Seth’s even created a fake history for the shop - the fold-out comic of the barber’s is also included in this book. I almost want to visit Guelph purely to see it for myself and get a cut too!
Nothing Lasts, Part 2 is the only part of the book where Seth lost me at times. It’s an honest look at his lonely childhood, being teased at school for being nerdy and hiding his comics out of shame; but it’s also a sweet tribute to his mother, who passed away in 2005. The brief mentions of his father (who died in 2011) tell you everything about his distant relationship with him, as well as Seth revealing that his father picked out his birth name, Gregory, which he changed to Seth as a young man and has kept since.
Some of the time though it gets slow even by Seth standards. Talking about the library and how it’s changed slightly and how he took out an 8mm projector, and… yeah it’s a little rambling at times. He even acknowledges it as much in the comic itself, realising it’s coming off as self-indulgent and trivial but that’s just how his work turns out sometimes.
Palookaville #22 is another fine book from one of the best indie comics creators out there, the one and only Seth. He draws you in and makes you read his stories at his pace, on his terms, and that makes it all the more a refreshingly charming experience. Put on some comfy slippers, crack open some tinned spam and get ready for a full-on nostalgia trip!
The presentation is always worth mentioning because Seth clearly puts a lot of effort into how his books look. This one is a green hardcover with a bright green foil wraparound with green endpapers. The paper stock used feels lovely and even smells great too - high quality stuff. Clyde Fans is black and white with only pale blue and sepia; the photo essay is in full colour; and Nothing Lasts is black, white and blue. The book as simply an object is elegant and wonderful.
Clyde Fans, Part 4 sees Abe and Simon Matchcard continuing their first discussion in years after having a falling out as younger men. Their Clyde Fans business has gone bankrupt and they’re both old men now, not long for this world. Abe and Simon talk about their father who abandoned them while Abe later decides to meet up with an old flame, Alice.
You either like Seth’s comics or you don’t - he tells his stories his way, at his own pace and they’re not the liveliest of beasts. If you’ve never encountered him before, his comics are slow, deliberate, meditative; they aim for mood and feeling than traditional story and plot. And of course the art is unique and captivating, complementing the script perfectly. I really like his comics and Part 4 of the story of two old geezers living in their heads, in the past, is mesmerising in a quietly moving fashion.
The photo essay shows how Seth’s aesthetic looks when applied to a real business. His wife Tania’s barber shop, Crown Barber, is the best-looking barber shop I’ve ever seen. It’s different shades of blue everywhere and Seth’s even created a fake history for the shop - the fold-out comic of the barber’s is also included in this book. I almost want to visit Guelph purely to see it for myself and get a cut too!
Nothing Lasts, Part 2 is the only part of the book where Seth lost me at times. It’s an honest look at his lonely childhood, being teased at school for being nerdy and hiding his comics out of shame; but it’s also a sweet tribute to his mother, who passed away in 2005. The brief mentions of his father (who died in 2011) tell you everything about his distant relationship with him, as well as Seth revealing that his father picked out his birth name, Gregory, which he changed to Seth as a young man and has kept since.
Some of the time though it gets slow even by Seth standards. Talking about the library and how it’s changed slightly and how he took out an 8mm projector, and… yeah it’s a little rambling at times. He even acknowledges it as much in the comic itself, realising it’s coming off as self-indulgent and trivial but that’s just how his work turns out sometimes.
Palookaville #22 is another fine book from one of the best indie comics creators out there, the one and only Seth. He draws you in and makes you read his stories at his pace, on his terms, and that makes it all the more a refreshingly charming experience. Put on some comfy slippers, crack open some tinned spam and get ready for a full-on nostalgia trip!
August 8, 2023
I finally got my hands on this book! It's been out for over a year, and Seth is one of my favs.
It doesn't disappoint. The Cylde Fans chapter is perhaps my favourite chapter in the book so far. I really enjoyed the sections on the barber shop.
Clyde Fans Part 4
Now collected
Crown Barber
Photographs of a barber shop Seth designed and did artwork for. It looks like a really nice nostalgic shop. There's also a small two page strip about it.
Nothings Lasts (Part 2)
Continues Seth's meandering look at his childhood through the haze of memory. We seem young Gregory searching through the local library and Seth exploring the old neighbourhood through his mind's eye. It feels very melancholic.
It doesn't disappoint. The Cylde Fans chapter is perhaps my favourite chapter in the book so far. I really enjoyed the sections on the barber shop.
Clyde Fans Part 4
Now collected
Crown Barber
Photographs of a barber shop Seth designed and did artwork for. It looks like a really nice nostalgic shop. There's also a small two page strip about it.
Nothings Lasts (Part 2)
Continues Seth's meandering look at his childhood through the haze of memory. We seem young Gregory searching through the local library and Seth exploring the old neighbourhood through his mind's eye. It feels very melancholic.
September 21, 2015
This is a collection by the indie master Seth, featuring installments of three developing book projects:
1) Clyde Fans, Part 4: 1975, which I just love, as it continues the story of two brothers, Abraham and Simon, and their relationship to their father, the owner of Clyde Fans. We have to wait a year for these meticulous installments, and it is worth the wait, as comically nostalgic it is about this dysfunctional family from a small Canadian town. And none of them are admirable or likable in the least. Abraham admits he used women, and his reunion with two women from his past are disastrous and sad, always the melancholic sadness and sweetness in most of Seth's stories! I settle in for the long cold wait for the next installment, in a year!
2) A photo essay on Seth's wife’s business, the Crown Barber Shop (which Sam Quixote tells me he helped design!), which helps give us some background, some invented, on the place. We see rare photographs of Seth and his wife! I take it this is a book project, too, developing, and will be worth the wait.
3) Nothing Lasts, Part 2, which is a childhood memoir, sort of rambling, vague, typically apologetic, sad, sad, as we see the loner Seth and his odd comics beginnings. Random memories, which he doesn't sometimes know what to make of… part of this is about the random-ness of memory itself. This is a part that sometimes is too Seth-slow and meandering for me, and I love everything he does, I get it.
A wonderfully designed artifact, this green foil covered book. Meticulously designed and lovely to look at and hold. More, more!!!!
1) Clyde Fans, Part 4: 1975, which I just love, as it continues the story of two brothers, Abraham and Simon, and their relationship to their father, the owner of Clyde Fans. We have to wait a year for these meticulous installments, and it is worth the wait, as comically nostalgic it is about this dysfunctional family from a small Canadian town. And none of them are admirable or likable in the least. Abraham admits he used women, and his reunion with two women from his past are disastrous and sad, always the melancholic sadness and sweetness in most of Seth's stories! I settle in for the long cold wait for the next installment, in a year!
2) A photo essay on Seth's wife’s business, the Crown Barber Shop (which Sam Quixote tells me he helped design!), which helps give us some background, some invented, on the place. We see rare photographs of Seth and his wife! I take it this is a book project, too, developing, and will be worth the wait.
3) Nothing Lasts, Part 2, which is a childhood memoir, sort of rambling, vague, typically apologetic, sad, sad, as we see the loner Seth and his odd comics beginnings. Random memories, which he doesn't sometimes know what to make of… part of this is about the random-ness of memory itself. This is a part that sometimes is too Seth-slow and meandering for me, and I love everything he does, I get it.
A wonderfully designed artifact, this green foil covered book. Meticulously designed and lovely to look at and hold. More, more!!!!
December 28, 2015
Perhaps the most odd of the new book-format issues, in that the centre feature--a three-part structure seems to be a common design feature for these books--is a combination photo-essay/comic strip about Seth's wife Tania's barber shop, which Seth designed, and the invented history of which is documented in the fold-out short comic strip. Seth has noted self-indulgence as a component of his work before; it is probably more evident in this piece than anywhere else. Otherwise, we get more Clyde Fans--not the end yet, apparently, though Part Four does conclude--and a continuation of Nothing Lasts, a sketchbook-style autobiographical piece that began in the previous volume and will continue in the next one, so it looks fair to be another significant work. It's interesting to see that the difference between Seth's polished and sketchbook style is beginning to collapse somewhat. The Clyde stuff still looks more detailed, but there is more of a similarity now in page design, panel size, and so on than there used to be. Anyway, the autobiographical stuff has an anecdotal, almost off the cuff feel to it, but it nevertheless manages to be harrowingly revealing, even in its reticence and in its acknowledgement of the gaps in memory. Seth's mastery of the cartooning medium is evident here, though his style has become so minimalist that one has to look closely to see it.
April 24, 2024
3.7 biblio
March 5, 2020
Having already read the collected Clyde Fans (great!), I mainly got this to check out part two of Nothing Lasts which is a wonderful and patient exploration of growing up in a small town.
May 10, 2015
As always, it's great to see another installment of Clyde Fans, but as with volume #21 that came out over a year and a half ago, I'm not sure which is more moving: the Clyde Fans installment or the Nothing Lasts story. I was bowled over by the first part of Nothing Lasts in the last volume, and I'm even more impressed this time around. Another reason why this book especially resonates with me is due to the middle section, the photographs and comic on Crown Barbers, the shop of Seth's wife. My father was a barber, and I grew up in a traditional barbershop not that dissimilar from the one in the latest Palookaville. So not only was I emotionally moved buy the storylines that bracket this volume, but also by the photo essay and comic that sits in its middle.
July 26, 2016
I just read Palookaville 20, 21 and 22 back to back over three days. I found the first two disappointing but this volume reminds me why I have followed Seth's work for so long. Reading the interminable Clyde Fans continues to feel like a slog, but I was fascinated by the pictures in the Crown Barber Shop section. Unfortunately, after going on too long about his Dominion City models in Palookaville 20, Seth overcorrects here, offering no text to explain what I'm looking at. It's only when I read the about-the-author page at the end of the volume that I discover his wife is a barber and apparently this shop is real and not just some art installation. I would have loved the full story, but find the tease and reveal pretty satisfying. But the real magic comes in part two of Nothing Lasts. The promise of part one really pays off here as Seth delves into the relationship he had with his parents. Fascinating and moving in art and writing. Bravo!
July 4, 2016
Really liked the peek inside the barbershop he designed, as well as the personal detail that it is run by his wife. Loved part two of his autobiographical meanderings. I didn't think that this episode of the Clyde Fans story was very strong on its own, but I'd be interested to read the complete piece once it's finished. I think that the milieu he has created is cumulative in some way, and it will be magic when sprung on the reader all at once. Brilliant stuff all around.
January 14, 2018
I’m of two minds on this book. On one hand, I would’ve resonated with this book deeply earlier in life, particularly the Nothing Lasts portion. The extreme self-consciousness (I too hid my love of comics from my peers to protect my fragile social status) done in a serious, self-reflective tone mirrors my own experience, and in the past I would’ve thought this book spoke to me deeply — I would’ve identified with Seth’s earlier self without hesitation.
On the other hand, I now more readily examine a book’s female characters, the characters whose experience the author may think reflects mine. With the exception of his mother, women are symbols and stand-ins. Even in the Nothing Lasts portion, the only female figures are two women who accompany a more popular boy to the store to buy comics, who serve not as empathetic characters but as a marker that the popular boy has accomplished something.
It makes me wonder if Seth would readily empathize with my experience, coming from a woman, the way I readily empathize with his.
If not, why should I extend him that courtesy?
On the other hand, I now more readily examine a book’s female characters, the characters whose experience the author may think reflects mine. With the exception of his mother, women are symbols and stand-ins. Even in the Nothing Lasts portion, the only female figures are two women who accompany a more popular boy to the store to buy comics, who serve not as empathetic characters but as a marker that the popular boy has accomplished something.
It makes me wonder if Seth would readily empathize with my experience, coming from a woman, the way I readily empathize with his.
If not, why should I extend him that courtesy?
September 30, 2017
4.5 stars
It's an acquired taste but I'm loving "Nothing Lasts", Seth's return to autobio comics.
It's hard to imagine the collected CLYDE FANS without all of the material from these book editions of PALOOKAVILLE - they inform each other to a great degree.
It's an acquired taste but I'm loving "Nothing Lasts", Seth's return to autobio comics.
It's hard to imagine the collected CLYDE FANS without all of the material from these book editions of PALOOKAVILLE - they inform each other to a great degree.
March 1, 2024
I had no idea what to expect but the artistry expressed in this book is expert and truly beautiful. The autobiographical portion about the cartoonist, Seth, was very moving. I loved reading this.
December 12, 2015
Whenever I read the latest installment of Palooka-ville, Seth is without a doubt the greatest graphic novelist on the planet. His work is consistently incredible and for someone seemingly hung-up on the past his work grows and blossoms each and every time around. The latest installment of Clyde Fans is much longer, more involved, and moving than #21's installment. There are a couple of pages here where the panel layout is so exquisite and moving I want to print them out and have them on hand like leaflets to rain down upon comics-as-literature deniers. This is just purely immaculate storytelling and, as I said on my review for #21, I cannot wait to sit down and read Clyde Fans as a whole. The wild card second act this time around is a photo essay (and brief comic strip) about Seth's wife's barber shop (designed by the author). It's a very neat and cool application of Seth's illustration and sense of design applied to the real world. The third act is the second installment of his autobiographical account of the towns he grew up in and it's just as mournful as the the title--Nothing Lasts--would lead you to believe. And yet it's a devastating look at a little life in a little town that resonates emotionally right down to your core. Magnificent art and storytelling and I'm feeling bad for those years I kept Seth's work at arm's length because of my perceived notion of him being a hoity toity man obsessed with the past and unable to reconcile that worldview to accept the future. I was wrong.
May 13, 2015
It's the latest volume of Seth's melancholic, nostalgic comics series. We have the latest installment of "Clyde Fans", another autobiographical piece, and a short gallery of photos of Seth's wife's barber shop and the retro stylings Seth has applied. (It does look very much like a 1950's barber shop.) I liked the autobiographical piece the best, although it's jarring to read Seth's memories of time with his mother, interpret them as sweet, and read Seth's take on them as "pitiable" and meager.
BTW, Seth is the only cartoonist I can think of where I am not surprised to find the date and time of his parents' deaths in his authorial bio. Not that the man is morbid (although some may argue so), but because it's clear that those relationships (and their absence) inform so much of what Seth writes.
BTW, Seth is the only cartoonist I can think of where I am not surprised to find the date and time of his parents' deaths in his authorial bio. Not that the man is morbid (although some may argue so), but because it's clear that those relationships (and their absence) inform so much of what Seth writes.
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March 15, 2016"Nostalgia is Seth’s stock-in-trade. It is evident in every ink line he draws, an aching for an unreachable yesterday so palpable that it creates a similar longing in the reader. This depiction of a time and place that is no longer accessible, if it ever existed at all, paradoxically creates a verisimilitude in almost all of Seth’s work, and it finds its ideal expression in Clyde Fans. The charming architecture, clever signage, vintage clothing, and classic cars all tell us something about the world in which the Matchcard family was created, nurtured, and ultimately broken." - Alan David Doane
This book was reviewed in the March 2016 issue of World Literature Today magazine. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2...
This book was reviewed in the March 2016 issue of World Literature Today magazine. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2...
June 26, 2015
Seth evokes such a sense of melancholy and loneliness. Just beautiful artwork and stories that come from a more innocent time.
May 10, 2015
Another masterpiece by Seth, graphic literature at its finest.
December 15, 2015
God this guy is a downer, BUT an excellent cartoonist...
August 18, 2015
Didn't really care for the first half...but the second half was amazing!
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November 20, 2016Interesting to see Seth start to turn his narrative style on to his own life.
February 24, 2016
Love the format , ongoing memories of childhood... I have a lot to catch up on!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews