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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This "sketchbook story" continues Seth's impressive run of side projects, a densely packed, quirky novel that is some of his most compelling work yet. Wimbledon Green uses multiple comic strip formats and dozens of characters and points of view to tell the story of the title character, a mysterious comic book collector generally regarded, as the subtitle suggests, as the best around. Through the memories of Wimbledon's associates, enemies and friends, Seth recounts the rise of Wimbledon and key events in the Green legend: the discovery of the priceless Wilber Webb collection and the hunt for the mythical comic book The Green Ghost #1. All of this is both a loving satire of the milieu the author himself inhabits and also a kind of fictional history of comic book collectors. Free from the graphic atmospherics and demanding literary motifs of his more literary work, Seth is able to stretch out and create a world and a story that is light and funny while still deeply felt and finely crafted. Wimbledon Green is an excellent comic romp, and will seem all too familiar to collectors and the people that love (or loath) them. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Seth, known for his leisurely, meticulously crafted representations of life's minutiae, as in the serialized family saga Clyde Fans, lightens up in this delightful departure set in an alternate world in which comic-book collectors are sophisticated financiers rather than socially maladroit nerds. Greatest of them all is Wimbledon Green, whom Seth portrays in short vignettes and monologues featuring his fellow collectors as well as when he takes center stage in a story of him and his rivals on an epic, cross-country chase to snag the world's rarest comic, the legendary Green Ghost No. 1. Green is admired and envied for his business acumen nd his unmatched knowledge of comics lore, though the comics and creators in his world don't exist in ours. Seth's artwork is uncharacteristically and appealingly casual here but still retains the strengths on view in his more typical works: impeccable design sense, elegant wordcraft, and a distinctive, nostalgia-embracing sensibility. This is unpretentious fun with special appeal to hard-core comics collectors who may aspire to Green's collecting triumphs and savoir faire. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Journey into the Green,
By
This review is from: Wimbledon Green (Hardcover)
Perhaps the title of this review is misleading. Throughout my time reading comics and graphic novels over the years, I have encountered three forces with the name Green that embody a special kind of magic. The first of these is Neil Gaiman's Fiddler's Green; the second being "the Green" that Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run explores; and finally, Seth's Wimbledon Green.Wimbledon Green is a short portly man with erudite knowledge and taste in old comics, complete with a mustache, a small hat and cane. In fact, he is very reminiscent of another character: if that character ever became a rare comics hunter. The story itself is charming due to the fact that it is about comics, and comics collectors each competing to get the rarest comics -- including and especially those of the Golden Age era. What I really like about this book is two things. First, how through small details, hints, and "rumours" Seth creates a very real fictional world. I really love how he makes up old comics titles and they seem and feel very legitimate for the purposes of this story. And I really like the personalities portrayed by the other collectors. Not only does Seth portray their greed or "enlightened self-interest" well, but he also makes it clear that there is a genuine love if not an obsession towards what they seek. The other element I love is the drawing style. Seth himself claims that these drawings are inferior to the ones he usually makes. I rather liked them. They are simple, basic shapes: with just the right thick shading to be very reminiscent of a Golden Age, or at least an older comic. They are the kind of thing that invokes nostalgia and sense of wonder. Seth's style in this work reminds me of Richie-Rich, and the text's adventure segment seems to harken back towards something you would see in Carl Barks' Duck Tales. Wimbledon Green's aesthetics and subject matter possesses a whole other kind of magic: the kind that reminds me of being younger and going to the comics shops at my Flea Market; or being in my grandparents' garage and basement and finding comics there older than me. These comics were like pieces of a puzzle from an earlier time of strange superheroes and characters on tattered pages and interrupted continuity. Wimbledon Green reminds me of my love for old books, comics and mysteries. It reads very easy, if that makes sense and is easily accessible to comics lovers. Some people, including Seth, believe that this is one of his weaker works: that Clyde Fans and It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken are superior pieces by comparison. However, while those other works are more detailed and less elemental in design, I feel that they can never compare to the feelings that Wimbledon Green invokes. There is something a soft golden dusty ambiance that is timeless and alive in this graphic narrative and, as I said before, I believe that any comics lover or collector would love this book.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews) 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Seth Classic,
By Dan Goodsell - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Wimbledon Green (Hardcover)
I had read about Wimbledon Green coming out and I have been eagerly awaiting it. I was not ready for what was inside. It is an understated masterwork. It deals with the life and times of Wimbledon Green, the Greatest Comic Book Collector in the World. His story is told from the many points of view including those of his friends and competitors.What really made it work for me was that Seth creates another world not unlike are own and it is a world I would love to visit. In this other world comic book collectors are a little like the heroes they collect, they spend their time flying around the world in autogyros and double crossing their enemies. It parodies and and the same time glorifies the passion that really drive collectors. The artwork is throughout the book is stunning with everything done in loose ink wash sketchbook style. The entire book was created in a scant 6 months and at 125 pages that is quite amazing. The design of the book is top notch with beautiful end papers and an embossed foil cover. But the thing that really stands out is how personal and intimate the entire book is. This gets back to the core of what comics should be, a place where stories are told and where the artwork serves those stories. And the stories in this book are ones worth reading over and over again. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Seth says it's "Good Enough",
By Joey Manley - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Wimbledon Green (Hardcover)
Seth dismisses this book on its own cover: "A story from the sketchbook of the cartoonist `Seth.'" In other words: this isn't a full-blown graphic novel, just a little sketchy thing or whatever. And again, more specifically, in the foreward: "This book was created on a lark. Actually, it was never even intended to be a book at all - merely an exercise in my sketchbooks...the drawing is poor, the lettering shoddy, the page compositions and storytelling perfunctory." My high school English teacher told her class that Shakespeare didn't give a hoot about his plays - it was the sonnets he thought would win him immortality. I'm not sure if that's true (I've never heard or seen such a thing said about Shakespeare before or since, and that's after spending four years as an English major in college), but it rings true. Sometimes the things that an artist dashes off with his/her distaff hand can turn out to be more interesting than the things he or she labors over - maybe because they weren't labored over. I'm not willing to go quite that far with Wimbledon Green. I still think It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken and (possibly) Clyde Fans are more "important" works. But this one is better than Seth would have you believe, in part because it's just straight-up refreshing to see one of our most dour and fastidious cartoonists cutting loose, and being, mostly, silly. Okay: there is an attempt to darken and deepen Wimbledon's life story, late in the book, but, while that moment doesn't exactly fail, as a moment, it does fail to overshadow the light-hearted, entertaining spirit of the work overall. Besides: the drawing's great, the lettering's legible, and the storytelling works just fine. Seth's "good enough" is far better than most any other cartoonist's best efforts.(the above is excerpted from my longer review at graphicnovelreview.com) 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Wonderful Tale - Seth's Best Work!,
By Andy French "Crotchety Music Fan" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Wimbledon Green (Hardcover)
Seth has always had the ability to capture the everyday lives of people in a wonderful, nostalgic, and frequently amusing style. With "Wimbledon Green", Seth has brought his talents to new heights -- it's a truly funny, original look at the world of comic book collectors interwoven with a very intriguing mystery.Like Dan Clowes often does, Seth tells the story through a series of independent strips that, over the course of the book, reveal the full story. And like Dan Clowes, Seth accomplishes that rare thing in satire -- he renders his characters fondly, but you can tell he's also skewering every aspect of the highly irritating and amusing world of comic book collectors. I eagerly await every new work by Seth (and as fans know, they don't come out all that frequently!). This was well worth the wait. It's the type of book you only want to read in snippets -- it's so good, you want it to last. And you don't want to wait another 3 years for Seth's next masterpiece! |
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