Seth, Clyde Fans

BookShelf Cafe eBar May 15, 2019:

Technically speaking this wasn’t a “reading” since Seth writes graphic novels and I’ve never heard of, nor can I quite imagine, what a public reading of a comic would be.

It was, however, a great session. It began with Seth giving some of his personal thoughts about how he imagines the afterlife and how those thoughts have found expression in various recurring motifs in his art. This was followed by a short film, a conversation with Eric Allen Montogomery, and some Q&A.

There was a good crowd, filling the eBar. I was wondering if it could be described as hipsterish, but then figured it skewed a bit too old for that. Later, however, Seth would describe himself as being like an old hipster, so I figured I may have been right. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Even if you weren’t a student of such things (and I’m not), or a big fan of Seth (and I am) this was the kind of talk you could easily have taken a couple of pages of notes on. In addition to offering revealing insights specific to his own life and work Seth talked, among other things, about the growing critical and public acceptance of graphic novels in the twenty-first century and the place of his own generation of artists in that development, how comics mean (that is, how they’re created and read), and the making or presentation of an identify in or through fictional characters.

These are all subjects I’m sure Seth has been over many times, but the evening didn’t seem scripted at all. It was informative throughout, but informal and relaxed. As well as being enjoyable I also felt like I learned a lot and it made me look forward to Clyde Fans all the more.