It's a story told in vignettes, a brief "biography" of Wimbledon Green as told by many people who knew him or knew of him, with some live action from Green's life plus a few other items of note relating to Green tossed in. There are few entirely likeableĬharacters - even the titular fellow is not as charming or likeable as So, what is Wimbledon Green? Well, it's a tongue-in-cheek look at the world of comics collecting, oftenĪffectionate but also somewhat cynical. His character work is unique and distinctive, and he knows how much he needs to show in a panel background in order for the reader to build a setting. The world created by his pen is consistent, complete and wide, much larger than the scope of the story he tells in it. It's got a sepia-toned nostalgic flavour, and an economy of line that belies how intricate and beautiful a finished panel is. You may have seen it before he designed the Peanuts anthologies, for example, and the Doug Wright anthology. I think I first have to mention the artwork. It stands on its own, all disclaimers aside.
But it is an excellent little book, a really interesting work, and a really lovely piece of art. Because of this, I add to this review the caveat that this may indeed not be Seth's best work. It's a story taken from his sketchbook, an experiment. In fact, Seth himself tells us this it's clear, from the foreword that should probably be an afterword, that Seth sets exceedingly high standards for himself. Wimbledon Green is not his best work, I am told, not his most polished, not his most beautiful, not his most coherent. I recently recommended this book to my friend Faith, and fishy promptly suggested that I should recommend something else by Seth, not this. I went to a graphic novel about a fictionalized group of Canadian comic book collectors, and about one of those collectors in particular, a mysterious man by the name of Wimbledon Green. When I said I went a completely different direction after The Bell at Sealey Head, I meant it. Wimbledon Green: the greatest comic book collector in the world
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